Elly Roberts reviews
Eva Cassidy Sings
Distributed by
Hot Records
- Cert:
- Cat.no: G8 - 10083
- Running time: 46 minutes
- Year: 1996
- Pressing: 2004
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Sound: Dolby Stereo
- Languages: English
- Fullscreen: 4:3
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £16.99
- Rating: 10/10
Eva Cassidy could sing anything. It was mostly other people’s songs.
She had a no nonsense approach to interpreting their work. Similarly, this
DVD is in the same vein. No frills or fancy extras, just full-on music. Finally,
we get see and hear what all the fuss was about.
Posthumously, her success came after her album Songbird had been languishing
in the lower regions of the top 100 in the UK. BBC Radio 2 DJ Terry Wogan had
a big helping hand in its popularity, with regular airplay.
It eventually went 5 times platinum, and the single Somewhere Over The Rainbow
made its third re-entry, peaking at 42. This was followed by two other number
one albums (both platinum), with the remainder of her back-catalogue going
gold. This multi-talented woman was born into a musical family on 2 February
1963, and died of cancer age 33, on 2 November 1996.
A complex, shy and stubborn person, she refused to ‘sell-out‘ at any cost –
even for financial gain. Her sole purpose and existence evolved around her art:
singing, painting and a host of other projects. As a child she had perfect
pitch and harmony, later learning to play guitar. She never had any formal
voice training – she didn’t need any, as you will discover on this wonderfully
intimate concert recorded at the Blues Alley Jazz Club in Washington on 2 and
3 January 1996; nine months before she passed away.
Backed by four excellent musicians, she casually saunters through Jazz, Soul,
Folk and Blues standards. It doesn’t matter about the poor colour quality and
amateurish filming, it only serves to highlight her masterful interpretations.
The voice is absolutely pristine possessing superb timbre and control, holding
notes with consummate ease. The gentleness on Louis Armstrong’s Wonderful World
and Curtis Mayfield’s Soul classic, People Get Ready, are juxtaposed by
the immense power of Cheek To Cheek and You’ve Changed. Jazz songs
like Honeysuckle Rose, is amongst her finest work.
Her take on Cyndi Lauper’s smash hit Time After Time, is an absolute and
unparalleled treasure. At the end of it all we get Over The Rainbow. If
ever a song was meant to be sung by someone – it simply had to be Eva Cassidy. This low-key concert is a must have for people who love seriously great
music. Avoid it at your peril.
Note that the songs contained in this DVD were originally made into clips for
promotional purposes. People Get Ready and Over The Rainbow are
monochrome, the remainder in colour.
Eva Cassidy CD’s include – American Tune, Wonderful World, Songbird,
Eva By Heart, Live At Blues Alley, The Other Side, Time After Time and
Imagine. Take a search for her CDs by clicking on the Amazon link above
and selecting 'Music'.
The full list of tracks included are :
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
