(July 29, 2016) There’s a profound, all-too-common experience in life that crosses generations. It’s the situation when someone loves another who doesn’t recognize, or return, that love. Always in a minor key and unfailingly sad, many great songs have been written about the topic — including “You Don’t Know Me” by Ray Charles and “My Cherie Amour” by Stevie Wonder — that still hold up today because everyone can relate to that emotion. We feature here a new and beautiful song about that experience, the instant classic “Look At Me” by Cécile McLorin Salvant.
Written by Salvant and featured on her Grammy-award winning second album, For One To Love, released late last year, the track is a quiet, spare, ever-so-elegant and poignant ode to a friend who won’t look at Salvant the way he looks at “all the other girls.” As a vocalist, Salvant simply has it all: Her phrasing, tone, control, emotional depth, and authenticity are unparalleled by others of her generation. And she’s only 26. Deeper into her career I imagine most critics will place her among the greatest jazz vocalists of all time. I think she’s already there. Enjoy.
By Robb Patryk
