Jazz musician Cassandra Wilson died Wednesday at the age of 70 at her home in Jackson, Mississippi.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Cassandra Wilson, the Grammy Award-winning and legendary jazz artist,” her manager Robert Torre said. WBGOadding that she “passed peacefully at home, surrounded by family, close friends and her manager.”
Torre said, “Her family and close friends respectfully request privacy during this difficult time as they mourn her loss. Further information regarding memorial services and arrangements will be shared at a later date.”
Wilson died of natural causes, the Hinds County Coroner’s Office confirmed People.
Wilson won the Grammy twice for Best Jazz Vocal Album: In 1997 for New Moon Daughter and in 2009 for Loverly.
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Wilson and the Hinds County Coroner’s Office for further comment on the story.
Jazz musician Cassandra Wilson died Wednesday at the age of 70 at her home in Jackson, Mississippi. Pictured in 2017 in NYC
The multi-talented artist previously collaborated with artists such as The Roots, Elvis Costello and Wynton Marsalis.
Wilson’s passion for music began early in her life, at age six when she learned to play the piano and 12 when she started playing guitar. a biography on her website declared.
She refined her craft as a singer in the mid-1970s and co-founded M-Base Collective after moving to New York City in the early 1980s.
Wilson signed with Blue Note Records in 1992, where, according to her biography, she released her album Blue Light ‘Til Dawn, “which would pave the way for a new generation of jazz singers seeking an approach and repertoire that challenged the supremacy of the American Standard songbook.”
Wilson released the album Coming Forth By Day in April 2015, a memorial to the late jazz icon Billie Holiday commemorating the 100th anniversary of her birthday.
Wilson discussed the intricacies of the jazz genre in a 2017 interview The Harvard Gazette for a time she had been involved in the university’s Jazz Master in Residence program.
“I think you’re always in for heartbreak if you choose jazz, no matter what era it is,” Wilson said. “It just comes with its own baggage, because of the nature of the music. And it pushes you. To do this, you have to be very strong.’
She continued: ‘You choose it because you long and search and you also feel some kind of connection with that tradition.’
Wilson won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album twice: in 1997 for New Moon Daughter and in 2009 for Loverly
Wilson appeared on stage in Rhode Island in August 2003
Amid the news of her death, several notable names paid tribute to the late jazz singer.
Jon Batiste said in a Facebook post that he learned “so much from” Wilson while touring with her previously.
“She had an unmistakable vocal tone, phrasing and her approach to interweaving folk, R&B and diaspora music with experimental and popular genres had a profound impact on me,” Batiste said. “She sounded like the South.
“Her Mississippi heritage was always present in everything, no matter how extensively her artistry developed.”
Mayor John Horhn of Jackson, Mississippi, said WLBT in a statement that Wilson “carried the sound, spirit and history of Mississippi with her wherever her music went.”
Horhn said that “Jackson has lost an extraordinary native daughter, and the world has lost an extraordinary musical voice.”
