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As
Jon Batiste put it in a eulogy on Wednesday, Wilson sounded like
the South.
She died in her native Jackson, Mississippi, on Tuesday morning,
the Hinds County Coroner Jeramiah Howard confirmed.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of
Cassandra Wilson, the Grammy Award-winning and legendary jazz
artist. Cassandra Wilson transitioned peacefully at home,
surrounded by family, close friends, and her manager,” said a
statement from her manager to jazz radio station WBGO.
From Jackson to the world
Born and raised in Jackson to musician Herman B. Fowlkes and
teacher Mary Fowlkes, Wilson showed an early love of music
listening to Motown, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. At 6, she
started piano lessons. She played clarinet in marching bands.
She performed at coffeehouses and in cover bands while studying
at Millsaps College and Jackson State University.
In the early ‘80s, she mentored under jazz greats in New Orleans
before moving to New York City and joining Steve Coleman’s
M-Base Collective — eventually becoming its main vocalist.
Her instantly recognizable voice earned her four Grammy
nominations and two wins for best jazz vocal album. Those were
in 1997 for “New Moon Daughter” and 2009 for “Loverly.”
In 2015, it was Wilson who gave a special concert at the famed
Apollo Theater to commemorate the 100th birthday of blues singer
Billie Holiday, the legendary American jazz vocalist who died in
New York City at age 44. That same year, Wilson released her
last album, “Coming Forth by Day,” an homage to Holiday.
In 2022, Wilson was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz
Master, one of the highest honors awarded to jazz musicians in
the United States.
Tributes pour in
“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,”
Batiste said in his tribute to Wilson on Instagram.
“Her Mississippi heritage was always present in everything no
matter how expansive her artistry evolved,” he wrote in the
caption of a clip showing them together on Brazilian TV in 2009.
“She was one of the first people to take me on tour around the
world, the great Cassandra Wilson.”
Jackson Mayor John Horhn said the city “has lost an
extraordinary native daughter, and the world has lost a singular
musical voice.”
“Cassandra Wilson carried the sound, spirit and history of
Mississippi with her wherever her music reached,” said the
mayor's statement, shared with WJTV. “Her work had rare depth of
character and a profound understanding of how music moves
people, tells stories and connects generations.”
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