Cassandra Wilson Quotations

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

I'm always looking for ways to develop as a Jazz artist, to find different ways of using my voice.

I cringed when I heard myself described as a Jazz singer. I've always thought of myself as a Jazz vocalist.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

I'm always imagining some sort of story behind the song, even the ones I haven't written. I'm actively engaging in playacting.

I know you're supposed to set goals for yourself. I see all that motivational stuff on television. Think about the future, what's next! But I'm all into the journey. It's fascinating to me. So if I make certain what I want moment to moment, I'm cool at the crossroads.

She was diagnosed the year before last and it took a turn for the worst in November so I had to come down to help manage things and to help set up the household so that she is cared for. So I've been here since November.

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.

I've been singing since I was 5 years old. Not in-the-church-thing kind of way. I always made up music. Since I was a little girl. Improvisation was with me from the beginning. It drove my parents crazy. I would sing all the time. To anything. Television show themes. I loved to imitate the sounds.

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

Offense-wise, we were not in a scheme. We told the girls they had to play at a higher defensive level.

Are we going to rebuild the Ninth Ward? ... That's the question in the new battle for New Orleans, which is just beginning to take shape.