Blue Light 'til Dawn

Blue Light 'til Dawn
Studio album by Cassandra Wilson
Released	November 2, 1993
Recorded	Greene St. Studios; RPM; Sear Sound Studios, New York, NY; Sound on Sound
Genre	Jazz, blues
Length	56:05
Label	Blue Note
Producer	Craig Street
Cassandra Wilson chronology
Dance to the Drums Again (1992) Blue Light 'til Dawn (1993) New Moon Daughter (1995)

Blue Light 'til Dawn is a studio album by American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. Her first album on the Blue Note label, it was released in 1993. It contains Wilson's interpretations of songs by various blues and rock artists, as well as three original compositions.

Reception

Rolling Stone reviewer John Milward gave the album three and a half stars out of five. He praised Wilson's choice of blues tracks by Robert Johnson and guitarist Brandon Ross' arrangements. He also liked Wilson's title track, but was less fond of her interpretations of Joni Mitchell's "Black Crow" or Ann Peebles' "I Can't Stand the Rain".^[1] Ron Wynn of Allmusic gave the album a rating of five stars out of five. In contrast to Milward, he enjoyed Wilson's "piercing version" of "I Can't Stand the Rain".^[2]

A reviewer for Gramophone called it "more spacious and flexible" than her previous albums, praising the musical juxtapositions and describing Wilson's voice as strong and sensuous. They cited "Come on in My Kitchen" and "I Can't Stand the Rain" as highlights, but did not enjoy her versions of "Black Crow" or "Hellhound on My Trail".^[3]

Track listing

1. "You Don't Know What Love Is" (Gene DePaul, Don Raye) — 6:05
2. "Come on in My Kitchen" (Robert Johnson) — 4:53
3. "Tell Me You'll Wait for Me" (Charles Brown, Oscar Moore) — 4:48
4. "Children of the Night" (Thom Bell, Linda Creed) — 5:19
5. "Hellhound on My Trail" (Johnson) — 4:34
6. "Black Crow" (Joni Mitchell) — 4:38
7. "Sankofa" (Cassandra Wilson) — 2:02
8. "Estrellas" (Cyro Baptista) — 1:59
9. "Redbone" (Wilson) — 5:35
10. "Tupelo Honey" (Van Morrison) — 5:36
11. "Blue Light 'til Dawn" (Wilson) — 5:09
12. "I Can't Stand the Rain" (Don Bryant, Bernard Miller, Ann Peebles) — 5:27

Personnel

• Cassandra Wilson – vocals
• Brandon Ross – acoustic guitars and arrangements (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 10)
• Charlie Burnham – violin (1, 10, 11), mandocello (10), arrangement (11)
• Tony Cedras – accordion (2)
• Olu Dara – cornet (5)
• Don Byron – clarinet (6)
• Gib Wharton – pedal steel guitar (8, 9)
• Chris Whitley – national resophonic guitar (12)
• Kenny Davis – bass (2, 3, 11), arrangement (3)
• Lonnie Plaxico – bass (10)
• Lance Carter – drums (2), percussion (4, 6), snares (10)
• Kevin Johnson – snare (3), percussion (4, 6, 10)
• Bill McClellan – percussion (6), drums (11)
• Jeff Haynes – percussion (6, 8, 9, 11)
• Cyro Baptista – percussion (6, 8, 9, 11), arrangements (6, 8)
• Vinx – percussion (4, 6)

References

1. Milward, John (August 1, 1997), "Cassandra Wilson: Blue Light 'Til Dawn", Rolling Stone, archived from the original on June 8, 2008, retrieved January 3, 2010
2. Wynn, Ron, "Blue Light 'Til Dawn > Review", Allmusic, Rovi Corporation, retrieved July 21, 2010
3. GL (March 1994), "Blue Note 0 M CDP7 81357-2", Gramophone, Haymarket, p. 128, retrieved July 21, 2010