For decades, Cassandra Wilson pushed jazz beyond its usual boundaries, bringing blues, folk, country and R&B into her music and developing a distinctive style of her own. The two-time Grammy winner has died at 70.
Wilson died at her home in Jackson, Mississippi, on Tuesday morning, Hinds County Coroner Jeramiah Howard said. Her manager said she died peacefully surrounded by family, close friends and her manager.
Wilson became known for her deep contralto voice, and Time magazine named her America’s best singer in 2001. She received four Grammy nominations and won Best Jazz Vocal Album twice, for New Moon Daughter in 1997 and Loverly in 2009.
Born and raised in Jackson, Wilson grew up in a musical family. Her father, Herman B. Fowlkes, was a musician, while her mother, Mary Fowlkes, was a teacher. She began piano lessons at six and later played clarinet in marching bands.
While studying at Millsaps College and Jackson State University, Wilson performed at coffeehouses and with cover bands. She later worked with jazz musicians in New Orleans before moving to New York, where she joined saxophonist Steve Coleman’s M-Base Collective and became its principal vocalist.
Her final album, Coming Forth by Day, was released in 2015 as a tribute to Billie Holiday. Wilson also performed that year at the Apollo Theater in a concert marking the 100th anniversary of Holiday’s birth.
In 2022, Wilson was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts, one of the highest honours in American jazz.
Jon Batiste praised Wilson’s ability to bring together folk traditions, R&B, African diaspora music and experimental sounds. He also highlighted her strong connection to Mississippi, where she was born and raised.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn described Wilson as an extraordinary daughter of the city and said her music carried the sound, spirit and history of Mississippi to audiences around the world.
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