Cassandra Wilson - New Moon Daughter

Billfort

Addicted Member
Artist: Cassandra Wilson
Title: New Moon Daughter
Year of Release: 1996
Record Label: Blue Note
Genre: Jazz/Blues

New Moon Daughter is one of my favorite albums. I just love Cassandra Wilson’s voice, it’s so sultry, deep, dark and seductive and so well showcased here with a great mix of her own songs and interesting covers. She totally transforms songs like U2’s Love Is Blindness, Neil Young’s Harvest Moon, The Monkey’s (!!) Last Train to Clarksville and especially Hank William’s I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. I especially like her killer renditions of Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit and Robert Johnson’s 32-20. This LP is worth it for these covers alone but her original material really elevates this to something special.

The sound of this recording is first rate with a great up-front mix of guitar flavors and a solid upright bass line throughout that really lets you taste the texture and ‘wood’ of the instrument. The vocals are all enveloping and really take you away in these songs but they are a little ‘hot’ and sibilant at times. This may just be something going on with my TT or my current tube mix, but I’d like to hear the CD release of this (just once! :) ) to see if it’s the pressing. I have the Quiex SV super vinyl release of this LP and it is…super vinyl.

I am such a fan of this album that I dug into the details of the recording studio – The Turtle Creek Barn in Bearsville NY.

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Located near Woodstock, it’s supposed to be one of the few purely analog studios left and has something like a 30 year history of recordings like Natalie Merchant’s Tigerlily, Joe Jackson’s Blaze of Glory and others from the likes of The Band, REM and The Dave Matthews Band. The main recording room is a 35 x 35 foot space with the expansive ceiling of a post-and-beam barn. I have to figure this analog approach in such an interesting acoustic environment plays a big part in how beautifully this music comes across.
 
I have decided that I detest this review forum.

Guess I'll just add this record to my rapidly growing list of records I need to acquire. Nice review Billfort
 
Now you know what some of the rest of us have had to deal with for quite some time Rey! :yes:

Buy lists can only grow - never shrink.

-dave
 
Yeah I hear you Ray, this forum is dangerous to my wallet. I figured I could control this a little since I pretty much limit my purchases to vinyl and SACD but there is SO much of that available lately it's not helping...
 
I agree with all that has been said about artitst and album. Have any of you ever heard her Belly Of The Sun? She continues her tradition of unusual covers by doing material from such diverse sources as The Band, Glen Campbell and Robert Johnson.
 
Yeah baby, that is a nice one. I have the original Blue Note vinyl and it sounds great. One of those nice "walk in and look around" type of soundstages. Lot's of fun. Love her stormy take on Son House's "Death Letter". The band really gets a big ball of sound going on that one.

Well, I folded up my arms and I slowly walked away.
I said, "Farewell honey, I'll see you on Judgement Day."
Ah, yeah, oh, yes, I slowly walked away.
I said, "Farewell, farewell, I'll see you on the Judgement Day."

You know I went in my room, I bowed down to pray.
The blues came along and drove my spirit away.
I went in my room, I said I bowed down to pray.
I said the blues came along and drove my spirit away.

You know I didn't feel so bad, til the good ole sun went down.
I didn't have a soul to throw my arms around.
 
Sibilance not my fault??

I know this is an old thread but i too love this album. The bass on it is amazing. It is friggin' dark themed music though. Wow. Some grim themes.... which I love. My ex-wife seemed to think this album embodied all that was wrong with me and how we were so divergent in our tastes for culture that it was hopeless. So artistically it is amazing .... IMHO.

But on the audio quality side I always thought it amazing too... and for the most part it is.... the bass is so deep and rich. The recording so airy and open ...I JUST realized how sibilant it is though this past 2 weeks when back into DIY speaker building and tweaking and the critical listening that goes with it.... It has been driving me crazy! I have been switching out amps and speakers and tweeters and x-over components in my DIY speakers and this thread has calmed me down. But i am really disappointed now though that it likely cannot be cured even with some narrow notch filter at the centre frequency of the sibilance....

I am going to take this CD to a mega buck Audiophile store and see what it sounds like on some system I could never afford. Only that will completely convince me that my kit is okay... or it will ruin me for all of my gear... kinda risky eh? Hmmmm....
 
Excellent album. Blue Light 'Til Dawn, from a couple years earlier, is even better (slightly), IMHO, especially her version of Robert Johnson's Come On In My Kitchen.
 
This is one of my fav albums by her....Strange Fruit...no one does it better than Billy Holiday, and no one besides Billy does it better than Cassandra Wilson. Also the tune "Love is Blind"...oh boyee! I put it on repeat and let it play over and over....That song is so full of emotion...it puts me in a special place. That is one song that gets into my soul and moves me. Great album!
 
Ditto on New Moon Daughter being a great album. Wilson's album "Glamoured" is also very good. Her versions of Stax recording artist Luther Ingram's "If Loving You is Wrong (I Don't Wanna Be Right)" and Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" have got to be heard.
 
I really like "New Moon Daughter" too.:thmbsp::music:

Another excellent album of Cassandra is::yes:

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Cassandra Wilson / Belly Of The Sun
2002
 
I have had a long appreciation for Cassandra Wilson.

I recently started going through her discography.

I hope others will read this thread and take the time to listen to her work.
 
Well, I listened to it once... and resold it - did not connect for me. Jazz vocals are hit-or-miss for me. I like (most by) Norah Jones, Alana Davis, Jane Monheit, Madeline Peroux, but cannot take Diana Krall at all. Haven't listened to Patricia Barber - will see which side she ends up on.
 
Patricia Barber is kinda dry - I've tried 3 or 4 of hers,
but they just don't hit me like Krall, Nora Jones or Melody Gardot ..
 
Very few artists can take a tune and make it their own and she is very successful in this.

Highly recommended singer!
 
Funny, Nora Jones doesn't do it for me. Even bought Come Away with Me on SACD; no luck. Find her, I don't know, too wimpy. Interestingly, I really like Alison Krauss, who some might consider wimpy. Different strokes for different folks I guess. :)
 
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