CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Loverly

by: Cassandra Wilson

Release Date June 10, 2008
Cassandra's smoky alto remains one of the most beguiling voices in jazz and blues.
After it was wreathed in a high-tech production by the producer T. Bone Burnett on Thunderbird, she goes back to acoustic basics of traditional jazz vocals here, with a set almost entirely comprised of vintage tunes recorded with a small combo featuring the brilliant pianist du jour, Jason Moran and the guitar of Marvin Sewell.
"Loverly" was produced in a rented house in her Mississippi hometown, with assembled invited musician friends who got down to the business of recording then and there, making this recording so relaxed and personal that it feels like a live set in your own living room.
It's impressive to hear the class and character ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Blue Light 'Til Dawn

by: Cassandra Wilson

Release Date November 02, 1993
most jazz musicians make concessions to popular and contemporary music at one time or another to broaden their fan base and seek wider critical and public acceptance . as is so often stated of this album , the producer and MS. WILSON had a true meeting of the minds and the tree started to bear exquisite fruit right away . you can read about the spare arrangements and outstanding musicianship at great length elsewhere (it's all true) . i adore CASSANDRA'S jazzier projects such as "SHE WHO WEEPS" and "BLUE SKIES" and "RENDEZVOUS" and so on . from this point forward , however , MS. WILSON garnered an audience rarely afforded a superb jazz vocalist and artist . and that my friends is how we win converts to authentic jazz music rather than preach to ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Belly of the Sun

by: Cassandra Wilson

Release Date March 26, 2002
This album has got the X-factor. Great arrangements, nice acoustic sound. I think it is the best Cassandra Wilson has ever come up with! Wow! What more can one say about this CD?!?!

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

New Moon Daughter

by: Cassandra Wilson

Release Date March 05, 1996
"New Moon Daughter" was released on Blue Note Records in 1996. It is in my opinion her best effort. She never sounded so dark and silky smooth. Most of the songs are very subtle and haunting. She has really done it on this album.

For those who don't know who Cassandra Wilson, she is a jazz vocalist who has performed in a number groups over the years, her most experimental being M-Base Collective led by saxophonist Steve Coleman. I think this is where she got much of her experience dealing with different kinds of music besides jazz.

"New Moon Daughter" finds her in very good company. Her band is remarkable and they are:

Graham Haynes, Lawrence "Butch" Morris (cornet); Tony Cedras (accordion); Dougie Bowne (vibraphone, drums, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Traveling Miles

by: Cassandra Wilson

Release Date March 23, 1999
I love Miles Davis and have barely listened to Cassandra Wilson so this was a risky venture; in the end it was worthwhile. I was curious what an artist could do by changing the original Miles songs into something new, replacing his horn with a voice, adding lyrics and creating a differnt song essentially. Beginning with Miles's excellent "Run The VooDoo Down" I was drawn in with a positive attitude. The following track, a Cassandra Wilson composition entitled "Travelling Miles" was very tasty with nice runs on sax by Steve Wilson and echoing Wilson's vocals as a chorus. It is a moody piece, part blues, part jazz, all good. From this point on the disc suddenly tries to capture the many colors of the musical world by adding a slew of instruments that seem to not fit ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Glamoured

by: Cassandra Wilson

Release Date October 07, 2003
Applies her now distinctive fusion-Delta steel, jazz, deep funkiness, and the voice-to a wide range of songs, making them all her own. Many reveal the originals only with close attention. Most coherent collection of her settings that I can recall-all as quiet but insistent and vital as the sound of your blood passing in your veins. The jazz-funk-country blues captures the calm of night in a swamp, but also the vague foreboding of a primordial presence there. Lyrics of tr 1 by Sting capture the mood of the cd as a whole: "Like rain from the stars, how fragile we are." That said, I repeatedly hear her voice as another instrument in the mix before I hear any words. [53:29]

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Thunderbird

by: Cassandra Wilson

Release Date April 04, 2006
I really appreciate customer reviews that assist me in making the right buying decisions. I don't write many reviews; but as a music fan and collector, I'm compelled to protect others from wasting their money on less than rewarding recordings. Here, I join the small minority of reviewers whom have tried to warn you about the lackluster substance of this product. I've been so impressed by other Wilson recordings, but just not this one. So if you're considering buying this or another Wilson recording, then I recommend you buy the other. I agree the mix here is extremely muddy, with the low frequencies pushed way outside the scope of what is normal. I mean, I like bass too, but this mix is just not smart. Additionally, I found very little SINCERELY soulful feelings ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Let's Get Lost

by: Terence Blanchard, Cassandra Wilson

Release Date May 22, 2001
Terence Blanchard is undoubtedly one of the top jazz performers of our time, regardless of instrument. However (and this is just my opinion), I don't care much for his original material. I much prefer releases in which he interprets other writers' works (e.g., The Billie Holliday Songbook, The Heart Speaks). So you can only imagine how much I enjoy listening to Let's Get Lost. This CD is outstanding not just in the interpretations, arrangements and production (all are flawless), but Blanchard has surrounded himself with four wonderful vocalists to support his vision of McHugh's standards.

This is one of my favorite late-night CD's. Blanchard's tone, as always, is pure, clean and sweet. I was introduced to several McHugh songs that I hadn't heard before. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Loverly

by: Cassandra Wilson

Release Date June 24, 2008
Cassandra's smoky alto remains one of the most beguiling voices in jazz and blues.
After it was wreathed in a high-tech production by the producer T. Bone Burnett on Thunderbird, she goes back to acoustic basics of traditional jazz vocals here, with a set almost entirely comprised of vintage tunes recorded with a small combo featuring the brilliant pianist du jour, Jason Moran and the guitar of Marvin Sewell.
"Loverly" was produced in a rented house in her Mississippi hometown, with assembled invited musician friends who got down to the business of recording then and there, making this recording so relaxed and personal that it feels like a live set in your own living room.
It's impressive to hear the class and character Cassandra has injected into these ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Sings Standards

by: Cassandra Wilson

Release Date July 16, 2002
For some reason I expected more from this CD. It doesn't particuarly stand out to me when I play it.