Cassandra Wilson (born December 3, 1955) is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She has won two Grammy Awards.
Cassandra Wilson is the third and youngest child of Herman Fowlkes, Jr., a guitarist, bassist and music teacher; and Mary McDaniel, an elementary school teacher who eventually earned her Ph.D. in education. Between her mother’s love for Motown and her father’s dedication to jazz, Wilso...
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Cassandra Wilson (born December 3, 1955) is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She has won two Grammy Awards.
Cassandra Wilson is the third and youngest child of Herman Fowlkes, Jr., a guitarist, bassist and music teacher; and Mary McDaniel, an elementary school teacher who eventually earned her Ph.D. in education. Between her mother’s love for Motown and her father’s dedication to jazz, Wilson’s parents sparked her early interest in music.
Like many jazz musicians Wilson’s formal musical education consisted of classical lessons; she studied piano from the age of six to thirteen and played clarinet in the middle school concert and marching bands. When she tired of this training, she asked her father to teach her the guitar. Instead, he gave her a lesson in self-reliance—some Mel Bay method books. She explored the instrument on her own, developing what she has described as an “intuitive” approach. During this time she began writing...
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