''Blue Light 'til Dawn'' is a studio album by American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

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 ...

. Her first album 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, it was released in 1993. It contains Wilson's interpretations of songs by various

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

artists, as well as three original compositions. The album marked a shift in Wilson's recording style, mostly dropping the electric instruments of her earlier albums in favor of acoustic arrangements. A critical and commercial breakthrough, the album was re-released in 2014 with three bonus tracks recorded live somewhere in Europe during the ''Blue Light 'til Dawn Tour''. The eponimous single was nominated for the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

as Best Jazz Vocal Performance.

Background

As of March 1996, the album sold over 250 000 copies. While recording the album, Wilson's father, jazz bassist Herman Fowlkes, died. In an interview for ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

'' Wilson explained that the album's name refers to a certain time of night. Says Wilson "At a party you have a blue light to have a certain vibe. The title refers to that light, that blue, giving way to the dawn. It's ''after'' after hours, the predawn twilight".

Reception

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

'' reviewer John Milward gave the album three and a half

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

s out of five. He praised Wilson's choice of

tracks by

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 ...

and guitarist Brandon Ross' arrangements. He also liked Wilson's title track, but was less fond of her interpretations of

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

's "Black Crow" or

Ann Peebles Ann Lee Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s for Hi Records. Two of her most popular songs are " I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband ...

' " I Can't Stand the Rain". Ron Wynn 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 ...

gave the album a rating of five stars out of five. In contrast to Milward, he enjoyed Wilson's "piercing version" of "I Can't Stand the Rain". ''

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...

'' review by Jeff Simon noted, "When the disc is good... it makes the disc hard to get off your turntable. It's erratic, though, with some of her headstrong notions panning out less well than others. At its best, though, it's sublime."

Track listing

# "

You Don't Know What Love Is "You Don't Know What Love Is" is a popular song of the Great American Songbook, written by Don Raye (lyrics) and Gene de Paul (music) for the Abbott and Costello film '' Keep 'Em Flying'' (1941), in which it was sung by Carol Bruce. The song was ...

" (

Gene DePaul Gene Vincent de Paul (June 17, 1919 – February 27, 1988) was an American pianist, composer and songwriter. Biography Born in New York City, he served in the United States Army during World War II. He was married to Billye Louise Files (Novem ...

Don Raye Don Raye (born Donald MacRae Wilhoite Jr., March 16, 1909 – January 29, 1985) was an American songwriter, best known for his songs for The Andrews Sisters such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", " The House of Blue Lights", "Just for a Thr ...

) — 6:05 # "Come on in My Kitchen" (

) — 4:53 # "Tell Me You'll Wait for Me" ( Charles Brown,

Oscar Moore Oscar Frederic Moore (December 25, 1916 – October 8, 1981) was an American jazz guitarist with the Nat King Cole Trio. Career The son of a blacksmith, Moore was born in Austin, Texas, United States. The Moore family moved to Phoenix, Ariz ...

) — 4:48 # "Children of the Night" (

Thom Bell Thomas Randolph Bell (January 27th, 1943 – December 22, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, pianist, and composer known as one of the creators of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s. He found success as a producer ...

Linda Creed Linda Diane Creed (December 6, 1948 – April 10, 1986), also known by her married name Linda Epstein, was an American songwriter and lyricist who teamed up with Thom Bell to produce some of the most successful Philadelphia soul groups of the 19 ...

) — 5:19 # "

Hellhound on My Trail "Hellhound on My Trail" (originally "Hell Hound on My Trail") is a blues song recorded by Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson in 1937. It was inspired by earlier blues songs and blues historian Ted Gioia describes it as one of Johnson's "bes ...

" (Johnson) — 4:34 # "Black Crow" (

) — 4:38 # "Sankofa" (Cassandra Wilson) — 2:02 # "Estrellas" (

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 ...

) — 1:59 # "Redbone" (Wilson) — 5:35 # "

Tupelo Honey ''Tupelo Honey'' is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in October 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. Morrison had written all of the songs on the album in Woodstock, New York, before his move ...

" (

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

) — 5:36 # "Blue Light 'til Dawn" (Wilson) — 5:09 # " I Can't Stand the Rain" ( Don Bryant,

Bernard Miller Sir (Oswald) Bernard Miller (25 March 1904 – 23 February 2003) was a British businessman, who was chairman of the John Lewis Partnership from 1955 to 1972. Life Miller was educated at Sloane School and Jesus College, Oxford, obtaining his BA d ...

) — 5:27 # "Black Crow" (Joni Mitchell) — 6:30 # "

Skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...

" ( Johnny Mercer,

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first ...

) — 8:40 # "

" (

) — 7:13 Songs 13–15 are bonus tracks of the 2014 re-issue.

Personnel

– vocals *

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, E ...

– cornet *

Don Byron Donald Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer. Biography His mother w ...

– clarinet * Charlie Burnham – violin, mandocello *

Tony Cedras Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

– accordion * Gib Wharton – pedal steel guitar *

Chris Whitley Christopher Becker Whitley (August 31, 1960 – November 20, 2005) was an American blues/rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. During his 25-year career he released more than a dozen albums, had two songs in the top 50 of the Billboard mains ...

– resophonic guitar *

Brandon Ross Brandon K. Ross is an American jazz guitarist. He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Career Ross did clerical work for Leroy Jenkins before playing with Archie Shepp and Marion Brown in the second half of the 1970s. He has performed with W ...

– acoustic guitar * Kenny Davis – bass *

Lonnie Plaxico Lonnie Plaxico (born September 4, 1960) is an American jazz double bassist. Biography Plaxico was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a musical family, and started playing the bass at the age of twelve, turning professional at fourteen (playing bot ...

– bass *

Lance Carter Lance David Carter (born December 18, 1974) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher and current minor league pitching coach. He pitched in MLB with the Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Los Angeles Dodgers. He batte ...

– drums, percussion * Bill McClellan – drums, percussion *

– percussion * Jeff Haynes – percussion * Kevin Johnson – percussion *

Vinx Vinx De'Jon Parrette (born 15 December 1957), known professionally as Vinx, is a percussionist, singer, songwriter, and former athlete. Biography Early life and career Vinx attended Kansas State University on a track scholarship. In 1977, he was ...

– percussion

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 1993 albums Cassandra Wilson albums Blue Note Records albums Albums produced by Craig Street