Customer Reviews

Blue Light Til Dawn

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reviewing "Travelling Miles" from 1999,I decided to delve back to 1993 to see the basis for the former and to identify the progression in style and product from earlier Ms Wilson.Again I found this to be an adult CD requiring a serious attempt at listening to be fully rewarded,again the result is a unique,ambitious and soulful interpretation of some contemporary blues and soulful songs with the trademark Wilson touch.For those serious enough to step outside the square,this is for you..and in spades as well!!!

The talent is again that*voice* and the interpretative touches she puts onto songs by Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Robert Johnson,as well as others,including her own compositions Redbone and Blue Light Til Dawn.She is a maverick of the most interesting kind.I could see the street lights flickering ,the cats squelling the sirens sounding, the rubbish cans rattling,as I staggered home in the pre dawn hours..and that husky smoke laden delivery in my mind.Come On In My Kitchen and Hellhound on My Trail are provocative..if you dont get a kick at listening to these..check your pulse ...you may be dead!!!!

I think her interpretaion of I Cant Stand the Rain is excellent.This song lends itself to a Wilson interpretation,more interesting than the commerically exploited version of Eruption in the disco laden 70s and the interesting treatment given to it by Ronnie Wood on one of his albums years later.

As with the Miles Davis tribute,I found the muscianship excellent,with Ms Wilson showing her up front approach to a sparse and percussive accompaniment.This truely is an excellent album,that requires to be given a number of listens before the true talent can be appreciated.This will grow on you,and be played periodically from your collection,when the other commerically and talent limited divas have disappeared. Turn off the lights,late at night and listen...you will be drifting between midnight and dawn..a classic sound from the evolving and maturing Ms Wilson.4 1/2 to 5 stars,a worthy addition to your collection.

So Cassandra's "New Moon Daughter" is a gem too, but this album is less known and, while it didn't make an immediate impression on me, I now listen to it a lot more. There's basically more variety in song style and arrangement and, if you like Cassandra, then just the sound of her voice is heaven. (If you haven't heard her, her voice is about as distinct as Nina Simone's.) The key point with Cassandra is: nobody sounds like her so if she isn't in your collection then nothing like her is in your collection. Her voice is deep and sultry, her music spacious, unrushed -- there's something distinctly southern about it. She is one of Nora Jones' inspirations, but where Nora's voice is a gentle breeze, Cassandra's is a gathering cloud, and there is no lounge sound to Cassandra's music -- the instruments bleed raw notes.

I brought this is after I played New Moon Daughter to death. It remains as my favorite Cassandra Wilson record. With NMD in mind i brought New moon daughter expecting to here the sound that I loved from that album. Boy,I was wrong. it's not that I didn't love Blue light to dawn it took me some time to truly digest where she was coming from musically. Wheras on New Moon,, her sound was very earthy almost a dusty memphis sound. On Blue light the feeling is more afican and blues based. Listening to this album is more like an experience. The sounds on Blue light are very intricate and deep. On children of the night theres a tribal rhythm that combines with Cassandra earthy, smoke voice that is enchanting. Sankofa is an african spiritual song that is done practically accapella. There are also a couple of Robert johnson songs covered by Cassandra. On come on in my kitchen cassandra wails on about a man that some girl got lucky and "stole him back again" very alluring. Hell hound on my tail is another RJ favorite that cassandra redoes to near perfection. But By far my favorite track is the final one the bewitching I can't stand the rain. On it you can really hear and feel how Cassandra's voice is much like an instrument playing along with the music. Blue light to dawn is a very good album, New Moon was perhaps a half step (that's arguable) but definetely an essential for Cassandra Wilson fans.

Repeatedly unexpected. Spare, care-ful arrangements, each specifically formulated for each song, each matching her rich, dark alto. First and foremost, serious jazz, but also something entirely different, reflecting an eclectic song choice (e.g., Robert Johnson, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Ann Peebles, herself). Sometimes a primal awareness, but mainly a remarkable artistic sensibility. She DEMANDS attention, completely remaking even old favorites into something totally new. S: tr 2-Come on in my kitchen; tr 4-Children of the night, tr 5-Hellhound on my trail; tr 7-Sankofa; tr 10-Tupelo honey.

I bought this CD in 1993, shortly after its release and I have been a huge Cassandra Wilson fan ever since. You wouldn't guess this was a jazz CD if it wasnt labeled as such, as there is such an incredible variety of genres, including blues, pop, and African rhythms (contributed by Cyro Baptista's wonderful percussion). This album is easily one of my all-time favorites, and I never tire of hearing Wilson's beautiful, deep, sensuous voice.

Of all of the vocal jazz albums released in the 1990's, this remains one of the best. Ms. Wilson shows tremendous range and diversity here: from a cover of "Tupelo Honey" that outdoes Van Morrison (if that's even possible), to a wonderfully evocative "Hellhound on My Trail", to "You Don't Know What Love Is". to the African-based trio in the middle of the set, it doesn't get much more eclectic than this. Yet, it's all interesting, with always interesting instrumentation. I think Cassandra Wilson falls in the mold of Billie Holiday--one with a relatively limited voice who just brings it all to the table--but with wider diversity. Very highly recommended.

Hands down one of the best covers of Tupelo Honey I've heard. For some reason this stands out as one Cassandra's best recordings to me. Great range of voice and songs in this outing.

If I compare the CD's Cassandra Wilson has released so far, in retrospect this one is the best sounding and the most honest one. Listen to her version of "Come On In My Kitchen", a blues song also performed by The Steve Miller Band on their CD "The Joker". Cassandra Wilson shows here the same talent as Holly Cole, that is to internalize the song. Her voice is rather demanding and often somewhat dominant, but you can also experience the phenomenon of her voice becoming an instrument under instruments. According to me the best songs on this CD are: "Tell Me You'll Wait For Me", "Hellhound On My Trail" (beautiful guitar accompaniment and a grumbling cornet) and "I Can't Stand The Rain". These are strong songs with little but adequate accompaniment and they sound like life performances, which is rather a compliment in these days of sonic trash!

Ms. Wilson has a wonderful voice that reminds me somewhat of that of Cleo Laine. The problem for great voices--now I'm also thinking of Whitney Houston--is that they don't always make great albums.

This one is what I would describe as late night music, the kind of thing that you put on when you have arrived home having drunk rather too much, and want to hear something clear and pure to clear your head.

My favorite track on this is the Robert Johnson number Hellhound On My Trail, which is beautifully done with solo guitar accompaniment. I would like to have heard more of Ms. Wilson in this mode, but this album is a bit of a sampler--eclectic if you like--mixing blues, jazz and country, with violins creeping in every now and again.

Not a bad album at all, but I suspect that Ms. Wilson is capable of an even better one, so I reserve judgement a bit. I also have a feeling, and this is just a hunch, that this album may appeal more to female listeners than to the guys.

My star rating system goes like this:

5 stars--an absolute classic
4 stars--the artist is on top form here, a good buy
3 stars--fans of this artist should enjoy this album
2 stars--some good stuff, but inconsistent
1 star--just not good enough

I came to this album with the perspective of a blues fan. I'm an avid collector of old country blues recordings. I was instantly converted, and I'm now a devoted Cassandra Wilson fan. Nobody covers Robert Johnson and Son House quite the way she does, she completely captured the original haunting essence of Death Letter and Hellhound on my Trail without doing it anywhere close to verbatim. Very interesting and beautiful takes on "Tupelo Honey" and Joni Mitchell's "Black Crow" as well.