Cassandra Wilson
Innovation has always been one of jazz’s most striking facets, but when it comes to mainstream America it’s often fallen on deaf ears, particularly since the ascendancy of rock ‘n’ roll in the 50s. The situation wasn’t helped much during the free-jazz movement of the 60s, when the avant-garde focused on more challenging aspirations at the expense of pure entertainment, creating a schism that hasn’t been bridged since.
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Though it failed to make any impact during its peak in the late 80s, Brooklyn’s genre-splicing M-Base has led the way for several developments in jazz that may receive mainstream acceptance. Saxophonists Steve Coleman and Greg Osby worked hard to combine jazz’s improvisational fire with the hard funk they grew up with and the hip-hop that burned its way into the black cultural consciousness. Working with these hornmen was singer Cassandra Wilson, a native of Jackson, Mississippi, with a stunningly thick alto voice. A recent concert at Park West by Wilson and British saxophonist Courtney Pine highlighted two approaches in the M-Base progeny.
Such a move widens the potential repertoire for jazz songs. But whereas jazzers feebly covered Beatles tunes three decades ago, Wilson transforms these covers to fit her own aesthetic. Her take on U2’s “Love Is Blindness” turned the song into a sumptuous evocation of luminous, primordial sorrow, sculpting a highly original, moving piece of sensual beauty. Indeed, Wilson seemed to lose herself in the music, her hips swaying languorously all throughout her performance. The new album also features five impressive original compositions.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Dan Silverman.
