At the age of 5 or 6, Cassandra Wilson recalls hearing the music of Miles Davis for the first time. "Sketches of Spain" was part of her father's record collection, himself a jazz musician and was one of the records he would often play in their home in Jackson, Mississippi.
In the mid-'80s, as a burgeoning New York based jazz singer, Wilson once opened for Davis at a jazz festival in Chicago, although she was too afraid to meet and tell him of his influence on her. On her latest album "Traveling Miles," she finally pays tribute to Davis.
"I believe it's important for all musicians to pay homage and give up props to their inspirations, and Miles has been ever-present for me," she says. "He's always been there, even after he passed away."