BACK AT RICHARDSON: Jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant premieres her latest project at a performance sponsored by Princeton University Concerts on Wednesday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m.

After her Princeton University Concerts (PUC) debut celebrating Toni Morrison in 2023, jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant returns on Wednesday, October 9, at 7:30 p.m. to Richardson Auditorium, to premiere Book of Ayres, her latest project combining Baroque music, vaudeville, Sappho, and folkloric material of Europe and the Americas.

She will be joined by her musical collaborator Sullivan Fortner on harpsichord, keyboards, and piano, along with flutist Emi Ferguson, theorborist/lutist Dusan Balarin, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and percussionist Keita Ogawa — all renowned improvisers from genres spanning early music, jazz, folk, and electronic music.

This performance is co-sponsored by the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University.

Speaking about Book of Ayres, McLorin Salvant said, “I gravitate towards forgotten songs, early or maligned instruments, and languages and performance styles on the brink of extinction. I bring this process of excavation into my own writing, blending old and new, exploring language and mythology. I have been making the unoriginal yet concerted effort to move beyond categorizing music by genre. What I am interested in is exploring, celebrating, and making fun of desire, divulging secrets, dredging up the past, looking under the rug.”

Tickets are $35-$60 ($15 students and members of the Admit All ticket access program available online at puc.princeton.edu), by phone at (609) 258-9220, or in person a half hour prior to the concert at the Richardson Auditorium box office.