Jazz greats - Cassandra Wilson

A native of the American South, Cassandra Wilson (1955-) was raised on the sounds and even more on the rhythms of blues, soul, pop, country, funky and jazz. As a singer, she performed with various bands from an early age, but she committed herself to the stage for good when she moved to New York in 1982 and became a member of M-Base, a creative collective that combined funk and soul rhythms with elements of jazz. He released a series of albums from 1986 onwards, but found his own voice in 1993 with Blue Light 'Til Dawn, an album of blues, rock and evergreens reworked with acoustic instruments. New Moon Daughter, in a similar genre, won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Jazz Performance and made his name widely known.

Her albums were released for two decades by Blue Note, jazz's number one label, and she was voted Best Jazz Vocalist by Down Beat magazine for many years. Her musical world is characterised by a dual commitment to tradition and a contemporary desire to communicate, combined with a dynamically nuanced, deep contralto voice, a sure sense of time and rhythm, an intimate, whispery, slightly spleeny, sensual delivery and an exceptional ability to create atmosphere.