Salvant has been all but universally acclaimed as the most inventive jazz vocalist of her generation, and her grasp of conceptual frameworks is almost as exciting as her technical ability. Her execution matches her ambition. Last year at the Walker, she collaborated with a 13-piece orchestra to perform her work Ogresse: Envisioned, which also included visuals and costumery she had a hand in designing. Also last year, she released Mélusine, a collection of originals and rearranged traditional songs, sung in French, Occitan, English, and Haitian Kreyol; it offered her twist on the old folktale of a woman who becomes half-snake once a week. (RACKET)