Sep 3, 2026 10:44 AM
In Memoriam: Cassandra Wilson, 1955–2026
Cassandra Wilson, a singer, songwriter and producer who was one of the most acclaimed and successful jazz vocalists of…
DownBeat once described Vancouver’s Tony Wilson as “a talismanic West Coast figure.”
(Photo: Courtesy Bandcamp)Vancouver, B.C.-based creative jazz guitarist Tony Wilson passed away in his sleep on June 6. He was 66. A gifted composer and improviser who lived on Vancouver’s Hornby Island since 1978 and founded the annual No Horses Music Festival in 2015, Wilson was a positive influence on the Vancouver music and arts scene and a revered figure among Canadian jazz musicians and listeners.
Wilson, whom DownBeat once described as “a talismanic West Coast figure,” gave his final performance the day before he died, June 5, in Vancouver as part of Butoh Jazz, a show at KW Studios that paired the guitarist and a quartet with a trio of Kororo Dance dancers, according to an obituary in the Vancouver Sun.
Originally from Ottawa, Ontario, Wilson majored in composition at Malaspina College in Nanaimo, B.C., under Pat Carpenter and went on to study with bassist Dave Holland, guitarist John Abercrombie and others at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta. He performed and composed for the Video Barbeque sextet, and he formed and led his own sextet, quintet, quartet and trio, plus an 11-piece band that accompanied his multimedia presentation The Homeless Project, the third in his series of musical works addressing major social issues.
Wilson toured across Canada, Europe and the U.S., and released six albums, including A Day’s Life (a fictionalized account of an unhoused musician struggling with substance abuse that was based on his own experiences) in 2015 and This Way Through The Forest (with vocalist Patsy Klein, violinists Meredith Bates and Joshua Zubot, viola player John Kastelic, cellist Peggy Lee, bassist James Meger and drummer/percussionist Dylan van der Schyff) in 2019. DB
Wilson’s ability to connect to audiences helped her to win two Grammy awards and multiple other accolades. She was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2022.
Sep 3, 2026 10:44 AM
Cassandra Wilson, a singer, songwriter and producer who was one of the most acclaimed and successful jazz vocalists of…
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