Cassandra Wilson: singing the UN standards
Cassandra Wilson presents hypnotic African rhythms mixed with bluesy swing adorable. The artist, known for transcending the jazz tradition, brings harmony to roads rarely traveled. Here Wilson seems to come home to his jazz roots. But she has? The collection of most standards is truly non-standard. The singer inhabits the essence of each melody, making it her own. Her eclectic influences draw from a plethora of genres to form the soul of each song, from the rhythmic blues of “Black Orpheus” to the West African trance chant “Arere.” “I studied the standards, listening to how other singers put their swing on them.
But it is difficult to make standards. You can’t really sing them until you understand them,” the artist reveals. Sultry vocals float over the melodies gracefully but not without bite. Blues-infused upbeat songs “Dust My Broom,” “Caravan,” and “St. James Infirmary” crashes out of the charts. Marvin Sewell’s brilliant acoustic slide guitar appears on “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most” along with the playful title track. The self-produced recording is the culmination of a laid-back jam six-day session in the singer’s hometown of Mississippi Unsurprisingly, exudes the warmth and immediacy of a live set to the snap of the fingers Twenty years have passed since Wilson covered the American Song book in Blue skies. Cassandra Wilson’s career marks a growing talent for unique masterful performances. She just keeps getting better and better. Would we expect less?
Eliza Gilkyson: Cowboy Logic
Armed with a flair for storytelling and cowgirl logic, Eliza Gilkyson’s music evokes the spirit of Lucinda Williams, Shawn Colvin and Nanci Griffith, yet produces a sound distinctly her own. No one would say that music and blood are intertwined. The daughter of the distinguished tuner Terry Gilkyson emits music from all her pores. Americana, politics, spiritual wanderings and homey fun all live within Gilkyson’s visceral lyrics. From the gritty to the sublime, her chameleon-like sound always stays true to her poetic heart. “The work I do with music makes me feel hopeful. I find comfort in the warm bodies of those who are taking the same kind of inventory,” explains Gilkyson. Since she signed with Red House Records in 2000, the singer is a force to be reckoned with. Finally, Ella Gilkyson is beginning to get the recognition she so richly deserves with an induction into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2003, a Grammy nomination in 2005 for land of milk and honey for Best Contemporary Folk Album and successive awards after Paradise hotel released in 2006.
his last Beautiful world, celebrates the joy and suffering of our silly existence. The songs are raw, vulnerable but relaxing at the same time. The sweet guitar accent of “Emerald Street” is an innocent send to love, a nice contrast to the singing ballad of the title track. The album oscillates between folk, rock and pop and even jazz in an organic way. which is perhaps Gilkyson’s evolution as a songwriter. “I really wrote outside the box,” says Gilkyson. “For many years I disciplined myself to be a stream of modern folk… [Beautiful World], the songs really asked me to go a little bit further out of that and bring in different rock instrumentation. We just wanted the songs to be what they were.”
The artist’s exposition of the derailed American dream in “The Great Correction” is done with a gripping honesty rarely heard: “people here don’t know what it means/suffer at the hands of our American dreams/they turn their backs on it.” Dreadful scenes/Go back to the privileged sons/They have their god, they have their weapons/They have their armies and the chosen ones/But we’ll all be burning in the same great sun/When the great correction comes.” It’s refreshing to see the underdogs take center stage here. The aforementioned track is by far the most thought-provoking song on Beautiful world. Gilkyson states, “What I wanted to do on this record is look at the big picture and how this affects us as communities, as countries, as individuals.” An example of the big picture the composer is referring to is the dramatic change in our global economy. will suffer with the expiration of fossil fuels in the next 50 years. “Prior to this, individualism really has been the height of technological achievement, the separate expression. I think we’ve taken it as far as we can and now we’re at the point where we have to go back to community life.” Gilkyson says. Ultimately, it is Gilkyson’s sincere passion for a harmonious existence that shines through in his lyrics and gives us all hope.