''Belly of the Sun'' is a studio album by American jazz singer

Cassandra Wilson Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wi ...

. It was released on the

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

label in 2002.

Background

The title of the CD comes from a line in "Only a Dream in Rio" that Wilson had translated to

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

"... just to hear what it sounded like and it was explained o Wilsonthat in the Yoruba translation you would say 'in the belly of the sun.'"Hamilton, Rhonda. All About Jazz. ''Cassandra Wilson''. January 31, 2004.
Retrieved December 2009.

India.Arie India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), also known as India Arie (sometimes styled as india.arie), is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards ...

is a guest vocalist on "Just Another Parade". Recording was done in the

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19th century when he establishe ...

, train station. Additional recording was done at Allairre Studios South, New York, NY.

Reception

J. D. Coniside of ''

The Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...

'' wrote: "With a voice as rich and caramel-y as Sarah Vaughan's, and a delivery as intimately conversational as Joni Mitchell's, Cassandra Wilson is the perfect jazz singer for people who don't particularly like jazz singing... Still, ''Belly of the Sun'' feels uncomfortably empty at points". David R. Adler of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

stated: "Cassandra Wilson continues to move down a highly eclectic path on Belly of the Sun, the somewhat belated follow-up to Traveling Miles. While displaying a jazz singer's mastery of melodic nuance and improvisatory phrasing, Wilson draws on a variety of non-jazz idioms -- roots music, rock, Delta blues, country, soul -- to create a kind of earthy, intelligent pop with obvious crossover appeal". Marshall Bowden of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' commented: " If, despite all that, all you can worry about is whether ''Belly of the Sun'' is a "real" jazz album or not, it's your problem, not Cassandra's. The table has been set and the meal is a sumptuous one. Whether you partake or not is your gain or loss."

Track listing

# "

The Weight "The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group the Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album ''Music from Big Pink''. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian ...

" (

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC (born July 5, 1943), is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in ...

) – 6:05 # "Justice" (Cassandra Wilson) – 5:27 # "Darkness on the Delta" (

Jay Livingston Jay Livingston (born Jacob Harold Levison, March 28, 1915 – October 17, 2001) was an American composer best known as half of a song-writing duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote music and Evans t ...

Al J. Neiburg Allen J. Neiburg (November 22, 1902—July 12, 1978) was an American lyricist. He was born on 22 November 1902 in St. Albans, Vermont and received his education at Boston University. He is known for writing lyrics for such songs as "I'm Confessi ...

Marty Symes Marty Symes (1904–1953) was an American lyricist. Symes was born in Brooklyn New York in 1904. His first significant collaborator was composer Jerry Livingston. In 1932 they wrote "Darkness on the Delta", which became a hit for Mildred Bailey. Th ...

) – 3:47 # "

Waters of March "Waters of March" ( pt, "Águas de março" ) is a Brazilian song composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim (1927–1994) in 1972. Jobim wrote both the Portuguese and English lyrics. The lyrics, originally written in Portuguese, do not tell a story, but r ...

" (

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered one of the great exponents of Brazilian mu ...

) – 4:26 # "You Gotta Move" (

Mississippi Fred McDowell Fred McDowell (January 12, 1904 – July 3, 1972), known by his stage name Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American hill country blues singer and guitar player. Career McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee, United States. His parents were f ...

) – 2:44 # "Only a Dream in Rio" (

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

) – 4:32 # "Just Another Parade" (Wilson) – 6:05 # "

Wichita Lineman "Wichita Lineman" is a song written by the American songwriter Jimmy Webb in 1968. It was first recorded by the American country music artist Glen Campbell with backing from members of The Wrecking Crew and was widely covered by other artists. ...

" (

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", "Wichita Lineman", "Worst ...

) – 5:48 # "

Shelter from the Storm "Shelter from the Storm" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on September 17, 1974, and released on his 15th studio album, ''Blood on the Tracks'', in 1975. It was later anthologized on the compilation album ''The Essential Bob Dylan'' in 2000. Com ...

" (

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

) – 5:17 # "Drunk as Cooter Brown" (Wilson) – 4:58 # "Show Me a Love" (Jesse Robinson, Wilson) – 3:49 # "Road So Clear" (Rhonda Richmond) – 5:22 # "Hot Tamales" (

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

) – 1:43 # "

Corcovado Corcovado (korcovádo) which means "hunchback" in Portuguese, is a mountain in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a 710-metre (2,329 ft) granite peak located in the Tijuca Forest, a national park. Corcovado hill lies just west of the ci ...

" (Antônio Carlos Jobim) (For Japan only) There was a promotional version of this album distributed before the album was released that contained two extra tracks that were not included on the final release. The promotional copy has " Rock Me Baby" ( B. B. King) After "Shelter from the Storm" and before "Cooter Brown", and "Little Lion" (Caetano Veloso) after "Cooter Brown" and before "Show Me a Love". The promotional version was a regular pressed and silk-screened disc (not a CD-R) and came in a cardboard sleeve and had no album artwork.

Personnel

– vocals;

surdo The surdo is a large bass drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, such as Axé/Samba-reggae and samba, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section. It is also notable for its association with the cucumbi genre of the Ancient Near ...

, guitar (6, 7) *

Marvin Sewell Marvin Sewell is a blues/jazz guitarist, who has been called maybe "the greatest guitarist you've never heard of". He was born and grew up in Chicago, where he attended the Chicago Musical College at Roosevelt University. Since 1990, he has been b ...

– guitars (1, 2, 6-14) *

Kevin Breit Kevin Breit is a Canadian musician from Northern Canada. Breit has collaborated in numerous bands, and recorded solo albums on his own Poverty Playlist label, and Stony Plain Records. He is also well known for session work on numerous Grammy awa ...

–

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, guitars, vocals,

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

omnichord The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. It typically features a touch plate known as "Sonic Strings", preset rhythms, auto-bass line functionality, and buttons for ma ...

(1, 2, 5−10, 14) * Mark Peterson – basses (1, 2, 6-12, 14) * Jeffrey Haynes – percussion, plastic tub,

steel pan The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descriptio ...

s (1, 2, 5-8, 10-14) *

Cyro Baptista Cyro Baptista (born December 23, 1950) is a Brazilian percussionist in jazz and world music. He creates many of the percussion instruments he plays. Career Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Baptista arrived in the U.S. in 1980 with a scholarship to C ...

– percussion, vocals (1, 2, 5-12, 14) * Xavyon Jamison – drums (1, 2, 6, 11, 12) Guest artists * "Boogaloo" Ames – piano (3) * Children of M.S.44 (NYC) – vocals (4) * Rhonda Richmond – vocals, piano (5, 7, 12) * Richard Johnston – guitar, vocals (5) * Jewell Bass,

Vasti Jackson Vasti Jackson (pronounced Vast-eye) (born October 20, 1959) is an American electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He has also been the musical director, and guitarist for Z. Z. Hill, Johnnie Taylor, Denise LaSalle, Li ...

, Patrice Moncell, Henry Rhodes – vocals (6) *

– vocals (7) * Jesse Robinson – electric guitar (11) *

Olu Dara Olu Dara Jones (born Charles Jones III, January 12, 1941) is an American cornetist, guitarist, and singer. He is the father of rapper Nas. Early life Olu Dara was born Charles Jones III on January 12, 1941 in Natchez, Mississippi. His mother, El ...

– trumpet (12)

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control 2002 albums Blue Note Records albums Cassandra Wilson albums