Cassandra Wilson - Belly Of The Sun (2LP)
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Cassandra Wilson – vocals (all tracks), surdo, guitar (B3, C1) [click here to see more vinyl featuring Cassandra Wilson]
Marvin Sewell – guitars (A1-2, B3-D2)
Kevin Breit – mandolin, guitars, vocals, bouzouki, omnichord (A1-2, C1−D1)
Mark Peterson – basses (A1-2, B3-D3)
Jeffrey Haynes – percussion, plastic tub, steel pans (A1-2, B2-C2, D1-4)
Cyro Baptista – percussion, vocals (A1-2, B2-D3)
Xavyon Jamison – drums (A1-2, B3, D2-3)
"Boogaloo" Ames – piano (A3)
Children of M.S.44 (NYC) – vocals (B1)
Rhonda Richmond – vocals, piano (B2, C1, D3)
Richard Johnston – guitar, vocals (B2)
Jewell Bass, Vasti Jackson, Patrice Moncell, Henry Rhodes – vocals (B3)
India.Arie – vocals (C1)
Jesse Robinson – electric guitar (D2)
Olu Dara – trumpet (D3)
2 LPs, gatefold jacket
Limited edition
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Pallas
Label : Pure Pleasure
Original Label : Capitol Records
Recorded in Clarksdale Train Depot and a boxcar. Additional recording at Allaire Studios South, New York City
Engineered and mixed by Danny Kopelson
Produced by Cassandra Wilson
Re-mastering by Ron McMaster at Capitol Studios
Originally released in 2002
Reissued in November 2012
Tracks:
Side A:
- The Weight
- Justice
- Darkness On the Delta
Side B:
- Waters of March
- You Gotta Move
- Only A Dream In Rio
Side C:
- Just Another Parade
- Wichita Lineman
- Shelter From the Storm
Side D:
- Drunk As Cooter Brown
- Show Me A Love
- Road So Clear
- Hot Tamales
Awards:
Michael Fremer's 100 Recommended All-Analog LP Reissues Worth Owning - Rated 38/100!
Reviews:
"[A]n album that seamlessly and comfortably moves between jazz, pop, rock and blues, stitched together by Wilson's sultry voice, magnificent phrasing and the sure backing of her core group... The instrumentation and arrangements are imaginative and varied throughout and intimately and warmly recorded. Three-dimensionality and purity reign supreme here, with Technicolor instrumental timbres, tactile textures and full bodied dynamics. Wilson's voice is richly presented and artifact-free. The perspective is intimate and close-up. Ron McMaster's lacquer cut is superbly transparent and appropriately intimate and the Pallas pressing as usual does not disappoint." - Michael Fremer, Analog Planet
“The back story of this album is important to understanding the music. The year is 2002 and the intent was to make a blues-based record and that led the search for a proper locale. Wilson ended up at an old train station in the Mississippi Delta in Clarksdale. Due to a wedding the band moved from the train station to a boxcar to do some recordings as well. Three more songs were recorded in studio—one with India Arie. Some of the songs are originals while the covers are from well-known artists like James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Robert Johnson, The Band and Antonio Carlos Jobim. It originally went to No. 2 on the Billboard Jazz charts in 2002.
