Cassandra Wilson June 20, 2010

Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson became one of the top jazz singers of the '90s, a vocalist blessed with a distinctive and flexible voice who is not afraid to take chances. She began playing piano and guitar when she was nine and was working as a vocalist by the mid-'70s, singing a wide variety of material. She is a self-confessed restless spirit always eager to move on to the next project, the next sound. In a string of acclaimed, best-selling albums, she has expanded the boundaries of jazz by incorporating everything from blues legend Robert Johnson to Neil Young, James Taylor and the Monkees ("Last Train to Clarksville," off her lauded "New Moon Daughter" CD in 1996).