Early in last night’s set at The Birchmere, jazz vocalist par excellence Cassandra Wilson announced that she was on tour despite not having an album to support (in fact she has released thirteen albums during her stellar career). As a result, last night’s audience was witness to a lighthearted and informal evening of music that was as much jam session as it was a concert. Wilson and her first-rate band came out without a set list and regaled the capacity crowd with nearly two hours of spirited music. While the lack of structure led to some looseness on stage, the relaxed atmosphere and wonderful playing more than made up for it, despite a poor sound system’s best efforts at ruining the proceedings.
Wilson’s expressive voice has an earthiness and richness to it that evokes the blues traditions of her native Mississippi. Her sense of phrasing is unequaled and she has the ability to stretch and contract each line in such a way that her vocals become part of the band rather than something that lays on top of its accompaniment. It is no surprise that someone with such a high degree of musicianship would surround herself with top notch musicians. Last night her group was made up of Cyrus Chestnut on piano and Fender Rhodes, Wynton Marsalis alum Herlin Riley on drums, journeyman bassist Reginald Veal, the versatile Marvin Sewell on acoustic and electric guitar, and tasteful percussionist Lekan Babalola.
As was evident in last night’s show, Wilson has a strong commitment to tradition but is not beholden to the past. Too many contemporary jazz vocalists spend their careers trying to sound like the singers of yore, whether it be Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, or Betty Carter. Her music does not fit into any single genre because she draws equally from traditional blues, jazz, African, Latin, and R&B influences. Even when she performs standards, she is likely to put a unique spin on it that respects the source material but adds a contemporary twist. It is clear that Wilson has spent a great deal of time studying the music of the past, but she is blazing her own trail and is therefore a “modern” jazz musician in the truest sense of the word.
Image taken from Cassandra Wilson’s MySpace page
