''New Moon Daughter'' 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 ...

that was released by Blue Note in 1995. The

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' magazine jazz album chart and also won 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 pr ...

as the Best Jazz Vocal Performance.

Background

In an interview for '' New York'' magazine, Wilson explained that the album's name comes from an old Ashanti proverb—"Sickness comes with the waning moon; the new moon cures disease". The album contains twelve songs, five of which were written by Wilson.

Reception

A reviewer for '' Gramophone'' was generally positive about the album, praising Wilson's voice and her interpretations of the standards included. However, they said that compared to the originals, Wilson's versions may not be as powerful. They noted that with this album, Wilson appears to move away "from jazz heartlands or cutting edges and towards the embrace of 'pop cult' status." The reviewer particularly enjoyed "

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 ...

" (calling it "sublime") and "

Last Train to Clarksville "Last Train to Clarksville" is a song by American pop rock band the Monkees. It was released as the band's debut single on August 16, 1966, and was later included on the group's self-titled album, which was released on October 10, 1966.''The Monk ...

" ("a delight"). In a positive review of the album, ''

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 ...

Geoffrey Himes Geoffrey Himes is an American music critic who has written weekly for ''the Washington Post'' since 1977. He also wrote for '' No Depression'' as a contributing editor in its first print era in the late 1990s to the early 2000s and has written for ...

noted its similarity to Wilson's previous album ''

Blue Light 'til Dawn ''Blue Light 'til Dawn'' is a studio album by American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. Her first album on the Blue Note label, it was released in 1993. It contains Wilson's interpretations of songs by various blues and rock artists, as well as thre ...

'', but added that ''New Moon Daughter'' has more feeling and a darker tone. He wrote that Wilson makes

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

's " Strange Fruit" "her own". Himes noted the album's overall slow tempo as a weakness, wishing for a little more rhythmic diversity. Scott Yanow 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 databa ...

described Wilson's voice on the album as "quite bored and emotionally detached" but noted that she was "stretching herself". ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' critic Robert Christgau was less impressed, writing that "most of these songs escape her attentions without a mark on them. Which isn't to mention the 'Strange Fruit' that establishes the surpassing weirdness of Billie's original, or the disastrous

Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

cover, designed to prove ilsonhas a sense of humor I'm now convinced isn't there."

Appearances in other media

The song "Death Letter" from the album was used as an opening theme in the third season of television series ''

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'' released in 2019.

Track listing

Personnel

;Music *Cassandra Wilson – vocals, acoustic guitar *

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, Jew's-Harp, shaker *Dougie Bowne – percussion, drums, whistle, vibraphone *

Gary Breit Gary Breit (June 18, 1960) is a Canadian keyboardist and vocalist best known for his collaboration with singer/songwriter Bryan Adams. He has also recorded with acts such as Amanda Marshall, Cassandra Wilson, Corey Hart, Amy Sky, Long John Bal ...

– Hammond organ *

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 ...

– acoustic & electric guitar, banjo, bouzouki *

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 & electric guitar *

Charles Burnham Charles Burnham may refer to: * Charles Burnham (politician) (1847–1908), American manufacturer and politician in the Wisconsin State Assembly * Charles Burnham (geneticist) (died 1995), American plant geneticist * Charles Burnham (musician) ...

– violin *

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 *

Graham Haynes Graham Haynes (born September 16, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cornetist, trumpeter and composer. The son of jazz drummer Roy Haynes, Graham is known for his work in nu jazz, fusing jazz with elements of hip hop and electronic music ...

– cornet *Lawrence "Butch" Morris – cornet *Jeff Haynes – percussion, bongos *Peepers – background vocals *Mark Peterson – 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 *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 ...

– guitar (1) ;Production *

Craig Street Craig Street, born in Oakland, California, is a noted record producer. Street moved with his family to Los Angeles at the age of 11, but returned to the Bay Area for his high school years. He began playing guitar at age 14, and was in a number ...

– producer *Danny Kopelson – engineer, mixing *Greg Calbi – mastering *John Chiarolanzo – assistant engineer *Bill Emmons – assistant engineer *Scott Gormley – assistant engineer *Fred Kervorkian – editing, assistant engineer *Steve Regina – assistant engineer *John R. Reigart III – assistant engineer *Tom Schick – assistant engineer ;Design *David Mayenfisch – photography *Berkeley Barnhill Stewart;- graphic design

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control 1995 albums Blue Note Records albums Albums produced by Craig Street Cassandra Wilson albums Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album