Cassandra Wilson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cassandra Wilson
Wilson in 2007
Background information
Born	(1955-12-04) December 4, 1955 (age 69) Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1985–present
Labels	JMT Blue Note
Associated acts	M-Base Collective

Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is a talented American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer. She comes from Jackson, Mississippi. Many people consider her one of the most successful female jazz singers. A famous critic, Gary Giddins, said she has a unique voice and style. Cassandra Wilson has made jazz music even more exciting by adding sounds from blues, country, and folk music. She has won many awards, including two Grammy Awards. In 2001, Time magazine even called her "America's Best Singer."

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Cassandra Wilson is the youngest of three children. Her father, Herman Fowlkes, Jr., was a guitarist, bassist, and music teacher. Her mother, Mary McDaniel, was an elementary school teacher. Cassandra's parents loved music, which helped her become interested in it from a young age. Her mother enjoyed Motown music, and her father was dedicated to jazz.

Learning Music and Exploring Styles

Cassandra started formal music lessons when she was six years old. She studied piano until she was thirteen. She also played the clarinet in her middle school's concert and marching bands. When she wanted to try something new, she asked her father to teach her guitar. He encouraged her to learn on her own using method books. This helped her develop her own "intuitive" way of playing. During this time, she also began writing her own songs in a folk style. She even performed in school plays, like The Wizard of Oz, where she played Dorothy.

College and Early Performances

Wilson attended Millsaps College and Jackson State University. She earned a degree in mass communications. While studying, she spent her evenings singing with R&B, funk, and pop cover bands. She also performed in local coffeehouses. The Black Arts Music Society gave her her first chances to perform bebop jazz. In 2007, she received an honorary PhD in Arts from Millsaps College.

In 1981, Cassandra moved to New Orleans for a job at a TV station. However, she soon realized her passion was jazz. With encouragement from mentors like Ellis Marsalis, Jr., she decided to focus on jazz performance. She then moved to New York City in 1982 to pursue her music career.

Joining the M-Base Collective

In New York, Cassandra Wilson focused on improvisation, which is making up music on the spot. She was greatly inspired by singers Abbey Lincoln and Betty Carter. She improved her vocal style and scat singing (singing with nonsense syllables) by studying ear training. She often went to jam sessions where she met alto saxophonist Steve Coleman. He encouraged her to create her own original music instead of just singing old jazz songs.

M-Base: A New Sound in Jazz

Cassandra became a founding member and vocalist of the M-Base collective. Steve Coleman was a main leader of this group. M-Base was a new style of jazz that mixed the sounds of funk and soul with traditional and avant-garde jazz. A writer for The New York Times described M-Base music as sounding like 1970s funk but with new and complex rhythms. Even though the voice is usually the main part of a song, Cassandra fit her voice perfectly into M-Base's complex music. She used wordless improvisation and lyrics.

You can hear Cassandra Wilson on many of Steve Coleman's albums, starting with Motherland Pulse (1985). She was also part of his group Five Elements and the M-Base Collective's album Anatomy of a Groove (1992). Around the same time, she toured with the avant-garde trio New Air and recorded Air Show No. 1 (1987).

Cassandra Wilson's Solo Career

Like other M-Base artists, Cassandra Wilson signed with JMT, an independent record label. She released her first album as a leader, Point of View, in 1986. Most of her albums with JMT featured her own original songs, often in the M-Base style. She also recorded songs by Steve Coleman and other musicians. Her deep, husky voice, known as a contralto, became more prominent on these recordings. She developed an amazing ability to stretch notes and change her voice from dark to airy.

Breakthrough Success

While her early recordings showed her as a serious musician, Cassandra gained widespread praise for her album of jazz standards, Blue Skies (1988). A big turning point in her career came in 1993 when she signed with Blue Note Records. This led to her music reaching many more people, with albums selling hundreds of thousands of copies.

Starting with Blue Light 'Til Dawn (1993), her music began to blend blues, pop, jazz, world music, and country sounds. She continued to perform her own songs and jazz standards. But she also started singing songs by artists like Robert Johnson ("Come On in My Kitchen"), Joni Mitchell ("Black Crow"), The Monkees ("Last Train to Clarksville"), and Hank Williams ("I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry").

Awards and Tributes

Cassandra Wilson's 1996 album New Moon Daughter won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. In 1997, she performed with Wynton Marsalis on his Pulitzer Prize-winning composition, Blood on the Fields.

Miles Davis, a legendary jazz musician, was a huge influence on Cassandra. In 1989, she opened for him at the JVC Jazz Festival. In 1999, she released Traveling Miles, an album dedicated to Miles Davis. This album came from a series of concerts she performed in his honor. It includes songs based on Davis's own music.

