Belly of the Sun

Cassandra Wilson

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 26, 2002)
• Original Release Date: February 26, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B000062U6N
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,931 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

By now, it's a moot point whether Cassandra Wilson is singing jazz or not. By unifying what were once considered disparate styles and song forms with her languorously rich vocals and offbeat instrumental textures, she has become the queen of her own genre. Largely recorded at a one-time train station in her native Mississippi, Belly of the Sun ranges from country-blues great Fred McDowell's gritty "You Gotta Move" (popularized by the Rolling Stones and here featuring acoustic-guitar wiz Richard Johnston) to Brazilian immortal Antonio Carlos Jobim's winsome "Waters of March" (featuring a children's choir) to a hauntingly feminized version of Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman." Revealing her command of narrative material, Wilson draws seductive meaning from Bob Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm" and the Band's "The Weight." Featuring Kevin Breit and Marvin Sewell on all manner of guitars and related string instruments, Belly of the Sun also boasts three strong Wilson originals, including "Just Another Parade," a jazzy-soulful duet with India Arie, and "Show Me a Love." As her own producer, Wilson comes up with less compelling backgrounds than Craig Street, who produced her darker-tinged breakthrough albums. Still, this is her most seamless, smoothest-flowing, and most effortlessly expansive recording. "I need to feel some rich black soil that's moist between my toes," she sings. You can feel her Southern roots in the grooves as well. --Lloyd Sachs

Product Description

Belly of The Sun, her fourth release for Blue Note Records, is the classic Cassandra Wilson journey, where borders and boundaries are sometimes pushed, sometimes expanded, sometimes eliminated but always discounted as limitations. Embracing Blues, African, Jazz, R&B, Brazilian and pop sensibilities, Belly of the Sun, is an invitation into the many sounds that have filtered through the musical landscape of the South. Featuring both original material and startling interpretations of material by other songwriters such as The Band, Bob Dylan and Robert Johnson, Belly of The Sun is full of the power of Cassandra's Mississippi roots and the roots of American music.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved the warm voice, May 17, 2002

By	Sandy (Brussels, Belgium) - See all my reviews

I discovered this by listening to the copy on display in my local store. From the first notes of "The weight" I was seduced by the organic arrangements and when she started to sing with this deep, warm voice, it was sold. This album sounds like a warm summer breeze. It makes you feel like slowly dancing in the sun.

It feels good to find some albums who keep away from electronic devices and stick to real, basic instruments: acoustic guitars, percussion, acoustic bass, piano.

I do not know if it is jazz, blues, or something in between. "Darkness on the delta" sounds piano bar, while songs like "The weight", "Justice", "Only a dream in Rio", "Wichita Lineman", "Show me a love" makes me think about Sade ("Love Deluxe" period). "Waters of March" is clearly jazzy. "You gotta move" is a blues, I can't help clapping my hands in rhythm. One of my favourite is "Just another parade", the acoustic guitar duet with India Arié (a great singer songwriter, check her "Acoustic Soul"). "Shelter from the storm" is folk. The album ends on an upbeat note with the short but nice "Hot Tamales".

I enjoyed this one so much I purchased one of her earlier albums, "New Moon Daughter" since, and I might look for more.

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Essential CD Alert", March 26, 2002

By	Karl Miller "kemspeaks" (Phoenixville, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Belly Of The Sun", Cassandra Wilson's tribute to the smoky bogs of the Bayou, is a cognitive heatspell that invokes the legend of Robert Johnson, protest music and 70's Southern California rock in a alltogether new style.
Cassandra Wilson is one of maybe three vocalists that could pull off a project like this. Her ethereal contralto has in the past been used to master complicated jazz classic and pop throwaways, but classics like Blue Lights Til Dawn and New moon Daughter only suggested how imaginitive Ms. Wilson could be in her reinterpretation of other artists materials. The Band's "The Weight" becomes more of a plea than an offer of assistance, and Dylan's "Shelter From The Storm" is an acoustic dream, completely different (fortunately) than the original. Again daring her crowd to rethink pop prejudices, (as she did in covering "Last Train To Clarksville), Ms. Wilson makes Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman" a treasure. It is hard to beleive this is the same song that previously invoked images of rhinestone cowboys.
Again, Cassandra shows marked growth with her original music, and most of the self penned tunes on "Belly" are as worthy as the cover material. "Just Another Parade" is infectious and entertaining, and contributions by India.Arie to this song suggest that Ms. Wilson knows who, among her peers in the industry has legs, not just lungs. "Cooter Brown", another CW original simply smokes.
Many of these tunes sound as though there was a lot of love and laughter in the studio (actually a train station and some old rail cars in Ms. Wilson's native south). It is a tribute to Cassandra that this spirit has been captured in the recording. Light some candles on a rainy evening, put this in the CD player and kick back - and prepare to have your soul stirred, not shaken.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another success, March 27, 2002

By	Frederick A. Aiese "fredbabe" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Cassandra Wilson continues to impress me. There is simply no one like her. Much of the "jazz" press seems to be criticizing her for "abandoning jazz roots." This is a ridiculous, unfair assessment. Jazz by it's nature seeks to transcend boundaries, and Cassandra Wilson aptly does that. Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman" in CW's capable hands embodies a whole new meaning and nuance from Glenn Campbell. Her lush spin on The Band's "The Weight" is terrific. Jobim's "Rivers of March" uses folk instruments of American Regional South and at the same time pays appropriate homage to Brazilian Bossa Nova. My favorite pick on the recording is James Taylor's "Only a Dream in Rio." I was fortunate enough to see Cassandra Wilson perform many of these songs at New York's Blue Note this past February. This is a recording that is not accessible immediately, but this fosters a greater allure. You won't be disappointed by this recording. Forget all comparisons to Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln, or Betty Carter: Cassandra Wilson has her own pure voice and artistry.