Cassandra Wilson is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi.
She was born in Jackson, Mississippi in December, 1955. Wilson ís earliest formal musical education consisted of classical lessons; she studied piano from the age of six to thirteen and played clarinet.
In 1981, she moved to New Orleans and the following year moved to New York where her focus turned towards improvisation. She fine-tuned her vocal phrasing and scat while studying ear training. She would become the vocalist and one of the founding members of the M-Base collective, a stylistic outgrowth of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and Black Artists Group that re-imagined the grooves of funk and soul within the context of traditional and avant-garde jazz.
She released her first recording as a leader "Point of View" in 1986. Wilson received her first broad critical acclaim for the album for the album "Blue Skies" in 1988. In 1989 Wilson performed as the opening act for Miles Davis at the JVC Jazz Festival in Chicago. Wilson's 1996 album "New Moon Daughter" won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance.
In 2009, Wilson recieved the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album for "Loverly."