Personal Life

Cassandra Wilson was married to Anthony Wilson from 1981 to 1983. She has a son named Jeris, who was born in the late 1980s. Her song "Out Loud (Jeris' Blues)" is dedicated to him. For many years, she and her son lived in Sugar Hill, New York City. Their apartment had once belonged to famous people like Count Basie and Joe Louis. From 2000 to 2003, Cassandra was married to actor Isaach de Bankolé. He directed her in a concert film called Traveling Miles: Cassandra Wilson (2000). Cassandra and her mother are members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Awards and Recognitions

Cassandra Wilson has received many awards and honors throughout her career:

• 1994–1996: Female Jazz Vocalist of the Year by Down Beat magazine.
• 1997: Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for New Moon Daughter.
• 1999: Miles Davis Prize at the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
• 2001: Named "America's Best Singer" by Time magazine.
• 2003: Received an Honorary doctorate in the Arts from Millsaps College.
• 2009: Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Loverly.
• 2010: Added to the Mississippi Blues Trail.
• 2010: Best Vocal Album in the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll for Silver Pony.
• 2011: Best Traditional Jazz Album at the BET Soul Train Award for Silver Pony.
• 2015: Received an Honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from The New School.
• 2015: Spirit of Ireland Award from the Irish Arts Centre.
• 2020: Received an Honorary doctorate in Music from Berklee College of Music.

Discography

Albums as a Leader

• Point of View (JMT, 1986)
• Days Aweigh (JMT, 1987)
• Blue Skies (JMT, 1988)
• Jumpworld (JMT, 1990)
• Live (JMT, 1991)
• She Who Weeps (JMT, 1991)
• Dance to the Drums Again (DIW, 1992)
• After the Beginning Again (JMT, 1992)
• Blue Light 'til Dawn (Blue Note, 1993)
• New Moon Daughter (Blue Note, 1995)
• Rendezvous with Jacky Terrasson (Blue Note, 1997)
• Traveling Miles (Blue Note, 1999)
• Belly of the Sun (Blue Note, 2002)
• Glamoured (Blue Note, 2003)
• Thunderbird (Blue Note, 2006)
• Loverly (Blue Note, 2008)
• Silver Pony (Blue Note, 2010)
• Another Country (eOne, 2012)
• Coming Forth by Day (Legacy, 2015)

Compilations

• Songbook (JMT, 1995)
• Sings Standards (Verve, 2002)
• Love Phases Dimensions: From the JMT Years (Edel, 2004)
• Closer to You: The Pop Side (Blue Note, 2009)
• 5 Original Albums (Blue Note, 2018)

Albums as a Guest Artist

With Steve Coleman

• Motherland Pulse (JMT, 1985)
• On the Edge of Tomorrow (JMT, 1986)
• World Expansion (JMT, 1987)
• Sine Die (Pangaea, 1988)
• Rhythm People (The Resurrection of Creative Black Civilization) (RCA, 1990)
• Black Science (Novus, 1991)
• Drop Kick (Novus, 1992)
• The Ascension to Light (BMG France, 1999)

With Wynton Marsalis

• Blood on the Fields (Columbia, 1997)
• Reeltime (Sony, 1999)

With The Roots

• Do You Want More?!!!??! (DGC, 1994)
• Illadelph Halflife (DGC, 1996)

With Other Artists

• New Air, Air Show No. 1 (Black Saint, 1986)
• Don Byron, A Fine Line: Arias & Lieder (Blue Note, 2000)
• Terence Blanchard, Let's Get Lost (Sony, 2001)
• Terri Lyne Carrington, The Mosaic Project (Concord Jazz, 2011)
• Regina Carter, Rhythms of the Heart (Verve, 1999)
• Olu Dara, Neighborhoods (Atlantic, 2001)
• Kurt Elling, The Messenger (Blue Note, 1997)
• Robin Eubanks, Karma (JMT, 1991)
• Bill Frisell & Elvis Costello, The Sweetest Punch (Decca, 1999)
• Charlie Haden Quartet West, Sophisticated Ladies (EmArcy, 2010)
• Dave Holland, Dream of the Elders (ECM, 1995)
• Javon Jackson, A Look Within (Blue Note, 1996)
• Angelique Kidjo, Oremi (Island, 1998)
• M-Base Collective, Anatomy of a Groove (Columbia, 1992)
• David Murray Black Saint Quartet, Sacred Ground (Justin Time, 2007)
• Meshell Ndegeocello, The Spirit Music Jamia: Dance of the Infidel (Shanachie, 2005)
• Greg Osby, Season of Renewal (JMT, 1990)
• Courtney Pine, Modern Day Jazz Stories (Antilles, 1995)
• David Sanchez, Street Scenes (Columbia, 1996)
• Steve Turre, Steve Turre (Verve, 1997)
• Luther Vandross, I Know (EMI, 1998)
• Count Basie Orchestra, Ella 100: Live at the Apollo! (Concord, 2020)

See also

In Spanish: Cassandra Wilson para niños