For her newest project singer and composer Cassandra Wilson traveled back to Mississippi, the state where she was born and raised. She wanted to return to the region with its rich musical traditions to be inspired. Her head was full of plans for a blues album, but she soon abandoned the idea while writing and recording. An enthusiastic singer like Wilson can't pin herself down to one style and keeps searching for new possibilities. On Belly Of The Sun, Wilson, who has gone into Miles Davis' work as can be heard on her previous CD Traveling Miles, strings a whole series of styles together once again. The CD is made up of her own compositions as well as animated interpretations of jazz, blues and pop standards like the Bob Dylan song Shelter From The Storm. She recorded most of the songs in an old train depot in Clarksdale, which she converted into a studio. In the smoldering August heat she recorded fifteen songs, like the well-known Waters of March, which she renders special by performing it in a Latin setting. Typical Mississippi Delta titles are Darkness On The Delta and Road So Clear, but also Rock Me Baby, which she recorded with a local 80-year-old blues pianist. Back in New York, she completed her album and recorded the special soul duet Just Another Parade with soul singer India.Arie against a background of tabla rolls. Wilson's voice stays deep, while Arie goes for the high notes. Belly Of The Sun goes from narrative soul to juicy Mississippi blues. Anyone not yet impressed by this versatile vocalist, who Time Magazine elected America's best singer, will definitely be now.
