Cassandra Wilson (USA)
Cassandra Wilson is one of the top jazz singers of the '90s, a vocalist blessed with a distinctive and flexible voice who is not afraid to take chances.
Line Up:
Cassandra Wilson - vocals
On Stage: 5
Travel party: 7
Biography:
The voice is more visual than audible; shaded, iridescent, tangible, substantial. It seems to flow effortlessly. Read any of the dozen or so biographies on Cassandra Wilson and you’ll discover some basics: born and reared in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s and 70s by musician and educator parents. Classically trained on piano from age 6 until the age of 13, she also received further musical instruction as a clarinetist for the concert and marching bands of secondary school. During the 70s, she could be found performing Joni Mitchell songs behind an acoustic guitar, or singing with a blues band in Little Rock, Arkansas, in front of a large funk band in Jackson, or in the company of long-time friends in an all-girls ensemble. In the eighties, Cassandra moved to New Orleans where she performed with local luminaries Earl Turbinton and Ellis Marsalis. After a year, she relocated to East Orange, New Jersey where she made a decision to take her chances on the New York jazz scene. After a stint as the main vocalist with Steve Coleman’s M-Base Collective, Cassandra began recording on her own. Her development can be tracked through her discography. From the standards on Blue Skies to the Grammy-winning projects New Moon Daughter and Loverly, to the combination of originals and interpretations played by a collection of Mississippi and New York musicians on both the 2001 release, Belly of the Sun, and 2003’s Glamoured, Cassandra continues to evolve as a vocalist, songwriter, and producer. She is a world renowned vocalist, songwriter and producer, with an extraordinary following, but at heart she is still a Mississippi girl whose art reflects her deep musical and cultural roots, anchored in the fertile Mississippi soil.
Discography:
1985 Songbook - JMT
1985 Point of View - JMT
1987 Days Aweigh - Winter &
1988 Blue Skies - JMT
1989 Jumpworld - JMT
1990 She Who Weeps - JMT
1991 Live - Polygram
1991 After the Beginning Again - Polygram
1992 Dance to the Drums Again - DIW/Columbia
1993 Blue Light Til Dawn - Blue Note
1995 New Moon Daughter - Blue Note
1998 Blue Moon Rendezvous - EMI
1999 Traveling Miles - Blue Note
2002 Belly of the Sun - Blue Note
2002 Sings Standards - Japanese
2003 Glamoured - Blue Note
2006 Thunderbird - Blue Note
2008 Loverly - Blue Note
2010 Silver Pony - EMI
YouTube Videos:
Cassandra Wilson live in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain (2005)