American jazz singer, songwriter and producer Cassandra Wilson has died at the age of 70.
Gatekeepers News reports that Wilson died peacefully at her home in Jackson, Mississippi, on Wednesday, according to her manager, Robert Torre.
“Cassandra Wilson transitioned peacefully at home, surrounded by family, close friends, and her manager,” Torre said in a statement.
A cause of death was not disclosed. Torre said Wilson’s family and close friends had requested privacy.
Widely celebrated for her rich and expressive contralto voice, Wilson built a distinguished career spanning more than three decades and became one of the most respected voices in contemporary jazz.
She won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance in 1997 for her album “New Moon Daughter”, while “Loverly” earned her the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2009.
Wilson also played a leading role in “Blood on the Fields,” a 1997 oratorio by renowned jazz composer and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. The work made history as the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Throughout her career, Wilson collaborated with several influential musicians, including saxophonists Steve Coleman and Greg Osby, as well as the hip-hop group The Roots.
Tributes poured in following news of her death, with musicians celebrating her distinctive voice and lasting influence on jazz and contemporary music.
Musician Jon Batiste paid tribute to Wilson on social media, describing her as a major influence on his own musical development.
“I learned so much from her, and I am so sad she has passed away,” Batiste wrote.
He praised her distinctive vocal style and her ability to blend different musical traditions.
“She had an unmistakable vocal tone and phrasing and her approach of weaving folkloric, R&B and diasporic music together with experimental and popular genres had a major impact on me.”
Batiste added: “She sounded like the South.”
Wilson’s death marks the loss of a distinctive and influential voice whose work helped expand the boundaries of modern jazz while connecting the genre with blues, R&B, folk and other musical traditions.
