Cassandra Wilson | New Moon Daughter

AllMusic Review by Scott Yanow

Singer Cassandra Wilson, who has had a rather diverse career that has ranged from the free funk of M-Base to standards à la Betty Carter, has in recent times adopted a folk-oriented style a little reminiscent of Nina Simone. On New Moon Daughter her repertoire ranges from U2 to Son House, from Hoagy Carmichael to Hank Williams ("I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"); it is certainly the only album ever that contains both the Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville" and "Strange Fruit." This CD is a surprise best-seller, for Wilson's voice actually sounds quite bored and emotionally detached. She deserves great credit for stretching herself, but one has to dig deep to find any warmth in her overly cool approach.

Cassandra Wilson New Moon Daughter Label: Blue Note Genre: Jazz, Vocal Jazz Year: 1995

1 Strange Fruit 00:00 2 Love Is Blindness 05:55 3 Solomon Sang 10:52 4 Death Letter 16:50 5 Skylark 21:04 6 Find Him 25:13 7 I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry 29:52 8 Last Train To Clarksville 34:44 9 Until 40:08 10 A Little Warm Death 46:42 11 Memphis 52:29 12 Harvest Moon 58:10
Cassandra Wilson – vocals, acoustic guitar Cyro Baptista – percussion, Jew's-Harp, shaker Dougie Bowne – percussion, drums, whistle, vibraphone Gary Breit – Hammond organ Kevin Breit – acoustic & electric guitar, banjo, bouzouki Brandon Ross – acoustic & electric guitar Charles Burnham – violin Tony Cedras– accordion Graham Haynes – cornet Lawrence "Butch" Morris – cornet Jeff Haynes – percussion, bongos Peepers – background vocals Mark Peterson – bass Lonnie Plaxico – bass Gib Wharton – pedal steel guitar Chris Whitley – guitar (1)