This is different. Not only is this a group of songs not bound by genre, as a composite it can't be labeled as any given type of music. It is simply contemporary music at the most adventurous and innovative level. Music that reveals new subtleties and nuances with every listen.  Within the eclectic collection of songs on Thunderbird, fragments of jazz, rock, pop, blues, folk, and hip-hop driven loops and samples overlap and intertwine. There are multiple shifts in mood and texture in almost every song. Sometimes purposefully fragmented and dissonant, it never falters or stalls because in front of it all is one of the most expressive and exceptional voices in contemporary music. Only a truly gifted interpreter could pull this off and Cassandra Wilson is an extremely gifted interpreter.  She can take any song she chooses to sing and immerse you in it. In her hands even a simple campfire song like "Red River Valley" leaves you hanging on to every word.

Thunderbird unites Wilson with T-Bone Burnett, whose ability to popularize off the beaten path musicians by finding settings that enhance their quirkiness rather than burying it, culminated with the success of the roots music/bluegrass driven Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. The rest of the musicians have equally wide-ranging credentials. Keefus Ciancaia (keyboards) has played with Fishbone, Macy Gray, Dr. Dre and Alison Krauss. Mike Elizondo (electric bass) worked with Eminem and Fiona Apple. Guitarist Colin Linden played on the "O Brother..." soundtrack. Reginald Veal (bass) and Gregoire Maret (harmonica) are from Wilson's touring band. Legendary drummer Jim Keltner (various Stones and Beatles Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan and the list goes on), influential avant-garde guitarist Marc Ribot, and Keb'Mo' also contributed. They have created an album that is a departure from the intimate acoustic sound of her recent work but has some common threads.

"Go To Mexico" starts with a jangly keyboard/drum over a sample taken from the Wild Tchoupitoulas “Hey Pocky A-Way” and a beat that will get you moving. Then there is the voice, but she's singing higher and lighter than usual until several other layers of vocals wrap around the melody line and Keltner's drums kick in. The first taste of one of the most intriguing things about the production - the seamless juxtaposition of programmed and live, high tech and organic. There is a haunting restlessness in the love songs. She has discovered a gem in Jakob Dylan's achingly beautiful "Closer to You." "It Would Be So Easy" hangs a tangible sense of longing on rock hook and a dark, funky backbeat then brings it home with an infectious chorus. "Poet" spins in a pool of electronica and jazz/rock guitar chords. "Lost" with just Wilson's voice and Ribot's guitar, sounds like a jazz standard but it's actually a song Burnett wrote for the 2005 film "Don't Come Knocking." "Tarot" has the ambience of some of the highlights of Joni Mitchell's jazz phase, similar in phrasing, theme, and instrumentation but it's more fleshed out.

Every song has its highlights but even among those several songs still stand out. "Red River Valley" is one of the most unlikely performances I've ever heard. She completely reconceptualizes it, stretching it out into a bluesy narrative accompanied only by Linden's slide guitar. "Easy Rider," the Blind Lemon Jefferson blues classic, is a seven minute showcase reminiscent of those long bluesy jams from classic Cream and Hendrix albums. It veers from electric to acoustic, subtle to powerful, and loud to soft while this magnificent voice just pulls every ounce of blues out of every word.

There is the link. It's a different era and, in a sense, a different type of music but playing this one straight through feels like listening to the radio late at night when "progressive" stations were just starting up and people were picking the songs that moved them and playing them in sets guided by stream of consciousness and quality of song. Hearing it made you feel like you were a part of something fresh, new, and very important. Thunderbird has that spirit. By not being referential to any era but the one we are living in now it shows that the spirit still exists and there are still places that only music like this can take you.

- Shannon West