In one of the mostly forgotten days of 1994, I happened to be listening to the radio, and on the radio there happened to be a jazz vocalist I had never heard of, Cassandra Wilson. She was promoting a recent album, Blue Light ’til Dawn, that primarily contained covers of blues and rock tunes. When the show’s host played one of those covers, Robert Johnson’s “Come On in My Kitchen,” I fell in love with her voice on the spot and began following it through the world of hiphop, jazz, and rock. She hums on the Roots’ “Swept Away”; she soars on Wynton Marsalis’s impressive failure “Blood on the Fields”; she breaks my heart on Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.” Wilson is a great American. (Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729. 7:30 and 10 pm, $40, all ages.)
Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory... More by Charles Mudede
KPLU-FM, the Pacific Northwest’s own little jewel and the 8th Wonder of the World, turned me on to Cassandra Wilson back in 1988 when her Blue Skies was released. I bought it on cassette (remember those?).
On the release, she did her version of Shall We Dance? – one of those Rodgers waltzes everyone – including myself – is wild about. For years, I thought it was a lilting little tune about dancing and its inherent intimacy. But Ms. Wilson turns it into a solemn, soulful soliloquy about the ultimate intimacy, and makes me think that Gertrude Lawrence might have been asking Yul Brenner for a roll in the hay. Everything Ms. Wilson does is magic.
If there’s anything that keeps you from going to The Alley, dismiss it because you’ll remember the evening with Ms. Wilson forever.
And Cholly, if you don’t already listen to KPLU, you should check it out as often as you can. They are always featuring noteworthy new talent along with the older classic stuff.
Never have I agreed more with Charles Mudede.