Cassandra Wilson

ANALOGUE 180 GRAM VINYL

AUDIOPHILE RE-MASTERED

4 1/2 STARS ALL MUSIC GUIDE

2-LP SET EDITION

This is no easy listen... sparse, complex, often brooding arrangements coupled with Cassandra Wilson's deep, earthy voice and complicated phrasing demand your attention. Waver and you're lost. But... give this album the listening time & space it deserves and reap the rewards. Unusual, highly atmospheric tracks that combine superb singing and marvellously "distant" musical backings to weave real magic.

Cassandra Wilson's own excellent, jazz tinged compositions sit alongside a stunning set of ingenious covers from a highly diverse spectrum of composers. "Last Train To Clarksville" is transformed from a catchy pop song into a stripped-down and genuinely effective jazz vocal work-out. "Harvest Moon" slows down Neil Young's already wistful ballad to an almost painful level and, in so doing, takes it to an even higher level of gentle reflection. Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" & U2's "Love Is Blindness" are transformed into 3 in the morning jazz club classics. The vocals and backing to Robert Johnson's "32-20" are simplified to the point where only the essence of the blues is allowed to shine and, Lewis Allan's "Strange Fruit" becomes as desolate and challenging as it's horrific lyrics.

PERSONNEL:

CASSANDRA WILSON, vocals on all track, with:

SIDE A:

01. STRANGE FRUIT

• Lonnie Plaxico (b)
• Graham Haynes (cnt)
• Chris Whitley (g)
• Lewis Allan (voc)

02. LOVE IS BLINDNESS

• Brandon Ross (g)
• Kevin Breit (g)
• Lonnie Plaxico (b)
• Lawrence 'Butch' Morris (cnt)
• Dougie Bowne (tom tom)

03 SOLOMON SANG

• Brandon Ross (g)
• Kevin Breit (g)
• Dougie Bowne (d)
• Cyro Baptista (perc)

SIDE B:

01. DEATH LETTER

• Brandon Ross (g)
• Kevin Breit (g, bjo)
• Mark Anthony Peterson (b)
• Dougie Bowne (d, perc)
• yro Baptista (harp)

02. SKYLARK

• Lonnie Plaxico (b)
• Dougie Bowne (d)

03. FIND HIM

• Lonnie Plaxico (b)
• Brandon Ross (g)

04. I'M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY

• Brandon Ross (g)
• Lonnie Plaxico (b)
• Kevin Breit (Bouzouki)
• Dougie Bowne (d)
• Charlie Burnham (vln)

SIDE C:

01. LAST TRAIN TO CLARKSVILLE

• Brandon Ross (g)
• Lonnie Plaxico (b)
• Dougie Bowne (d)
• Kevin Brei (e-g)

02. UNTIL

• Tony Cedras (acord)
• Brandon Ross (g)
• Lonnie Plaxico (b)
• Jeff Haynes (bongos)

  03. A LITTLE WARM DEATH

• Brandon Ross (g)
• Cyro Baptista, Jeff Haynes (perc)
• Charlie Burnham (vln)

SIDE D:

01. MEMPHIS

• Lonnie Plaxico (b)
• Kevin Breit (e-g)
• Brandon Ross (e-g)
• Gary Breit (org)
• Cyro Baptista (perc)

02. HARVEST MOON

• Brandon Ross (g)
• The Peepers (backing vocals)
• Mark Anthony Peterson (b)
• Cyro Baptista (perc)
• Kevin Breit (g)

03. 32-20

• Brandon Ross (g)
• Cyro Baptista (perc)
• Dougie Bowne (perc)

Recorded at the Turtle Creek Barn,Bearsville, NY and Sound on Sound,New York City, Beartracks, Suffern, NY and Bearsville Studio B , Bearsville, NY.1995.