The new album, Silver Pony, by Cassandra Wilson, who is currently on tour in Colombia (Barranquijazz and the Festival de Jazz del Teatro Libre), will be on sale from 26 October. The album will be released by Blue Note and is produced by Wilson herself and John Fischbach, the owner of Piety Street Recording, the studio where it was recorded, which is located in the historic Bywater neighbourhood of New Orleans, almost destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Besides singing, Cassandra Wilson plays the synthesizer with Jonathan Batiste on piano, Marvin Sewell on guitar, Reginald Veal on bass and Herlin Riley and Lekan Babalola on percussion. Silver Pony also features special guests, such as the tenor saxophonist, Ravi Coltrane, and the singer and pianist, John Legend, who appear in the songs, "Silver Moon" and "Watch The Sunrise". Particularly interesting is how the album got its name. "A man came one day to my neighbourhood in Jackson, Mississippi, with a pony and a camera," the artist recalls. "You had to pay to get your picture taken. My brothers declined, but I was eager. My mother hesitated and said: There were certain things that young ladies just didn't do." Despite everything, the picture was taken when her mother was not looking, and it is that picture that now graces the cover of the album. So vivid was the childhood memory that it inspired a number of the songs featured on the album, such as "Silver Moon", "Pony Blues" and "Silver Pony". It also includes classics by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II ("Lover Come Back To Me"), Stevie Wonder ("If It's Magic") Luiz Bonfa ("Manha de Carnaval") and John Lennon and Paul McCartney ("Blackbird"). Cassandra Wilson is currently one of the leading singers of modern jazz, whose work has a definite leaning towards variations of classic songs and a mixture of swing and blues with African, Caribbean and folk rhythms.
