Dreams and Daggers is an album by French-American jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant that includes songs recorded both during live performance and in the studio. The album was released as a set of two CDs or three LPs on Mack Avenue Records on September 29, 2017.[4]

Dreams and Daggers
Studio album with live tracks by
ReleasedSeptember 29, 2017 (2017-09-29)
RecordedSeptember 9–11, 2016 and December 2016
VenueThe Village Vanguard
Dimenna Center for Classical Music
GenreJazz
Length1:52:00 (2 CDs/3 LPs)
Language
  • English
  • French
LabelMack Avenue
ProducerAl Pryor
Gretchen Valade (exec. producer)
Cécile McLorin Salvant chronology
For One to Love
(2015)
Dreams and Daggers
(2017)
The Window
(2018)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Guardian[2]
AnalogPlanet11 out of 10[3]

Reception

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AllMusic reviewer Matt Collar described the album as "a thoughtfully curated selection of standards and several originals, all touching upon the themes of romance and heartbreak", and awarded it five stars.[1]

Stereophile reviewer Fred Kaplan declared the album to be "the best jazz vocal album in a decade, maybe in longer than that."[5]

The album earned Salvant her third Grammy nomination and her second Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.[6] The album was also nominated for the 2018 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album.[7]

Track listing

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Source:[8]

Disc 1
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."And Yet" (*)Cécile McLorin SalvantPaul Sikivie1:06
2."Devil May Care"
  • Bob Dorough
  • Terrell P. Kirk, Jr.
6:56
3."Mad About the Boy"Noël CowardNoël Coward6:53
4."Sam Jones' Blues"
  • Al Bernard
  • J. Russel Robinson
  • Roy Turk
3:00
5."More" (*)Cécile McLorin SalvantCécile McLorin Salvant3:33
6."Never Will I Marry"Frank LoesserFrank Loesser4:03
7."Somehow I Could Never Believe"Langston HughesKurt Weill9:56
8."If a Girl Isn't Pretty"Bob MerrillJule Styne2:55
9."Red Instead" (*)Cécile McLorin SalvantCécile McLorin Salvant0:34
10."Runnin' Wild"
  • Arthur Gibbs
  • Joe Grey
  • Leo Wood
1:39
11."The Best Thing for You (Would Be Me)"Irving BerlinIrving Berlin7:08
Disc 2
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
12."You're My Thrill" (*)Sidney ClareJay Gorney4:34
13."I Didn't Know What Time It Was"Lorenz HartRichard Rodgers6:29
14."Tell Me What They're Saying Can't Be True"Buddy JohnsonBuddy Johnson5:29
15."Nothing Like You"Bob DoroughBob Dorough3:49
16."You've Got to Give Me Some"Spencer WilliamsSpencer Williams6:11
17."The Worm" (*)Cécile McLorin SalvantPaul Sikivie1:03
18."My Man's Gone Now"George Gershwin6:27
19."Let's Face the Music and Dance"Irving BerlinIrving Berlin6:55
20."Si j'etais Blanche"
  • Bobby Falk
  • Leo Lelièvre
  • Henri Varna
  • Bobby Falk
  • Leo Lelièvre
  • Henri Varna
5:14
21."Fascination" (*)Langston Hughes (poem)
  • Cécile McLorin Salvant
  • Paul Sikivie
1:27
22."Wild Women Don't Have the Blues"Ida CoxIda Cox6:50
23."You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me"Al DubinHarry Warren9:53

Tracks marked with asterisk (*) recorded in studio at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. All other tracks recorded live at the Village Vanguard.

Personnel

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Source:[8]

  • Cécile McLorin Salvant – vocals
  • Aaron Diehl – piano on all tracks except "Red Instead", "You've Got to Give Me Some" and "Fascination"
  • Sullivan Fortner – piano on "You've Got to Give Me Some"
  • Paul Sikivie – double bass on all tracks except "Red Instead", "You've Got to Give Me Some" and "Fascination"; string arrangement on "And Yet", "More", "Red Instead", "You're My Thrill", "The Worm" and "Fascination"
  • Lawrence Leathers – drums on all tracks except "Red Instead", "You've Got to Give Me Some" and "Fascination"
  • Catalyst Quartet – strings on "And Yet", "More", "Red Instead", "You're My Thrill", "The Worm" and "Fascination"
    • Karla Donehew-Perez – violin
    • Suliman Tekalli – violin
    • Paul Laraia – viola
    • Karlos Rodriguez – cello

Production

  • Al Pryor – production
  • Cecile McLorin Salvant – production; booklet art direction, handwriting and illustrations
  • Gretchen Valade – executive production
  • Will Wakefield – production management
  • Damon Whittemore – record engineering
  • Todd Whitelock – record engineering, mix engineering
  • Josh Welshman – engineering assistance
  • Isaiah Abolin – engineering assistance
  • Akihiro Nishimura – engineering assistance
  • Doug Iszlai – engineering assistance
  • Allen Rubinstein – front-of-house engineering for the Village Vanguard
  • Richie Clarke – front-of-house engineering consultancy for Mack Avenue Records
  • Mark Wilder – master engineering
  • Kevin Gray – LP cut engineering
  • Raj Naik – booklet layout and design
  • Mark Fitton – booklet photography
  • Maria Ehrenreich – creative services and production
  • Sharon Green – product management

Charts

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Chart (2018) Peak
position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[9] 40

References

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  1. ^ a b "Cécile McLorin Salvant Dreams and Daggers". AllMusic, member of the RhythmOne group. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  2. ^ "Cécile McLorin Salvant: Dreams and Daggers review – awe-inspiringly audacious jazz reworking". Guardian News and Media Limited. 20 November 2017. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Cécile McLorin Salvant's "Dreams and Daggers" Live at The Village Vanguard". AnalogPlanet; TEN: The Enthusiast Network. 19 September 2017. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Cécile McLorin Salvant Dreams and Daggers". Mack Avenue Records. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Cecile McLorin Salvant, Dreams and Daggers". Stereophile; TEN: The Enthusiast Network. 19 September 2017. Archived from the original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  6. ^ "2018 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Winners List". Grammy.com. 29 January 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Nominees Announced for 49th NAACP Image Awards". NAACP. 28 September 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  8. ^ a b Dreams and Daggers (booklet). Cécile McLorin Salvant. Grosse Pointe Farms, MI: Mack Avenue Records. 2017.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. March 19, 2018. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.