Blue Light 'til Dawn

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.

Blue Light 'til Dawn
Studio album by Cassandra Wilson
Released	November 2, 1993
Studio	Greene St. RPM Sear Sound Sound on Sound, New York City
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)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Buffalo News	[2]
Robert Christgau	[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide	[6]
Tom Hull	B[7]

The album marked a shift in Wilson's recording style, mostly dropping the electric instruments and funk-influenced work of her earlier albums, in favor of acoustic arrangements influenced by folk and country music. A critical and commercial breakthrough, the album was re-released in 2014 with three bonus tracks recorded live somewhere in Europe during the Blue Light 'til Dawn Tour. The eponymous single was nominated for the Grammy Award as Best Jazz Vocal Performance.^[8]

Background

As of March 1996, the album sold over 250,000 copies. While recording the album, Wilson's father, jazz bassist Herman Fowlkes, Jr., died. In an interview for New York Magazine, Wilson explained that the album's name refers to a certain time of night. "At a party you have a blue light to have a certain vibe," said Wilson. "The title refers to that light, that blue, giving way to the dawn. It's after after hours, the predawn twilight".^[9]

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".^[10] 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".^[11] The Buffalo News review by Jeff Simon noted, "When the disc is good... it makes the disc hard to get off your turntable. It's erratic, though, with some of her headstrong notions panning out less well than others. At its best, though, it's sublime."^[2]

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
13. "Black Crow" (Joni Mitchell) — 6:30
14. "Skylark" (Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael) — 8:40
15. "Tupelo Honey" (Van Morrison) — 7:13

Songs 13–15 are bonus tracks of the 2014 re-issue.

Personnel

• Cassandra Wilson – vocals
• Olu Dara – cornet
• Don Byron – clarinet
• Charlie Burnham – violin, mandocello
• Tony Cedras – accordion
• Gib Wharton – pedal steel guitar
• Chris Whitley – resophonic guitar
• Brandon Ross – acoustic guitar
• Kenny Davis – bass
• Lonnie Plaxico – bass
• Lance Carter – drums, percussion
• Bill McClellan – drums, percussion
• Cyro Baptista – percussion
• Jeff Haynes – percussion
• Kevin Johnson – percussion
• Vinx – percussion

Chart performance

Chart (1994)	Peak position
US Jazz Albums (Billboard)[12]	10