As always, listening to discs from Pure Pleasure is…a pure pleasure! The sound is remarkably noise-free although this sound is a bit dry without a great deal of extreme top end. I would suppose that this had to do with the original mix and recording, but I don’t have it to compare. Cassandra’s rich voice is as distinctive as always. Some of the tracks are more impressive (musically) than others though none are losers. I doubted if Wilson could transform “Waters of March” into a non-Bossa Nova genre and make it her own, but I have to say, it was successful. Other tracks offer a combination of blues, soul and rock in their unique interpretations. “Darkness on the Delta” is a loosely swingin’ piano number that caught my attention immediately. “Drunk as Cooter Brown” is another standout upbeat tune with a gentle Caribbean vibe. Much of Wilson’s jazz style is not unlike Patricia Barber with less of the sung poetry that Barber often employs. There is a good mixture of different styles that help keep the listener interested and involved. Audiophiles will probably rush out and get this record, but the good news is the music is good too!” John Sunier, Audiophile Audition, April 2013
"Guests add variety. Boogaloo Ames supplies an unencumbered, barrelhouse accompaniment for two traditional songs. The duo simplicity of singer with piano makes them shine with a special element - a lesson in history. Their charming interpretation inspires. Elsewhere, Wilson adds variety in form. "Show Me A Love" and "Road So Clear" caress a modern, electric blues message. "Hot Tamales" and "You Gotta Move", recorded in a railroad boxcar, come from way back, drawing upon spiritual and field holler roots. India.Arei's vocal duet with Wilson pierces the heart with its soul-stirring message. While Jobim's "Waters of March" does not fit the tried-and-true formula, it allows Wilson the opportunity to lighten her session with a message that speaks, nevertheless, the same language as the blues: a promise of good times ahead. A highly recommended album, Belly Of the Sun returns to the land where it all began and takes us along for a soul stirring ride." - Jim Santella, All About Jazz, April 2002
“Cassandra Wilson continues to move down a highly eclectic path on Belly of the Sun, the somewhat belated follow-up to Traveling Miles. While displaying a jazz singer's mastery of melodic nuance and improvisatory phrasing, Wilson draws on a variety of non-jazz idioms -- roots music, rock, Delta blues, country, soul -- to create a kind of earthy, intelligent pop with obvious crossover appeal. Her core band includes guitarists Marvin Sewell and Kevin Breit, who blend marvelously, Sewell mostly on mellow acoustic and Breit adding atmospheric touches on electric, 12-string, and slide guitars, as well as mandolin, banjo, and even bouzouki. Bassist Mark Peterson and percussionists Jeffrey Haynes and Cyro Baptista provide a superbly sensitive rhythmic foundation. But because Wilson returned to her home state of Mississippi to record most of this album, she made sure to book some time with local musicians. Thus guitarist Jesse Robinson guests on (and co-writes) the funky "Show Me a Love," and the octogenarian pianist "Boogaloo" Ames plays an unpolished yet utterly heartfelt duet with Wilson on the classic "Darkness on the Delta." Other guests include drummer Xavyon Jamison, trumpeter Olu Dara, pianist and vocalist Rhonda Richmond (who penned the slowly swaying "Road So Clear"), guitarist Richard Johnston, backup vocalists Patrice Monell, Jewell Bass, Henry Rhodes, and Vasti Jackson, and the children of New York's Middle School 44. Wilson delves into vintage blues with Mississippi Fred McDowell's "You Gotta Move" and a brief yet dynamic rendition of Robert Johnson's "Hot Tamales." But the best tracks are the rock/pop covers: the Band's "The Weight," Bob Dylan's "Shelter From the Storm," James Taylor's "Only a Dream in Rio," Jobim's "Waters of March," and Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman" (a 1968 hit for Glen Campbell). Wilson and band are in peak interpretive form on these ethereal reinventions. While her own lyrics may not rise to the level of a Robbie Robertson or a Bob Dylan, her versatility and focus come through clearly on the originals "Justice," "Just a Parade" (a collaboration with neo-soul rookie India.Arie), and the Caribbean-tinged "Cooter Brown." AllMusic Review by David R. Adler
"With a voice as rich and caramel-y as Sarah Vaughan's, and a delivery as intimately conversational as Joni Mitchell's, Cassandra Wilson is the perfect jazz singer for people who don't particularly like jazz singing... Still, Belly of the Sun feels uncomfortably empty at points".[8] David R. Adler of AllMusic stated: "Cassandra Wilson continues to move down a highly eclectic path on Belly of the Sun, the somewhat belated follow-up to Traveling Miles. While displaying a jazz singer's mastery of melodic nuance and improvisatory phrasing, Wilson draws on a variety of non-jazz idioms -- roots music, rock, Delta blues, country, soul -- to create a kind of earthy, intelligent pop with obvious crossover appeal". The Rolling Stone Review by J. D. Coniside
Ratings :
AllMusic : 3.5 / 5 ; Discogs : 4.47 / 5 ; Michael Fremer : Music 9/11, Sound 9/11!