Title:Blue Light 'Til Dawn By: Wilson, Cassandra Released by: Blue Note Released on: 1993 Rating (out of 10): 8 Date: 06/25/2001
Killing Me Softly With Your Songs
Let's Get It On
By all accounts, Cassandra Wilson is a fine vocalist—and I promise I'm not talking about her looks, though she's done all right in that department as well. She relishes wreaking havoc on music by taking an artist's song from any genre and making it her own. Not a part of the jazz realm, really, as much as it is just hers. Those who arrange her numbers (Brandon Ross taking on at least half of the 12 here) succeed mostly by making the song as lush as her sultry-smooth voice; it's raspy enough to handle the blues and selectively quiet enough to take any jazz club by the horns.
Down On Johnson's Farm
Her selection of just whom she will cover always comes off a little on the quizzical side. Wilson perfectly slips into two Robert Johnson blues pieces ("Come On In My Kitchen" and "Hellhound On My Trail")—the first time I've ever seen her tackle two by the same singer on an album, a sure sign she digs his stuff. The growling is barely there, and gone is the dated sound of his blues, from a time when it was barely starting to get the name "blues." As such, these work more as updates than anything else. She could, and would probably like to, send a tribute album his way as easily as she did Miles' when she did Traveling Miles.
We Got The Jazz
Using only a steel string guitar and violin as the other parts of a unique trio setting, the standard "You Don't Know What Love Is" comes off as especially intimate—her sad lyrics serving as both its bass and the heartbroken mistress all at once. The brief violin solo is just magic as well. This song alone is reason enough to check into this album; it is a clear indication of Wilson honing the skill that would show up later on her New Moon Daughter, a fave of the critics. The only other indication of her being a jazz vocalist shows up on Charles Brown's "Tell Me You'll Wait For Me." Again with the minimalism, except this time it comes across using the more traditional trio sound with a bass and snare. Another fine example of the heights (or, more appropriately, lows) that she can take her songs to.
We Interrupt Your Programming
Remember that lush arranging? Well, it's smeared across what might have been good songs had she approached them as straightforwardly as she did the aforementioned others. "Black Crow" (yes, that Joni Mitchell ditty) ends up an African venture, with harsh competition on the bongos and sometimes too-quick clarinet, marking the song almost unrecognizable and not that much fun to listen to. Yes, she's made this one hers, but maybe she shouldn’t be so quick to own up to it. "Children of the Night" scares me a bit as well—her voice is purposely slower than the anxious music and voices behind hers, making for an expected climax of sound that never quite arrives. Sounds like Bobby McFerrin dropped by as twins here. And an acoustic, slowed-down "I Can't Stand The Rain" just isn't right. The joy and overall "oomph" are drained from the piece. For a good cover of this, pick up The Commitments soundtrack instead.
My Only Friend, The End
When she does right, she does right. Her originals, "Redbone" and "Sankofa," are decent, but it's "Tupelo Honey" (Van Morrison) that should've been used to finish off the album instead of the aforementioned "Rain." A slow beat, a voice that drips like honey, a subtle mixing in lyrics from Jimi Hendrix's "Angel" in its end, and some more blessed violin makes this one of the most perfect songs ever.
Ramble On
Its lack of continuity makes Blue Light 'Til Dawn one of my lesser played albums, sadly enough. She does get better though, I promise. If you want to start out on a high note, I suggest you buy her New Moon Daughter or Rendezvous instead.
