Cassandra Wilson Quotes

Being black, I`m involved in the reparations movement. It`s focused toward the African-American audience. We could begin to heal.

I`m always looking for ways to develop as an artist, especially as a jazz artist-to find different ways of testing my voice.

I was never interested in singing in the church choir or in school. I was more interested in becoming a musician.

There`s a lot happening in many of us. I think you have to celebrate every part. It`s what you are. You have to try to find all of those secret names.

My grandmother sang, too, and she was really loud. It was this wild kind of singing. I count her among my influences.

I`m always imagining some sort of story behind the song, even the ones I haven`t written. I`m actively engaging in playacting.

Everything I do is collaborative. It`s just my way. I`m really very interested in how the other musicians perceive the song.

There was a train that would come by our house every night, and I`d hear the whistle blow. That is the sweetest memory I have.

Miles Davis was doing something inherently African, something that has to do with all forms of American music, not just jazz.

Miles Davis was a master. In every phase of his career, he understood that this music was a tribute to the African muse.

My father had all kinds of instruments in the house that he would hide from my mother. He bought them through mail order!

I`ve often cringed when I heard myself described as a jazz singer. I`ve always thought of myself as a jazz vocalist.