Sneak Peek: Cassandra Wilson Podcast

Cassandra Wilson: There is absolutely a different skillset involved when a musician works with a vocalist. There's a different kind of breathing that happens when you work with someone who's singing lyrics than with someone who is playing notes. So it takes a different kind of sensibility and a different understanding of the shape of a voice. The voice is not the same as the instrument. The instrument is supposed to imitate the voice. That's why instruments begin to be used, is to be like a voice. But the voice has so many more facets than an instrument has. An instrument can be worked into having different layers of meaning, but the voice is ultimately the best at doing that.