Cassandra Wilson
SOUTHERN COMFORTS Cassandra Wilson Looks into the 'Belly of the Sun'
Expectations run high when a Cassandra Wilson recording is in the works. The Mississippi-born jazz vocalist has worked in the Brooklyn-bred M-Base scene, paid tribute to Miles Davis, and gone deep into the blues on previous outings, all of them successful -- her 1997 release, New Moon Daughter won the 47-year-old singer a Grammy. With a voice mysteriously deep and warm, Wilson attracts fans far beyond the jazz arena; her music makes revelations about southern roots and African-American culture that bring everyone -- blues fans, folkies, jazz heads, and vocals admirers to the table. Belly of the Sun, recorded in the blues cradle of Clarksdale, Mississippi -- in a train station and a box car for some tracks, no less -- traces black music from its root right on up to today, thanks to an appearance from acoustic soulchild India Arie. On the eve of the album's release, Barnes & Noble's Roberta Penn chatted with Wilson about the diverse elements that shape her inclusive music.
B&N.com: It's been three years since Traveling Miles. Why such a long time before recording again?
CW: Three years is a nice time. It makes sense to wait, give yourself some breathing room.
B&N.com: Why did you decide to produce the set yourself?
CW: I was not able to find someone else who could work within my time frame and who was also as familiar with the territory.
B&N.com: How did you choose the tunes on Belly of the Sun? Did you record a lot of things and then select these, or did you go into the studio knowing what you wanted to do?
CW: I went in with ideas, some fully formed. Some happened there. "The Weight" happened because we were waiting. One of the engineers said the recording truck we were using was also used for "The Last Waltz," and one thing led to another and we started doing "The Weight." Richard Johnston, the guitarist from Memphis, suggested "You Gotta Move." It was that kind of celebration.
B&N.com: Did you record your original "Just Another Parade" with India Arie in the studio? And why did you choose her to record with?
CW: She was there with me in the studio, as was Rhonda Richmond, she's my homegirl. We went to junior high together and were in the marching band. As for India, she was professional.
B&N.com: I really like "Justice," which you also wrote. In it you mention reparations; is that something you are involved in?
CW: Being black, I'm involved in the reparations movement. I'd like to see it happen. It's focused toward the African-American audience. You go buy records, you go buy this and that, but this is really important. We could begin to heal.
B&N.com: In considering your other recordings with a heavy blues feel, Belly of the Sun has more of an organic sound. And you worked with some of the folks who are from the blues arena, Jewell Bass, Vasti Jackson, Jesse Robinson, and Boogaloo Ames. Do you feel you were coming from a different place when you made this recording?
CW: I needed to reconnect with these people. Jewell Bass is someone I heard coming up in Mississippi. I loved meeting with them again. I used to work with Jesse Robinson. I felt so comfortable. It felt so good to go home and have their support. My dad worked with Jesse, and so many people talked about my father, who was a letter carrier and tuned pianos. A lot of musicians gravitated toward the post office. There was a lot of freedom there then, and the hours were reasonable.
B&N.com: Do you have a home in the Delta?
CW: I have quarters in my mother's house in Jackson, and I'm down there three or four times a year.
B&N.com: Did you know all of these performers before you started recording with them?
CW: Almost everyone. I didn't know Richard Johnston and I didn't know Boogaloo. I met Boogaloo through a friend of a friend. He works with Eden Brent, a white girl who plays the blues. She's amazing. They have this really sweet relationship; she brought him to the session and stayed there and helped out.
B&N.com: You recorded in the old train station in Clarksdale. Was that symbolic of both the love of southern roots and the necessity of getting away from them in order to make our own lives?
CW: I've always been drawn to train stations, and when I saw what they had done with the restoration of the one in Clarksdale I knew I wanted to record there. We were recording in the train station the first five days, and we wanted six days. Our man from the Chamber of Commerce said, " Nope, we got a wedding on the sixth day." He showed us the other two rooms, and we did some overdubbing there then decided to go and take the mikes into a boxcar. "Hot Tamales" and "You Gotta Move" were recorded in the boxcar.
B&N.com: How did the Brazilian tune "Waters of March" wind up in the set?
CW: That's one of my favorite tunes. I used to listen to Elis Regina over and over again, and I thought, We have to do a treatment of that song. After we got down to Mississippi we superimposed the bossa nova over the Delta. The percussionist Cyro Baptista brought everything together. It's an attachment to nature that the Brazilians have and we have, too. So much is affected by nature. You don't get that lifestyle inside of nature that you do in the South. We seem to know so much about nature and look to it for signs and chart our lives through nature.
B&N.com: You are so well known both in and outside of jazz you could put out an album of popular standards, slick, straight-ahead material, say like Diana Krall, and probably make more money. Why instead do you choose to follow your personal muse?
CW: I like to be challenged. I don't like the idea of resting on laurels. I want to bring both the listener and me something new. I do love doing the standards and will revisit them in my own way. But the music is about challenging yourself.
B&N.com: Do you consider how the listeners will react?
CW: I do in a way. I am genuinely concerned with the listener because I do work so hard and I do challenge myself. I'm not the one to evaluate it, I'm just the one who has to do what I do and I stay focused on that.
--March, 2002
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