Ankara: American jazz singer and songwriter Cassandra Wilson, one of the most influential vocalists of the past four decades, has died at the age of 70 in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. Wilson died peacefully at home surrounded by family, close friends, and her longtime manager Robert Torre. The cause of death was not disclosed.
According to Anadolu Agency, a statement issued on Wednesday expressed the profound sadness felt by many at the passing of Cassandra Wilson, the Grammy Award-winning and legendary jazz artist. Known for her deep, melancholic contralto voice, Wilson was renowned for blurring the boundaries between jazz, blues, and folk while incorporating elements of pop, country, and R and B into her work.
In 2001, Time magazine named her "America's Best Singer," recognizing her as a soulful, sensual, and lyrical performer who continued the tradition of great jazz vocalists. Jackson Mayor John Horhn described Wilson as an "extraordinary native daughter" and a singular musical voice, noting how she carried the sound, spirit, and history of Mississippi with her wherever her music reached.
Musician Jon Batiste paid tribute to Wilson, noting her distinctive tone and phrasing and her fusion of folkloric, R and B, and diasporic music with experimental and popular styles, which had a major influence on him. Born Cassandra Fowlkes in Jackson in 1955, Wilson began playing piano at the age of six and took up guitar by 12. Her move to New York City in the early 1980s led to her becoming a founding member of the M-Base Collective alongside saxophonist Steve Coleman.
Wilson received widespread critical acclaim with her 1988 album "Blue Skies" and later signed with Blue Note Records, achieving a breakthrough with "Blue Light 'Til Dawn" in 1993. Her album "New Moon Daughter" won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 1997, while "Loverly" earned her a second award in the same category in 2009. Throughout her career, she received four Grammy nominations.
In addition to her own recordings, Wilson contributed to works by artists including Steve Coleman, Gregory Osby, Luther Vandross, Regina Carter, Angelique Kidjo, John Legend, and Ravi Coltrane. She also appeared on The Roots' albums "Do You Want More?!!!??!" and "Illadelph Halflife." Notably, Wilson was one of the principal vocalists on Wynton Marsalis' oratorio "Blood on the Fields," which became the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1997.
In 2015, Wilson marked the centenary of Billie Holiday's birth with a special performance at New York's Apollo Theater, and released "Coming Forth by Day," a tribute to Holiday and her final studio album. She later joined Black Thought, Elvis Costello, DJ Premier, T Bone Burnett, and Nathaniel Rateliff in the supergroup project Dopamine. In 2022, Wilson was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, one of the highest honors bestowed on jazz musicians in the US.