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| Artist: Cassandra Wilson
Label: Blue Note Records
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $13.99
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Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 2399
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.7 x 0.4
EAN: 5099950769926
ASIN: B0016NCTH2
Release Date: June 10, 2008
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| Customer Reviews:
 not as good July 28, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I like Wilson. This CD was not as exciting as suggested by a review I read (in the New Yorker ??). She seems to lack energy. Too much of it was the same.
 The Critics Choice; Here May Be Why July 26, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
In the August, 2008 issue of "Down Beat," the universe of jazz critics have weighed in. The #1 jazz singer in the world, and by a pretty good margin, is Cassandra Wilson. Though I'm not the world's biggest Cassandra Wilson fan, and though Cassandra Wilson is not my favorite singer, I understand and respect the critical consensus, and I write to give my theory, based on the evidence of "Loverly," on why this is so.
Ever since the seminal "Blue Light "til Dawn" of 1993 (still my favorite Cassandra recording, BTW), Ms. Wilson is the singer who will not be pigeonholed. I gave her last recording, "Thunderbird," 5 stars on the basis of its sheer ingenuity. But I noted that it was questionable to call her a jazz singer; that c.d. was so close to alt rock that it tended to put her in the "uncategorizable" category.
So, what she has done here is to go back to standards. Well, sort of. A c.d. with Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom," and the Yoruban (!) praise song to "Ogun," "Akere" (hey: she never claimed this to be a c.d. of American standards!), can't really be called "standard."
Instead, she starts up where she left off on "Thunderbird," with a unique blend of Afro-centricism, blues, and jazz (Yes, she sings jazz; check out her duet here with Lonnie Plaxico on "The Very Thought of You"). We have the most African version of "Caravan" ever, with a terrific piano solo from Jason Moran. We have blues licks a plenty on "Til There Was You" from "The Music Man." We have riffing around open guitar chords from Marvin Sewell on "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most."
Through it all, Cassandra Wilson knocks off her parts as if it's the easiest thing in the world. Listen to her offhanded version of "Lover Come Back to Me." She sounds like she's playing with the lover who will in time come back to her out of sheer curiosity.
Why is Cassandra #1? This is the most original set of standards since, since...I'd have to say, since "Rendezvous," which was sung by .... Cassandra Wilson with Jacky Terrasson on piano). And it's her first set of standards in 11 years. What other musician comes to mind who may not have been the most technically proficient of all on his instrument, but who kept pushing the edge of the envelope, creating new sound and new directions, to where he was adored and reviled at the same time by seemingly knowledgeable people- and did it as though it were the easiest thing in the world to do?
You got it. Cassandra Wilson is the modern day vocal counterpart to Miles Davis. That's why she's #1 in the critics eyes. No wonder she did a tribute c.d. to Miles ("Traveling Miles") during those 11 years. The shoe fits. RC
Loverly CD by Cassandra Wilson July 17, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a wonderful CD by Cassandra Wilson that illuminates her talents and provides wonderful music to enjoy.
Such a treat!
Nicely done, the vocal and musical arrangements, the selections, and the soul of the artist provide an environment of listening pleasure.
Not groundbreaking, but GREAT covers July 11, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
There are moments listening to "Til there was You" when I asked myself why she didn't do this song before? But perhaps, knowing her voice and how tight her backup musicians are with her, they would ALL need to arrive under the flow of the same confluence -- like all good musicians do who know each other well, all need to arrive on time. And on time they do, particularly with "Black Orpheus", and her version of "The Very Thought of You", which is for me, the epitome of a soul's voice singing the deepest and most complete song of yearning ever written. A close second was "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most", which was richest in Wilson's famous vocal irony. This album is more than enough to get you through a lazy Sunday afternoon, or, if you're lucky, a turn on the dance floor of your own kitchen or apartment, dancing slow and close with someone you adore.
I Wanted to Love it to Epic Proportions . . . July 8, 2008
6 out of 18 found this review helpful
. . . but it just didn't rise to that level. I have every one of her CDs and am a huge fan, but this doesn't work to the level of _Blue Light 'Til Dawn_, _New Moon Daughter_, or even _Traveling Miles_. It is in her same vein of work, though: the gorgeous, husky vocals, somewhat creative takes on those standards, and impeccable arrangements and support from other players.
That makes it a very comfortable addition to her library, but not a standout. It's better that what most everybody is putting out there, but I hold her to a much higher standard, fair or not. I expect spectacular. This just isn't quite.
As much as I love some of the songs, none of them really stands out in particular, which is very unusual for her. I usually want to hear a track or two (or three) immediately after that first listen through the CD. That didn't happen this time, which was a downer.
The most disappointing track for me was "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," in which I wanted to hear her do that very final run sooo badly. She took a less conventional take, though, which I would usually applaud, but in this case was disappointing. If that's her worst sin, though, she's doing pretty well.
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