(Cecile McLorin Salvant. Photo by Ebru Yildi)
By Jerome Langston
As part of the Virginia Arts Festival’s deep commitment to presenting world-class jazz music, the current season of the festival features some wonderful jazz offerings; including vocalist Anais Reno with the John Toomey trio at the Attucks jazz club next month. Earlier this month Virginia’s own René Marie, who is a legendary jazz singer and songwriter, played to a packed house as part of the long running jazz club series. In May, the Attucks Jazz Orchestra returns with a show celebrating both Miles Davis and John Coltrane — both considered giants of modern jazz. And on my birthday, which is the same month, the eclectic jazz bassist and composer, Christian McBride, headlines a show at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts. And then the Michael Mayo Quartet plays Norfolk’s Perry Pavilion towards the end of May. Michael is a young singer, whose artistry covers both jazz and soul music. He’s a wonderful singer, who really understands the vocal art form of improvisation, and he was just nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the Grammys, which he should have won.
Later this month at the historic Attucks Theatre, as part of the Virginia Arts Festival, the legendary Danish Radio Big Band, often referred to as simply the DR Big Band, will play a show with their chief conductor, Miho Hazama, who was also recently nominated for a Grammy in the Best Instrumental Composition category, and the excellent singer and composer, Cécile McLorin Salvant, who was born and raised in Miami, Florida. The Attucks Theatre date is part of a 4-date tour run in the U.S. and is reportedly their first American tour in 30 years. For this tour, the band is performing some of Hazama’s latest works, as well as music from the band’s acclaimed catalogue.
The DR Big Band was founded in Copenhagen back in 1964. They are widely known and respected for their work with American bandleaders like the great Thad Jones, who is responsible for much of their most acclaimed output, Jim McNeely, who Hazama was a student of in New York, and Bob Brookmeyer. Of course Thad Jones, a master on trumpet and a celebrated bandleader and arranger, really elevated the artistry and profile of the big band, after becoming its leader following his move to Copenhagen in the seventies. The big band also played with jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry and Jimmy Heath, amongst many others. More recently, they’ve worked with trumpeter Randy Brecker, and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts. Hazama became their chief conductor back in 2019. Her first album featuring the big band was 2021’s Imaginary Visions, which received glowing reviews from jazz critics. Artistic director of the band, Birger Carlsen, stated that it is “a joy to return to the United States after three decades with such a strong program, and with Miho Hazama at the helm.”
Cécile McLorin Salvant is an adventurous jazz singer and composer. She’s won three Grammy Awards, including a Best Jazz Vocal Album win for 2015’s For One to Love. Her most recent release, Oh Snap, was released in September of 2025, by Nonesuch Records. She told music writer John Murph, for Grammy.com about some of the themes explored in her 2022 release, Ghost Song. “I’ve always gravitated towards songs that are about longing and desire — more about wanting than about the love itself. It’s about the moment before you get something or after something has been taken away from you. That’s the moment where your imagination takes flight; you start to build stories and try to fill absences with these stories. And that is something that I’m so excited about… I think it’s such a big part of our lives. It just made sense to try to synthesize that idea of ghosts,” she said.
WANT TO GO?
Cécile McLorin Salvant
With Danish Radio Big Band
Miho Hazama, conductor
Presented by Virginia Arts Festival
February 22
Attucks Theatre