The Last Great Singer

If you know about Eva Cassidy already, you’re lucky. If you haven’t heard her sing yet, you can look forward to hearing one of the greats. Eva was a blue-eyed, blonde singer from Washington DC who died of bone marrow cancer in 1996 at age 33. She died unknown. She was not marketable because she didn’t have a niche. Eva could sing anything—blues, jazz, pop, folk, rock and make it sound as if it were here own style in the purest, most compelling voice you’ve ever heard. Most people learn about Eva Cassidy listening to the radio, hearing her and saying, “Who’s that?” We heard her sing “Imagine” one morning on public radio and waited for the announcer to tell us who it was. He didn’t and we called the station to find out, then ran downtown to buy the CD. We weren’t disappointed. She is the best. There are only seven Eva Cassidy CDs. Christmas brought us “Eva Cassidy, Time After Time.” She begins with “Kathy’s Song” by Paul Simon, does “Time After Time” better than Cindy Lauper, accompanies herself on guitar, has a superb backup band and finishes out the album with that old church favorite “Way Beyond the Blue.” “Do Lord, or do Lord or do you remember me” sung acapella with Eva as her own backup group. As with all unique talents like Eva, there is a bit of a cult following with several websites dedicated to her memory. http://evacassidy.org/eva/  

Comments

[Cheryl]

Eva is one of the most unrecognized beautiful voices of our time. I love the purity and range of her incredible voice. Thanks for reminding, or introducing people to one of the best. CP