Wilson, Cassandra

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Cassandra Wilson

Singer, composer

One of the most prominent jazz vocalists of the late twentieth century, Cassandra Wilson has a contralto voice that has been variously described as rich, smoky, and deep and hazy. Her repertoire is diverse; it includes jazz standards, Mississippi reggae, blues, and pieces that edge into pop, although Wilson brings a jazz singer’s sensibility and phrasing to everything she does. Wilson’s recording career began with Steve Coleman as part of the M-Base collective and progressed to the production of several solo albums of which she wrote, co-wrote, or arranged about half herself. Her most popular albums, Blue Skies, a collection of jazz standards, and Blue Light ’Til Dawn, a mix of blues, jazz, and folk, departed from her usual metaphysical lyrics.

Wilson’s childhood entry into music was influenced by her father, jazz guitarist and bassist Herman B. Fowlkes. She studied classical piano from age six or seven to her early teens. Taught basic guitar chords by her father at 11 or 12, Wilson began writing her own songs. Over the next five years she wrote approximately 20 folk-type tunes, inspired by Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and Judy Collins. It was while attending Milsaps College in the mid-1970s that Wilson got her first gig singing and playing guitar at a nearby folk club every Tuesday. And although the response to her performances gave her confidence in her singing, she also received some valuable criticism. “I used to have this nyaa-a-a-a-h vibrato,” she told Kevin Whitehead in a Down Beat interview. “The club owner told me nobody could make it with a voice like that. I got rid of it, but there is a trace of it left; you can hear it.”

Moved to New Orleans

After graduating with a degree in mass communications from Jackson State, Wilson moved to New Orleans, where she began sitting in with Earl Turbinton and Ellis Marsalis. In 1982 she arrived in New York and soon found her way into the M-Base jazz collective, a group of avant-garde musicians mixing jazz improvisation with precise composition and the rhythms of hip-hop, rap, and funk.

Saxophonist Steve Coleman, whom Wilson met in 1983, played a significant role in Wilson’s career at the time. “He was the first one that really encouraged me to write my own material, to do original music, and to just spot a direction of my own,” Wilson explained in her Down Beat interview. At the time a bebopper, Wilson was attracted to the music of Charlie Parker and the singing of Betty Carter; Coleman introduced her to the singing of Abbey Lincoln, who became an important influence on her development. Coleman also gave Wilson her

For the Record…

Born Cassandra Marie Fowlkes, in 1955, in Jackson, MS; daughter of Herman B. Fowlkes (a jazz guitarist, bassist, and schoolteacher), and Mary Fowlkes (a schoolteacher); married Anthony Wilson, 1981 (divorced, 1983). Education: Attended Milsaps College; received degree in mass communications from Jackson State.

First professional gig at a folk club near Milsaps College, mid-1970s; joined Blue John, a rock band from Arkansas; moved to New Orleans and began sitting in with Earl Turbinton and Ellis Marsalis, 1981; moved to New York and joined what would become the M-Base collective, 1982; made several albums with Steve Coleman, mid-1980s; recorded with Jim DeAngelis and Tony Signs and Henry Threadgill’s New Air, 1980s; recorded first solo album, 1986; recorded seven more solo albums, mostly avant-garde jazz, although one was a collection of standards and one a mix of blues, folk, and jazz, late 1980s and early 1990s.

Addresses: Home —New York, NY. Publicity —Shore Fire Media, 193 Joralemon St., Brooklyn, NY 11202. Record company —Blue Note, 810 Seventh Ave., 4th Floor, New York, NY 10019.

first recording opportunity on his 1985 release, Motherland Pulse. Whitehead described her recording debut in Down Beat: “You could already hear her well-developed ear, a taste for unlikely intervals, and a refreshing refusal to wow us to death.”

Explored Diverse Musical Genres

Over the next several years Wilson continued to collaborate with Coleman; she also recorded with Henry Threadgill’s New Air and with Jim DeAngelis and Tony Signs. Her first solo album, Point of View, was released by JMT in 1986, having taken only two days to record and mix. She did most of the producing for Days Aweigh, taking only four days but finishing with a more polished album than her previous release. The songs on these two albums do not represent the usual jazz singer’s repertoire. A mix of funk, fusion, and reggae, the music combines with lyrics that border on metaphysical. Praised for their ambitious scope, these early albums have also been criticized as too ethereal.

In 1988 Wilson showcased her talents in a different venue, a collection of standards. Blue Skies, with the traditional trio of piano, bass, and drums to support Wilson’s vocals, includes material from Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, and Johnny Mercer. “The readings never get too deep,” described Brian Cullman in Vogue, “but her phrasing is consistently thoughtful and original.” Her treatment of such songs as “I’ve Grown Accustomed to His Face,” “Sweet Lorraine,” “Shall We Dance,” and “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” led many to compare her to Betty Carter. Jazz fans seemed to appreciate Wilson’s skills as a dramatist; this album outsold her previous recordings by almost ten to one.

In Dance to the Drums Again, released by DlW/Colum-bia in 1993, Wilson turned away from the winning formula of Blue Skies. She returned to ethereal lyrics, but leaned toward a black pop format. Jean-Paul Bourelly co-wrote most of the tracks, incorporating guitar and even some synthetic strings and a drum machine. An African choral influence can be heard in places. According to a 1993 Essence profile, “Her highly metaphysical lyrics, she says, are inspired by her dreams as well as by African religions and mythology, which she has studied extensively.”

Blue Light Highlighted Vocal Stylings

First-time producer Craig Street worked with Wilson on her next album, Blue Light’TilDawn. Originally planned as a collection of Southern soul music, the album evolved into an earthy mix of Delta blues, African harmonies, and folk/pop tracks. Themes of restlessness and unrequited love tie the disparate styles and genres together. The tracks are also all given the same reductionist treatment by Street, using blues and classical guitars, African and Brazilian percussion, and a little bass. With no keyboard and few horns, the pieces feature percussion as an important foil for Wilson’s floating and soaring improvisation. Her voice is in the forefront on this album, which includes material by the Stylistics, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, and Delta blues legend Robert Johnson.

Wilson next cut two songs with Robbie Robertson for the film Jimmy Hollywood and was expected to begin work on her next album in the spring of 1994. Meanwhile, the cross-generational appeal of Blue Light ‘Til Dawn, the uniformly strong reviews it received, and its unusual mix of genres was moving Wilson into the mainstream. According to Tate, “Blue Light ‘Til Dawn is the kind of album that gets called timeless on the way to becoming a classic. It stirs up misty visions of jazz antiquity in thoroughly modern ways, eschewing the use of tradition as a crutch and embracing black music’s past as a place where emancipation begins rather than ends.”

Selected discography

Point of View, JMT, 1986.
DaysAweigh, JMT, 1987.
Blue Skies, JMT, 1988.
She Who Weeps, JMT, 1991.
Dance to the Drums Again, DlW/Columbia, 1992.
Blue Light ‘Til Dawn, Blue Note, 1993.
Live, 1993.
Jump World, JMT.