Remembering jazz singer Cassandra Wilson

NPR | By Kevin Whitehead,

Terry Gross

Published September 18, 2026 at 8:50 AM CDT

Wilson, who died Sept. 1, spiced her singing with funk, hip-hop and blues. Kevin Whitehead offers an appreciation, and we listen back to Terry's 1988 interview with Wilson.

Tags

Fresh Air

Kevin Whitehead

Kevin Whitehead is the jazz historian on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

See stories by Kevin Whitehead

Terry Gross

Terry Gross is the host and executive producer of NPR's Fresh Air.

See stories by Terry Gross

There's 'Hope' for this divisive alien invasion film that mixes art and schlock

Justin Chang

Shape-shifting aliens attack a South Korean border town in Hope, a big-budget thriller that blends third-rate CGI with exhilarating action scenes.
'Looney Tunes' animator Chuck Jones explains what makes Wile E. Coyote tick

Terry Gross

Jones, who died in 2002, shared the specific rules he had for the characters he co-created in this 1989 interview: "The roadrunner can never harm the coyote; the coyote could only harm himself."
'American Scoundrel' traces Roy Cohn's playbook from McCarthyism to Trump

Terry Gross

In Kai Bird's biography of Cohn, he looks at how the lawyer taught Trump how to deny, delay, attack, sue and countersue, never admit defeat, side-step paying bills and avoid a paper trail.
3 Dolly Parton hits showcase her unique takes on romance and heartbreak

Ken Tucker

"Don't Let It Trouble Your Mind" is the prettiest kiss-off song you'll ever hear. Then there's "Run That By Me One More Time," a rowdy novelty duet, and the story-song "My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy."
How Jared Kushner is mixing U.S. diplomacy with his billion-dollar business

Tonya Mosley

The New Yorker's Dexter Filkins says while Trump's son-in-law is a U.S. special envoy negotiating peace, he's also working on private business deals, raising billions in some of the same countries.