McLorin Salvant grew up in Miami as the child of a Haitian father and a French mother. She first studied classical voice, but turned to jazz because it offered her more range. "I never wanted to sound clean and pretty," she told Terry Gross in 2015. "In jazz, I felt I could sing these deep, husky lows if I want, and then these really tiny, laser highs if I want, as well." Her new record is 'The Window,' which critic Kevin Whitehead says is "riveting."