09/02/2026
“Rest in Power, Cassandra Wilson,” wrote Marcus Printup, JLCO trumpet player. “I had the honor of recording and touring with Ms. Wilson in 1996 and 1997 for Wynton Marsalis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz oratorio, ‘Blood On the Fields.' Cassandra was ALWAYS soulful, cool, and relaxed! She made you feel important and relevant by the way she’d look at you with those big beautiful and sincere eyes!
‘Marcus!,’ Cassandra would say, ‘I heard you tonight! Uh huh!!’ What a beautiful soul and one of a kind talent.
Marcus continued, “May she rest in peace with Miles Griffith and Jon Hendricks, who with Cassandra, completed the trio of vocalists on ‘Blood on the Fields'.”
The artistry of Cassandra Wilson, who Wynton called, “Mississippi’s finest,” burst onto the scene in the 1980s as a fearless and even avant-garde voice in Brooklyn’s trailblazing music scene, notably in collaborations with Steve Coleman’s M-Base concept. As it turned out, those early innovations were only a hint of what Cassandra Wilson had in store. By the 1990s, Wilson’s career and impact exploded, most notably with beloved records like Blue Light ‘Til Dawn, New Moon Daughter, Traveling Miles, and Belly of the Sun.
In these albums, we hear a masterclass in popular music. Great American Songbook classics like “Someday My Prince Will Come” took on new colors of Blues and Americana in her achingly beautiful string-driven read. In Wilson’s hands, the Great American Songbook itself gained new songs through her absolutely definitive interpretations of modern pop fare: her celestial take on Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey” affirmed its position in Jazz ballads, while her shockingly pathos-drenched approach to “Last Train to Clarksville” found the tragedy and heartbreak hiding in the center of the song. Wilson’s own originals revealed a thoughtful and imaginative writer and lyricist, notably in the sublime “Solomon Sang” or the righteous anthem “Justice.” As she sang each song, she also revealed how much power and volume can be found in slow and quiet performances.
On her performance on "Blood On the Fields," Wynton said, “Cassandra was extremely serious about learning all of her parts on the piano and brought so much soul and understanding to this music, I was grateful and remain even more so as times have passed.”
Cassandra Wilson’s artistry and genius spoke to millions, quietly yet powerfully affirming and exploring the many threads that weave together modern popular music. She once noted to Jazz Times, “Jazz is not a certain repertoire or instrumentation; it’s about being truly in the moment and being able to improvise, being able to swing and drawing on the blues.” Across one of the most dazzling ranges of songs, Wilson spent decades showing all of us how that is done.
WBGO's Doug Doyle reports on the passing of Grammy Award-winning jazz singer, songwriter and producer Cassandra Wilson
