Guest Spots: Cassandra Wilson Sings Standards

Today is the birthday of Cassandra Wilson, one of our greatest living singers. Several sets from her stellar musical career are on the way, but let's start with standards, shall we?

Ms. Wilson is an outstanding interpreter of jazz, rock, blues and country music. Her 1995 album New Moon Daughter opened with the tragic "Strange Fruit" and concluded with a breathtaking version of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" -- and in between, Cassandra performed unique readings of Hank Williams, Son House, "Love Is Blindness" and "Last Train To Clarksville", as well as stellar originals such as "Solomon Sang".

Today we have a collection of songs that have been essayed by innumerable balladeers over numerous decades. As with other features in this blog's "Guest Spots" series, these songs are not drawn from the artist's own albums. Cassandra Wilson has collaborated with many musicians, and has contributed songs to soundtracks and tribute albums. Romantic jazz isn't the usual fare around here, but hopefully you will find as much pleasure as I do in the richness of this extraordinary voice.