Interview with Lonnie Plaxico
We’re back with more of the heartfelt interview with bassist Lonnie Plaxico where we don’t just learn about the life of an incredible musician, but a little about life itself.
NiA: For those who didn’t get the chance to meet Cassandra or get to know her, is there anything you feel would capture her personality in a few sentences?
LP: Well, she was unique in her own way. Complicated at times, and trying to figure out life. I mean, she was experiencing music, life and relationships. Everything people go through.
Musicians have the same relationships that other people have, but what we do is a little different. Like people go to work, they just doing certain things. But being a musician, you get closer to people, different from other jobs because of the creative freedom that’s happening. the creative thing that’s going on, and freedom that people have is, you know. It’s hard to explain to people who don’t live it.
NiA: It’s like, your work is not just a hat you put on and take off at the end of the day. Being a musician is a part of your identity, a part of who you are and shapes who you are as an individual.
LP: Yeah, and there’s a certain freedom that comes along with that lifestyle but also risk. Your mind has to be secure enough to know that even if you don’t know where you’re going to be working the next week or the next month, you keep moving forward. You have to live in that place of uncertainty and become comfortable with it.
With all the musicians I work with, it’s a culture. It’s a closeness that you get from working with people like Cassandra. I mean, because they become family. Actually, more than family because, you know, I spent 20 years with my biological family. But I was working with her for 43 years.
NiA: It would be difficult to work that long with someone and not develop a special connection with them.
LP: Yeah, it’s music that keeps you together. Not drifting away. It’s like a kind of marriage, it doesn’t have to be perfect but it’s a place you can keep coming back. And you continue to work with other people because that’s how you learn and grow, other people have different things to teach you. I always relate things to relationships, you know. In marriage, you’re pretty much serving that person. In music, you’re encouraged to go have other relationships with other musicians because you learn different things that you’re not gonna get from just one person.
NiA: So would you say Cassandra had a collaborative spirit?
LP: Yeah, she challenged you in her way. I had a figure out how to work with who she was musically. You have to listen and make adjustments to how that person sings or plays. You know, I mean, it’s unpredictable at times. Living, breathing, always changing.
NiA: Where were some of the places you traveled together?
LP: Everywhere! Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan, everywhere.
NiA: Was the experience very different playing in all of those different locations?
LP: Not so much, the place didn’t influence the performance all that much. I mean, you go there and you play and it’s an opportunity to create. It’s just a stage, and it’s the same stage everywhere you go.
Now, the people are different in different places. The more the people respond to you, the more they’re gonna bring something different out of you. So, some places where the people are really showing expression, it’s like a basketball team. I would say fans are the other part of the team, because the fans make them play better. Music is the same way. When people are really clapping and showing appreciation, the musicians are going to naturally play differently, better.
NiA: Are there any places where you knew the crowds were consistently going to be very appreciative?
LP: Yeah, Chicago, Oakland, Washington D.C. Culturally, people are going to bring a different vibe, whereas places like Japan, they may be a little more reserved.
NiA: If you had to choose, what is some of Cassandra’s music that you would recommend for people to dip their toe in?
LP: We did a song called “You Move Me”. It was for a movie soundtrack for the film Love Jones. It’s a more commercial tune that a lot of people tell me they like, so I think the listeners are more than just musicians. That would be one.
Also, any of her records that went to the Grammys. I mean, they won for a reason. They were more popular records, like New Moon Daughter, and Loverly. And she did a jazz standard record called Blue Skies. So that would be the one for people who just like listen to traditional jazz. That record is all jazz standards. Those are the three records I would recommend.
NiA: Thank you for having this conversation with us, Lonnie, I know it’s impossible to capture everything in a single brief conversation about someone who lived such a full life. We truly appreciate you speaking with us about your time with Cassandra.
LP: I appreciate that, I knew her off the stage, on the stage, and through the ups and downs. Being able to work together so long was special because in the past, a lot of musicians didn’t even live long enough to make a lot of music. So, I mean, she lived to be 70 and perform at a high level.
Cassandra only got sick within the past month, so she didn’t experience any deterioration or anything like that. Some people, you can tell they’re sick or not as strong a musician as they were when they were younger. Our last gig together was in June (2026), and she didn’t appear to be sick. She was strong and having fun. She was doing what she wanted to do until it was time to go.
We were supposed to have a gig in July. She was not sick like, how sometimes people are very sick for a year or more. She was performing. I don’t think she knew she was sick. So, mentally and physically, it was just another day.
NiA: What did you play during your last gig together in June?
LP: We were playing music from New Moon Daughter. It was a 30-year anniversary gig. We did a recording in February with a piano player named Eric Lewis, who played in her band. He actually just did a recording, a tribute to Sting. His career started with Cassandra after college. So, he has Cassandra and me on a track on that CD, which will probably come out this year. That’s the last time Cassandra and I recorded together – on that upcoming project.
NiA: Well that will be really cool, to have that new music come out even after she’s passed.
LP: Yeah, it’s even more valuable, because it’s one of the last things she’s ever done. It’s just one song, but the song is good. And someone captured that moment.
I’m still just processing the fact she’s gone. I’ll be processing it for years. Her passing is a little different than most people I’ve worked with because, you know, being in the music business for a long time, so many people have passed, since I started playing professional at 14 (I’m 66 now). I’m still processing many losses, but I’ve never worked with anyone as long as I worked with Cassandra.
It’s more like losing family. Most of the time when you work with someone, it’s for a month or maybe a few years. But you almost never work with someone nonstop for 43 years. But…it’s life. There is a beginning and an ending and it’s out of our control.
NiA: And the beauty of music is that Cassandra will be kept alive through all of her recordings.
LP: Yeah, her legacy is actually going to take on another chapter. And people will value it more, because the book of Cassandra is going to be written now. It’s more sacred when someone dies. When they’re living, they’re still creating and it’s okay. But when they die, you have to preserve it because it’s the value of that person. It means more now that they’re not here.
In loving memory of Cassandra Wilson, one of the great jazz singers of our time.
December 4, 1955 – September 1, 2026
Visit nightisalive.com/albums to check out Radiance, Lonnie’s most recent album with Night is Alive. He also appears on many of our other albums, so be sure to give them a listen.
Learn more about Lonnie Plaxico at www.lonnieplaxico.com
Learn more about Cassandra Wilson at www.cassandrawilson.com
Picture from www.cassandrawilson.com
