Search - Cassandra Wilson :: Blue Light Til Dawn

Music With Soul After Midnight-Bewitching

Lance G. Rigley | Brisbane, Queensland Australia | 01/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After reviewing "Travelling Miles" from 1999,I decided to delve back to 1993 to see the basis for the former and to identify the progression in style and product from earlier Ms Wilson.Again I found this to be an adult CD requiring a serious attempt at listening to be fully rewarded,again the result is a unique,ambitious and soulful interpretation of some contemporary blues and soulful songs with the trademark Wilson touch.For those serious enough to step outside the square,this is for you..and in spades as well!!!The talent is again that*voice* and the interpretative touches she puts onto songs by Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Robert Johnson,as well as others,including her own compositions Redbone and Blue Light Til Dawn.She is a maverick of the most interesting kind.I could see the street lights flickering ,the cats squelling the sirens sounding, the rubbish cans rattling,as I staggered home in the pre dawn hours..and that husky smoke laden delivery in my mind.Come On In My Kitchen and Hellhound on My Trail are provocative..if you dont get a kick at listening to these..check your pulse ...you may be dead!!!!I think her interpretaion of I Cant Stand the Rain is excellent.This song lends itself to a Wilson interpretation,more interesting than the commerically exploited version of Eruption in the disco laden 70s and the interesting treatment given to it by Ronnie Wood on one of his albums years later.As with the Miles Davis tribute,I found the muscianship excellent,with Ms Wilson showing her up front approach to a sparse and percussive accompaniment.This truely is an excellent album,that requires to be given a number of listens before the true talent can be appreciated.This will grow on you,and be played periodically from your collection,when the other commerically and talent limited divas have disappeared. Turn off the lights,late at night and listen...you will be drifting between midnight and dawn..a classic sound from the evolving and maturing Ms Wilson.4 1/2 to 5 stars,a worthy addition to your collection."

Learn to love it

adade69 | Jersey City, NJ United States | 03/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So Cassandra's "New Moon Daughter" is a gem too, but this album is less known and, while it didn't make an immediate impression on me, I now listen to it a lot more. There's basically more variety in song style and arrangement and, if you like Cassandra, then just the sound of her voice is heaven. (If you haven't heard her, her voice is about as distinct as Nina Simone's.) The key point with Cassandra is: nobody sounds like her so if she isn't in your collection then nothing like her is in your collection. Her voice is deep and sultry, her music spacious, unrushed -- there's something distinctly southern about it. She is one of Nora Jones' inspirations, but where Nora's voice is a gentle breeze, Cassandra's is a gathering cloud, and there is no lounge sound to Cassandra's music -- the instruments bleed raw notes."

Repeatedly unexpected. Serious jazz remakes old favorites.

Frank Camm | Northern Virginia | 03/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Repeatedly unexpected. Spare, care-ful arrangements, each specifically formulated for each song, each matching her rich, dark alto. First and foremost, serious jazz, but also something entirely different, reflecting an eclectic song choice (e.g., Robert Johnson, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Ann Peebles, herself). Sometimes a primal awareness, but mainly a remarkable artistic sensibility. She DEMANDS attention, completely remaking even old favorites into something totally new. S: tr 2-Come on in my kitchen; tr 4-Children of the night, tr 5-Hellhound on my trail; tr 7-Sankofa; tr 10-Tupelo honey."