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Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
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Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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Cassandra Wilson
For jazz vocalists, these are not the golden years. Every decade since the 1930s has seen it get harder and harder to make a living as a jazz singer. Back then, it was the golden era, but each decade saw musical tastes move further and further away from musical styles that were conducive to jazz vocals. Of course, there have been exceptions to this rule, but in 2006, I think it would be easier to eke out a living as a classical harmonica player than as a jazz vocalist.
For reasons that seem unequivocally obvious to me, Cassandra Wilson is the contemporary exception to this rule. Wilson has a deep, rich tone that ought to appeal to aesthetes, but her value as a contemporary vocalist resides in her ability to express emotion in a manner that is thoroughly contemporary. Rather than focus on technique, or rely on jazz clichés that have been worn down by time, Cassandra Wilson seems to continually reinvent the genre by welding it to modern production ideas. “Thunderbird” is just the latest example of Cassandra Wilson’s tasteful, artful and emotionally expressive manner of interpretation and/or expressivity.
As an interpreter, there is no denying the richness of Wilson’s taste. On ‘Thunderbird,’ the diversity of songwriters is astounding. Almost miraculously, she finds common ground with Willie Dixon, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Jakob Dylan, and as if to prove that she’s capable of almost anything, she throws in a deeply mournful version of “Red River Valley,” taking the ‘traditional’ song into territories that Gene Autrey probably could not have even imagined. Her own songs fare incredibly well, too, rounding out the album with a full variety of moods and colors that go beyond standard jazz vocal fare, for the sheer power of her vocal expression. It also must be noted that the production of T-Bone Burnett is always stellar, but here it is truly stunning. The rich textures of the production is handled with such dexterous skill that his production technique almost rivals Wilson’s for its ability to convey the mysterious moods of each song.
“Thunderbird” is not designed for love at first sight, but give it time, and you will find depth that will keep you returning for more. Perhaps the golden era of jazz vocals has ended, but the again, if left in the hands of Cassandra Wilson, perhaps it is simply being reinvented.
Grade: 
 
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