Cassandra Wilson

When Cassandra Wilson, the most innovative jazz, blues and pop singer of the past decade, needs to get expert feedback on her music, she turns to a young man who is intimately acquainted with her work.

"I play things for my son, Jeris, all the time to see how he reacts," said the Grammy Award-winning vocal wizard of awes."

But winning over a video-game-obsessed 11-year-old is no easy matter, especially for someone whose genre-leaping music stresses subtlety, sophistication and finely honed dynamics.

"He either says he`s not moved or that it`s OK," Wilson said of her son, who sometimes travels with her when she`s on tour.

"He listened to the last tune I wrote, and he really enjoyed it. It`s very difficult to get a strong response from him, because he listens to music all the time. He`s a hard sell. If I can get him to pay attention for an extended period of time, I know I have something (good)."

Jeris also serves as a musical conduit for his critically acclaimed mother to tap into rap, teen pop and other idioms.

"We argue a lot about music, but then, we agree a lot as well," said Wilson, 44.

"He was into Hanson, and I just didn`t get it! Of course, he`s a child and was into that bubble-gum-type stuff, so we`d argue about that. But now his taste is a lot more sophisticated; he knows when he hears music that is redundant and doesn`t care for it. With a lot of dance music, he says: `They are just playing one chord, Mommmy.`

"I go into his room and listen to music with him on cable radio, and we talk about it and grade it. He really turns me on to a lot of stuff I might not otherwise hear."

She let out a slow, throaty laugh.

"There are some things we both like a lot," said the Mississippi-born singer. "Jeris will call me in his room when certain songs come on, and we`ll dance and sing along, like (she begins to sing): I like girls who wear Abercrombie & Fitch."

"Summer Girls," teen-pop trio L.F.O.`s proudly frothy 1999 hit, will not appear on Wilson`s next album, her impromptu duet versions of the song with her son notwithstanding. But it wouldn`t be much of a stretch for a singer whose versatility has enabled her to transform classic songs by Billie Holiday, Van Morrison, Hank Williams and even the Monkees into singular statements.

Her album in progress, which features guitarist Pat Metheny, will be the sequel to 1999`s "Traveling Miles," her inspired collection of songs written (or inspired) by Miles Davis.

"I find I`m missing the improvisation and extended (chord) changes I used to do," she said, speaking from New York, where she has homes in Harlem and Woodstock.

"I want to explore that more and get inside of rhythm more. I guess it`s kind of like going backward in a sense, maybe revisiting some of my M-Base stuff and dealing with it from a different perspective."

M-Base, a fusion of cutting-edge funk and jazz, was spearheaded in the mid-1980s by Wilson and such kindred musical spirits as saxophonists Greg Osby and Steve Coleman.

"I`ve learned so much from her," Osby said of Wilson. "She`s incredibly expressive. She can read the Bible and make more music out of it than many other singers, (using) just her speaking voice. She`s an exceptional artist, not just a singer, but an exceptional musician."

Wilson also worked with saxophonist Henry Threadgill in New Air, a superb band that helped extend her rhythmic and harmonic approach. She cut her first solo album in 1985, then became an international sensation following the release of her remarkable 1993 disc, "Blue Light `Til Dawn."

On it, Wilson performed songs by Joni Mitchell, blues pioneer Robert Johnson and other music giants, whose previously definitive songs she somehow transformed into uniquely personal statements.

However, while she welcomes the large new audience she has earned, Wilson remains her own worst critic.

"I`m very hard on myself; I need to lighten up," she said.

"I`ll do a performance, and people will be happy and say, `That was nice.` If they don`t say, `That was great,` I`m not happy. I don`t like just getting by."

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: George Varga