Perhaps the pairing of
Cassandra Wilson and
Billie Holiday carries a whiff of inevitability, but there's nothing predictable about
Coming Forth by Day. Released to coincide with
Holiday's centennial in 2015,
Coming Forth by Day explicitly celebrates Lady Day by drawing upon standards she sang in addition to songs she wrote, but
Wilson deliberately sidesteps the conventional by hiring
Nick Launay as a producer. As a result of his work with
Nick Cave,
Launay mastered a certain brand of spooky Americana, something that comes in handy with the
Holiday catalog, but
Coming Forth by Day is never too thick with murk. It luxuriates in its atmosphere, sometimes sliding into a groove suggesting smooth '70s soul, often handsomely evoking a cinematic torch song -- moods that complement each other and suggest
Holiday's work without replicating it. This is a neat trick: such flexibility suggests how adaptable
Holiday's songbook is while underscoring the imagination behind
Wilson's interpretation s. Certainly,
Launay deserves credit for his painterly production, but the success of
Coming Forth by Day belongs entirely to
Wilson, who proves that she's an heir to
Holiday's throne by never once imitating her idol. [
Coming Forth was also released on LP.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine