Cassandra Wilson Quotes (16 Quotes)

My father had all kinds of instruments in the house that he would hide from my mother. He bought them through mail order!

I'm always imagining some sort of story behind the song, even the ones I haven't written. I'm actively engaging in playacting.

My grandmother sang, too, and she was really loud. It was this wild kind of singing. I count her among my influences.

I've been singing since I was 5 years old. Not in-the-church-thing kind of way. I always made up music. Since I was a little girl. Improvisation was with me from the beginning. It drove my parents crazy. I would sing all the time. To anything. Television show themes. I loved to imitate the sounds.

I know you're supposed to set goals for yourself. I see all that motivational stuff on television. Think about the future, what's next But I'm all into the journey. It's fascinating to me. So if I make certain what I want moment to moment, I'm cool at the crossroads.

There was a train that would come by our house every night, and I'd hear the whistle blow. That is the sweetest memory I have.

I've often cringed when I heard myself described as a jazz singer. I've always thought of myself as a jazz vocalist.

Everything I do is collaborative. It's just my way. I'm really very interested in how the other musicians perceive the song.

They wanted us to sit down, but there wasn't a place to sit down. The place was so small you could stand in the middle and touch everything. They must have slept sitting up on the couch.

Miles Davis was doing something inherently African, something that has to do with all forms of American music, not just jazz.

There's a lot happening in many of us. I think you have to celebrate every part. It's what you are. You have to try to find all of those secret names.

Miles Davis was a master. In every phase of his career, he understood that this music was a tribute to the African muse.

Offense-wise, we were not in a scheme. We told the girls they had to play at a higher defensive level.

I was never interested in singing in the church choir or in school. I was more interested in becoming a musician.

I'm always looking for ways to develop as an artist, especially as a jazz artist-to find different ways of testing my voice.

Being black, I'm involved in the reparations movement. It's focused toward the African-American audience. We could begin to heal.