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🇬🇧 United Kingdom /Culture & Society

Cassandra Wilson, Grammy-winning jazz singer, dies at 70

From The Guardian · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • Two-time Grammy-winning jazz singer, songwriter and producer Cassandra Wilson died at 70 in her native Jackson, Mississippi, her manager said.
  • Wilson gained acclaim for a genre-spanning contralto voice and won best jazz vocal album Grammys for New Moon Daughter and Loverly.
  • She was named a National Endowment for the Arts jazz master in 2022 and received tributes from Jon Batiste and Jackson Mayor John Horhn.

Cassandra Wilson, the Mississippi-born singer whose rich contralto carried blues, jazz, folk, pop, R&B and country, has died at 70. She died Tuesday morning at home in Jackson, surrounded by family, close friends and her manager, according to a statement issued to jazz radio station WBGO. Hinds County Coroner Jeramiah Howard confirmed her death.

the south

— Jon BatisteBatiste used the phrase in a eulogy describing the sound and Mississippi roots of Wilson’s music.

Time magazine called Wilson America’s best singer in 2001. Her voice, distinctive and soulful, stretched beyond the boundaries of traditional blues-based jazz while remaining closely connected to her Southern roots. Jon Batiste captured that connection in a eulogy, saying Wilson sounded like “the south.”

Born and raised in Jackson to musician Herman B. Fowlkes and teacher Mary Fowlkes, Wilson began piano lessons at six. She later played clarinet in marching bands and performed in coffeehouses and cover groups while studying at Millsaps College and Jackson State University. In the early 1980s, she studied under jazz musicians in New Orleans before moving to New York and joining Steve Coleman’s M-Base Collective, where she became its lead vocalist.

She had an unmistakable vocal tone, phrasing and her approach of weaving folkloric, R+B and diasporic music together with experimental and popular genres had a major impact on me

— Jon BatisteBatiste described Wilson’s influence on his own music.

Wilson received four Grammy nominations and won twice for best jazz vocal album, in 1997 for New Moon Daughter and in 2009 for Loverly. In 2015, she performed at the Apollo Theater for the centenary of Billie Holiday’s birth and released Coming Forth by Day, her final album, as a tribute to Holiday. The National Endowment for the Arts named her a jazz master in 2022.

an extraordinary native daughter

— John HorhnJackson’s mayor described Wilson’s importance to her hometown.

Batiste said Wilson’s blend of folkloric, R&B and diasporic music with experimental and popular genres had a major influence on him. Jackson Mayor John Horhn said the city had lost “an extraordinary native daughter” and the world had lost “a singular musical voice.”

a singular musical voice

— John HorhnThe mayor described Wilson’s loss to the wider world.
About this summary

Originally published by The Guardian in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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