Quotes by Cassandra Wilson

• My father had all kinds of instruments in the house that he would hide from my mother. He bought them through mail order!
• My grandmother sang, too, and she was really loud. It was this wild kind of singing. I count her among my influences.
• Miles Davis was doing something inherently African, something that has to do with all forms of American music, not just jazz.
• Miles Davis was a master. In every phase of his career, he understood that this music was a tribute to the African muse.
• I've often cringed when I heard myself described as a jazz singer. I've always thought of myself as a jazz vocalist.
• I'm always imagining some sort of story behind the song, even the ones I haven't written. I'm actively engaging in playacting.
• I was never interested in singing in the church choir or in school. I was more interested in becoming a musician.
• Everything I do is collaborative. It's just my way. I'm really very interested in how the other musicians perceive the song.
• Being black, I'm involved in the reparations movement. It's focused toward the African-American audience. We could begin to heal.
• I'm always looking for ways to develop as an artist, especially as a jazz artist-to find different ways of testing my voice.
• 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.
• Life is a journey, not a race. Take the scenic route and savor the view along the way.
• Embrace the messiness of life, for it is within chaos that true beauty is revealed.
• Believe in the power of your own uniqueness, for in a world of copies, an original will always stand out.