The Jazz world has lost one of it’s most unique and finest performers. Two-time Grammy award-winning vocalist, musician, songwriter, producer and NEA Jazz Master Cassandra Wilson died yesterday morning (September 2, 2026) at the age of 70. Her longtime manager Robert Torre told WBGO that Cassandra transitioned peacefully at her home in Jackson, Mississippi, surrounded by her family and close friends.
WBGO’s Daybreak host Gary Walker first met Cassandra Wilson at the WBGO studios before she was famous. She was married at the time to then-WBGO weekend announcer Anthony Wilson. The couple had just moved to New York from the South. During Cassandra's first chat with Gary she told him she was jazz singer who wanted to test her mettle in the jazz capital of the world. Gary yesterday talked about why Cassandra's music will always be present.
"There were no boundaries for Cassandra Wilson as to what she explored. And she did it with that sultry, smoky voice of hers, whether she was working on a Miles Davis re-imagination, approaching a great American Standard or approaching the world of Bob Dylan. Her rendition of Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" is just phenomenal. Every time she approached a piece of music with that sultry, smoky vibe of hers, you thought 'this is Cassandra's music' because it was."
Cassandra Wilson would refer to WBGO legend and fellow NEA Jazz Master Dorthaan Kirk as "Mother Kirk"….
"I'm just devastated. Cassandra completely related to me because she looked up to me as an elder and somebody that was in the business."
Dorthaan fondly remembers taking Cassandra to Lush Life in Greenwich Village. It was the first time Cassandra had visited a jazz club in New York City. "DK" also knew early on that Cassandra would become a sensation.
"I'm not a musician. I don't know all the technical terms, but it's about a feeling. There was something in her presentation like the way she sounded and played guitar. There was just a great feeling that I knew that something was there that was special. I thought she should be known by a wider and broader audience."
The National Endowment of the Arts named Cassandra Wilson as 2022 NEA Jazz Master alongside Stanley Clarke, Billy Hart, and Donald Harrison. Cassandra was a true friend of WBGO and will be greatly missed. WBGO will continue to share her wonderful songs.
