Cassandra Wilson, born December 4, 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi, is an American jazz singer and two-time Grammy Award recipient. Blue Skies (1988), and New Moon Daughter (1996) were both top-selling jazz albums in the United States. The latter album also earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. Wilson’s most recent album, Loverly (2008), won her the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Record at the 51st Grammy Awards 2009. Wilson’s repertoire contains both jazz and blues standards as well as renditions of pop songs and rock songs. Her contralto voice is described as bluesy, sultry and her musical style ranges from swing to bossa nova to funk. Many of her songs are covers by artists who record in different genres. Wilson considers Miles Davis to be one of her greatest influences. She was the opening act for Miles Davis in 1989 at the JVC Jazz Festival, Chicago. As a tribute to Davis, she created Traveling Miles in 1999. This album was the result of a series jazz concerts she gave at Lincoln Center in December 1997 in Davis’s honour. It includes three selections that are based on Davis compositions. Wilson has adapted the original themes. Official website: www.cassandrawilson.com User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.
