Cassandra Wilson

New Moon Daughter, released on Blue Note in 1995, won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. It followed Blue Light 'til Dawn from 1993, the album that helped define her acoustic jazz, blues, and folk sound.

Wilson's Blue Note albums often use guitar-heavy, spacious arrangements instead of standard piano-trio jazz backing. On New Moon Daughter she interprets material associated with artists like U2, Neil Young, and Hank Williams while still phrasing like a jazz vocalist.

She is from Jackson, Mississippi, and that Southern background is part of why blues and roots music sit so naturally in her recordings. Her style is not only nightclub jazz; it often sounds connected to Mississippi blues, folk ballads, and modern singer-songwriter material.

Blue Light 'til Dawn from 1993 is the usual starting point because it introduced many listeners to her Blue Note sound. New Moon Daughter is the next step if you want the Grammy-winning album with a broader mix of jazz, blues, and pop source material.