American chanteuse Cassandra Wilson has, over the past two decades, cut out quite a career. She has been named “America’s Best Singer” by Time magazine and the recipient of numerous awards including the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival, two Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. To say her reputation is formidable and intimidating would be an understatement.
Tonight, as the closing act of this year’s Melbourne International Jazz Festival, this was the first time that Wilson had visited Australia in over a decade. A combination of ardent fans and the curious made up tonight’s audience at a venue fitting such an artist, the magisterial Hamer Hall.
Ms. Wilson performed with a five-piece band tonight, with the setlist split into two halves, complete with intermission. Showing off their remarkable musical abilities and skills, the band opened with the instrumental “The Secret Life Of Plants”. Written by Stevie Wonder, it was an incredibly strong showcase for the band, especially harmonica player Gregorie Maret, who would continue to astound and amaze the audience throughout the night.
The lower register that she sings in, is reminiscent of one of the greats of music, Nina Simone, and is the type of voice that once heard is never forgotten. Every so often, a voice comes along that moves, bruises and can leave incision marks on your soul. Ms. Wilson definitely has one of those voices. Case in point tonight: her startling and deeply affecting take on the U2 track “Love Is Blindness”. A brilliant song to begin with, it truly ascended to a higher plane in Wilson’s hands, hitting an emotional height that its original authors failed somewhat to do. Sometimes with music, it really is the singer and not the song.
Tonight’s setlist was a great cross section of the 57-year-old’s back catalogue, featuring some great tracks like “Red Guitar”, “Seven Steps” and a scorching take on “Witchita Lineman”, during which you could have heard a pin drop, such was the power and passion of not just the singer, but her entire band.
What makes the way the Mississippi artist approaches music special is that she simply knows no musical boundaries or limits. One hears many things, not just what is considered ‘traditional’ jazz in her music. Some unexpected musical characters and styles, such as the blues and flamenco, weave their way through the music that she creates.
Tonight, this lead to some beautifully charming moments in the set, such as when she shared a bit of a dance with Maret while percussionist Mino Cinelu served up some absolutely cranking flamenco beats.
Between songs, Wilson was nothing short of utterly charming, complimenting Melbourne on its wine, beer and restaurants. She also lamented the fact that it has taken her so long to come back to this town to play. The woman had serious charisma and stage presence to burn.
She also has a truly uncanny ability to take a song an audience knows and loves to somewhere they wouldn’t imagine it going. For tonight’s encore, the band covered the Cyndi Lauper track “Time After Time”. A great pop song became one of the most heartfelt and utterly moving things you’ve ever heard.
Cassandra Wilson and her band were a truly inspired closing night act for what has been a great jazz festival this year. A brilliant night.
