Washington (United States) (AFP) – Grammy Award-winning American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson died on Wednesday in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, her manager said. She was 70.
“Cassandra Wilson transitioned peacefully at home, surrounded by family, close friends, and her manager,” Robert Torre wrote in a statement, hailing her as a “legendary jazz artist.” The statement did not disclose a cause of death. Wilson’s family and close friends asked for privacy, Torre said.
A singer-songwriter and producer, Wilson was celebrated for her rich, expressive contralto voice in a career spanning three decades. In 1997, the singer received the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance with “New Moon Daughter,” and “Loverly” won the award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2009.
Wilson performed in a leading role in “Blood on the Fields,” a 1997 oratorio by Wynton Marsalis which became the first jazz work to win a Pulitzer Prize. She also collaborated with saxophonists Steve Coleman, Greg Osby, and hip-hop group The Roots.
“I learned so much from her and I am so sad she has passed away,” musician Jon Batiste wrote in a tribute on social media. “She had an unmistakable vocal tone, phrasing and her approach of weaving folkloric, R&B and diasporic music together with experimental and popular genres had a major impact on me. She sounded like the south.”
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