Cassandra Wilson - Jazz Festival de Jazz Vitoria, Gazteiz - SPAIN - 2008

Cassandra Wilson is often described as not only an accomplished jazz vocalist and composer but also as a lyricist, producer, musical director, guitarist and pianist. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1955, Cassandra Wilson has been singing and performing since she sang at her brother’s kindergarten graduation at the age of five. The youngest of three children, Wilson began playing the piano and guitar at the age of nine. Cassandra attributes her interest in music to her parents. Her mother, who is a retired elementary school teacher, and father, who is a bass guitarist, often sang to her as a small child. Her father introduced her to jazz . Jazz was not a very popular form of music during the 1960’s, but Cassandra loved it so much that she wanted to share it with others .

A former classmate, Dr. Phillip Nelson, recalls a time when she shared her newfound love for jazz with the entire student body at a Jackson's Powell Junior High School talent show. “You have to remember that at that time the only thing we listened to was R&B, and she got on stage with a guitar and played a type of music no one had really heard before. It was much like a ballad, and although she didn’t get a lot of attention (there was a lot of talking going on), she didn’t get booed off stage either. I was impressed by the courage she demonstrated to sing an alternative selection. She sang well. She had great stage presence, and although she didn’t play anything popular, she was good enough to have people stand there and listen to her, and that’s when I realized that she had broader experiences, at least musically, than most people at that age. She sang that song because she loved it, and she didn’t care if you liked that song or not, and I respected her for that” .

When Cassandra was in the ninth grade, the schools were desegregated in Mississippi. Her ninth and tenth grade years were difficult as Cassandra recalls but were better for the remainder of her high school years. Despite the racial tensions that were present at her new school setting, she eventually adjusted to her environment. In the eleventh grade she got the leading role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. “ For all the negative aspects, experiencing things that were different from what I knew was also exciting,” says Cassandra in an interview for The Oxford American in it’s 1997 music issue . Obtaining the star role in the high school musical was not the first time Cassandra stepped over the color lines and made a mark for herself and others. During her last years in high school, Wilson formed a musical group with two young men who were both white. “She had difficulty (with classmates) because of the relationship she chose to have, but you had to respect the choice she made.” Wilson saw her interracial music group as a growing period for her life as well as for others. “Music was the way we (blacks and whites) came together. We traded albums at school. I remember hearing James Taylor and then really getting into Joni Mitchell. I turned some of my friends on to jazz they hadn’t heard before” .

After obtaining a degree from Jackson State University in mass communication, Wilson moved from Mississippi to New Orleans and worked as an assistant in Public Affairs at a local television station. In 1982, Wilson moved to New York. She began recording widely in the 80’s initially with Steve Coleman and Henry Threadgill’s New Air group. She became the main vocalist with their M/Base collection. During her first decade in New York, she released seven records on the JMT/Verve label while she also sang on other innovative projects for other singers (Woodworth 31). By 1993 she had sung on ten albums produced by JMT records with a wide variety of New York musicians, including Mulgrew Miller and Greg Osby .

Cassandra music is a bit off-beat jazz with a little twist of Joni Mitchell's style. Her progress in the jazz world has improved a lot and has become one of the best jazz singers today. Her performances here in this concert simply displays her outmost best in jazz singing. Playing along with her most innovataive jazzband. Singing mostly standard jazz and some familiar tunes from her past albums. 1 hour of full entertainment.