CASSANDRA WILSON / “Run The Voodoo Down”

cassandra wilson 09.jpg Cassandra Wilson is a ballad singer. Her dusky voice is perfectly suited to the slower tempos and sentimental lyrics of a good, slow love song. Even though uptempo, funkier fare isn’t her forte, Wilson has recorded a surprising number of tunes that will move your feet as much as your heart. What makes Wilson’s funk tunes interesting is she never compromises her vocal performances for the sake of danceability. Even on a modern-leaning tune like “Go To Mexico” (from the 2006 release Thunderbird), which is based on a sample loop of the New Orleans funk classic “Hey Pocky Way,” Wilson’s dark, bluesy phrasing carries the day. Or try Wilson’s version (from 2003’s Glamoured) of Muddy Waters’ “Honey Bee” (available on 20th Century Masters: The Best Of Muddy Waters). The band cooks up a thick polyrhythm that threatens to, but never does, take over the tune. How could it when Wilson moans, purrs, whispers and groans the blues which such effortless grace? Wilson’s cover of The Stylistics’ “Children Of The Night” (from Blue Light ‘Til Dawn, 1993) is something else entirely. The original tune may contain a hint of something sinister, but when Wilson sings those classic lyrics—“Late at night / A restless feeling takes control of me”—it takes a little work to convince yourself she’s singing about love. Listen to Wilson’s blue-black intensity and guest vocalist Vinx’ partially muffled howls and shrieks. Wilson’s version of “Children Of The Night” may be a love song, but if it is, it’s a dark, dark one. cassandra wilson 10.jpg The feature track is Wilson’s cover (from Traveling Miles, 1999) of Miles Davis’ “Miles Runs The Voodoo Down” (from Bitches Brew). This one is not only my favorite funky Cassandra Wilson song, it might be my favorite Cassandra Wilson song, period. The Davis original is brilliant, but is so unstructured that it could be a fortuitous accident. At times, it sounds like there are fifteen or twenty musicians on the track at the same time and all unbeknownst to one another. Wilson reigns “Voodoo” waaay back in—the only immediately recognizable element is the bassline—to create the kind of loose, organic-sounding funk that Prince once specialized in. As for the lyrics (which Wilson wrote), although Wilson never actually quotes Jimi Hendrix’ “Voodoo Chile,” both the words (see the excerpts below) and the structure (both songs are separated into a main track and a ‘reprise’) point to Hendrix.*

Wilson: On the night of my conception / You know the stars were fixed Conjure woman told my mother / She's gonna turn and twist You don't have to worry 'bout her learning / No, she's gonna get around When it comes to traveling / She'll run the voodoo down Hendrix: Well, the night I was born / Lord, I swear the moon turned a fire red The night I was born / I swear the moon turned a fire red Well my poor mother cried out, "Lord, the gypsy was right!" And I seen her, fell down right dead… Because I'm a voodoo chile / Yeah, voodoo chile
Of course, the inspiration for those lyrics goes back much, much further than Hendrix. The lines about being born on a bad night have been around as long as the blues has. But as musically knowledgeable as Wilson is, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she was sending us a message. If you’ve read a good bio on either Hendrix or Davis, then you know that the Bitches Brew album was indirectly (via Davis’ wife Betty) inspired by Hendrix. Once we know that, it makes perfect sense that Wilson would layer Hendrix-inspired lyrics over a Miles Davis groove. So, although Wilson’s “Run The Voodoo Down” is descended from Davis’ “Miles Runs The Voodoo Down,” we might also say that Wilson’s tune is a child of many parents. Cassandra Wilson has been called the preeminent singer of her era. What she’s not called often enough is a talented lyricist and gifted songsmith.
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Next week, more Cassandra Wilson covers. We’ll check out Cassandra’s slower side as she covers everything from rock-oriented material by the likes of U2 and Neil Young to the Johnny Mercer/Hoagy Carmichael standard “Skylark.” —Mtume ya Salaam * Wilson’s songs are “Run The Voodoo Down” and “Voodoo Reprise.” The Hendrix songs are “Voodoo Chile” and “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return).” And by the way, the second voice on Wilson’s “Voodoo Reprise” is Benin’s-own Angélique Kidjo.           Yes, but no, she’s more cassandra wilson 06.jpg From the way you say “ballad” singer and the examples you cite, I get the impression you mean pop ballads, when the reality of this sister’s long career is that she made her first big splash as a jazz vocalist interpreting standards. Folk looked forward to a follow-up on that hit album, Blue Skies, but Cassandra was also deep, deep into the avant garde. Her body of work covers so many bases, including the M-Base cats (a group of jazz musicians working on harmonic developments and complex and/or unusual rhythms and syncopations). Later she literally hit pay-dirt with her bluesy interpretations of R&B and pop. Mtume, since you are threatening us with a follow-up week of Cassandra Wilson, I’m going to simply lay back in the cut and see what you come with next…. Naw, I got to drop at least a little something. Here’s Cassandra from her M-base, experimental Jump World CD doing "Warm Spot" and also here's “Dance To The Drummer Again” from the CD Dance To The Drums Again—they are not covers but they give a little indication of Wilson's range in terms of styles of music andsongwriting ability. Notice regardless of the genre, she has developed a unique and easily identifiable sound. Cassandra Wilson is one of the most intellectually and musically adventurous singers on the planet. If you only know her last four or five CDs, you don’t even know half the story. Certainly, she is a consummate singer of ballads, but she is more than that, much, much more…. More to come…. To be continued. —Kalamu ya Salaam

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