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Sense in the sound

By JON GARELICK | September 20, 2006

So the lyrics went through different incarnations, the song through different titles. The album was created over the course of a year in studios in New York and LA. When it came time for Wilson to fly to LA to finish it, she was ready to bolt. “I was trying to go to Mexico. I was asking T Bone if we could take a truck and put the ProTools in the truck and go to Mexico. I was just not feeling California. And I was having a hard time coming up with anything. I just did not feel comfortable for some reason. And T Bone smiled at me and he said, ‘No. You have to finish the song and you have to finish the project and you can’t go to Mexico.” She laughs.

So, the lyrics are about trying to write the song?

“The lyrics are about trying to write the song, exactly.”

It sounds great, though. Which is important when you’re trying to get to Mexico.

CASSANDRA WILSON | Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston | September 23, 8 pm | 617.876.7777

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Sense in the sound

Although Cassandra Wilson has been doin' her thing for decades, somehow she still never seemed to get the popularity as other great female jazz vocalists have gotten. Still, Cassandra came back and made her latest album Thunderbird a disc of mostly covers. And she did it very well. Like another legendary soulful songstress, Etta James, did on her latest (cover) album Let's Roll, Cassandra also chose not to necessarily do all soul songs, but rock songs with soul updates. This is especially shown on Jakob Dylan's "Closer to You". But Ms. Wilson also does well on traditional pieces, like "Red River Valley" and "Easy Rider". Original songs like "Tarot" and "Poet" further impress. There isn't anything bad to say about this album, except that maybe people will probably wish there was more, considering it's a mere ten tracks in length. Then again, it's short and sweet, which makes it all the more entertaining.

By w00t on 09/20/2006 at 3:50:51

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