Cassandra Wilson, a jazz vocalist open to fusion, has died

The American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson, winner of two Grammy Awards, has died aged 70 in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. The news was announced by her manager Robert Torre. “Cassandra Wilson passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, her closest friends and her manager,” wrote Torre in a statement, describing her as a “legendary jazz artist”. The cause of death was not specified. Wilson’s family and close friends have asked that their privacy be respected, Torre added.

A singer, songwriter and producer, Cassandra Wilson was renowned for her rich and expressive contralto voice throughout a career spanning three decades. She received four nominations and won two Grammy awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album: the first in 1997 for New Moon Daughter and the second in 2009 for Loverly. She also played a leading role in Blood on the Fields, a 1997 work by Wynton Marsalis which became the first jazz work to win the Pulitzer Prize.

One of the most iconic moments of her artistic career remains the historic 2015 concert at the Apollo Theatre in New York to celebrate the centenary of Billie Holiday, to whom she also paid tribute that same year with her latest studio album, Coming Forth by Day. In 2022, she received the ultimate accolade with her appointment as a Nea Jazz Master, the highest honour for a jazz musician in the United States. She also collaborated with the saxophonists Steve Coleman and Greg Osby, as well as with the hip-hop group The Roots.

“I learnt so much from her and I am deeply saddened by her passing,” wrote the musician Jon Batiste in a message of condolence on social media. “She had an unmistakable vocal timbre and phrasing; the way she wove together folk, R&B and diaspora music with experimental and popular genres had a huge impact on me. Her voice evoked the South.”