New Moon Daughter (1995)
1. Strange Fruit 5:35
l2. Love Is Blindness 4:56
3. Solomon Sang 5:56
l4. Death Letter 4:13
5. Skylark 4:08
6. Find Him 4:39
7. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry 4:51
8. Last Train To Clarksville 5:16
9. Until 6:30
10. A Little Warm Death 5:45
11. Memphis 5:05
12. Harvest Moon 5:01
Personnel
* Cassandra Wilson – vocals, acoustic guitar
* Cyro Baptista – percussion, Jew's-Harp, shaker
* Dougie Bowne – percussion, drums, whistle, vibraphone
* Gary Breit – Hammond organ
* Kevin Breit – acoustic & electric guitar, banjo, bouzouki
* Brandon Ross – acoustic & electric guitar
* Charles Burnham – violin
* Tony Cedras– accordion
* Graham Haynes – cornet
* Lawrence "Butch" Morris – cornet
* Jeff Haynes – percussion, bongos
* Peepers – background vocals
* Mark Peterson – bass
* Lonnie Plaxico – bass
* Gib Wharton – pedal steel guitar
* Chris Whitley – guitar on 1
Amazon.com essential recording
Her luscious alto has the depth and texture of a great tenor saxophonist, but Cassandra Wilson's defining asset is a postmodern song sense that enables her to surf through Son House, Neil Young, Johnny Mercer, Billie Holiday, and (gasp!) the Monkees in pursuit of strong songs that can provide that instrument with a canvas. Her second Blue Note album extends Wilson's seductive pilgrimage beyond the conventions of jazz repertoire and accompaniment, yet it's her instincts as a jazz singer that inform these brilliant readings. The settings again step away from traditional small group jazz (for starters, there's no piano) to evoke the emotional core of these songs. Anyone who can turn the Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville" into a slow-burning erotic vignette deserves your attention. --Sam Sutherland
From Jazzizl2. Love Is Blindness 4:56
3. Solomon Sang 5:56
l4. Death Letter 4:13
5. Skylark 4:08
6. Find Him 4:39
7. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry 4:51
8. Last Train To Clarksville 5:16
9. Until 6:30
10. A Little Warm Death 5:45
11. Memphis 5:05
12. Harvest Moon 5:01
Personnel
* Cassandra Wilson – vocals, acoustic guitar
* Cyro Baptista – percussion, Jew's-Harp, shaker
* Dougie Bowne – percussion, drums, whistle, vibraphone
* Gary Breit – Hammond organ
* Kevin Breit – acoustic & electric guitar, banjo, bouzouki
* Brandon Ross – acoustic & electric guitar
* Charles Burnham – violin
* Tony Cedras– accordion
* Graham Haynes – cornet
* Lawrence "Butch" Morris – cornet
* Jeff Haynes – percussion, bongos
* Peepers – background vocals
* Mark Peterson – bass
* Lonnie Plaxico – bass
* Gib Wharton – pedal steel guitar
* Chris Whitley – guitar on 1
Amazon.com essential recording
Her luscious alto has the depth and texture of a great tenor saxophonist, but Cassandra Wilson's defining asset is a postmodern song sense that enables her to surf through Son House, Neil Young, Johnny Mercer, Billie Holiday, and (gasp!) the Monkees in pursuit of strong songs that can provide that instrument with a canvas. Her second Blue Note album extends Wilson's seductive pilgrimage beyond the conventions of jazz repertoire and accompaniment, yet it's her instincts as a jazz singer that inform these brilliant readings. The settings again step away from traditional small group jazz (for starters, there's no piano) to evoke the emotional core of these songs. Anyone who can turn the Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville" into a slow-burning erotic vignette deserves your attention. --Sam Sutherland
If any one vocalist embodies the skills, styles, and creativity of the 21st-century jazz singer, it is Cassandra Wilson. Early on, Wilson aspired to sound like Betty Carter - "to be Betty," she said in a 1996 JAZZIZ interview. But Carter implored Wilson to find her own way, and that she's done. Building upon the legacies of Carter and many other standard-bearing singers, yet focusing on her own personal influences, Wilson has achieved astonishing popular and critical success.
