Eva Cassidy I Can Only Be Me 2023, Walkin' After Midnight 2024

I wrote about Eva Cassidy before, covering her Live At Blues Alley and the 2015 expansion of that record, Nightbird. In the Blues Alley review, I also discussed the many posthumous records released after her untimely death, all of which contain moments of beauty, and none of which would have seen the light of day had she lived (except for Eva By Heart, which was almost complete before her demise). While she has her fans in America, she is rabidly adored in the UK and parts of Northern Europe, where she has had far more sales success than in the US. Oddly, her posthumous records have sold better than her finest hour, the original Live At Blues Alley.

I Can Only Be Me is previously recorded vocals (isolated with AI technology) with The London Symphony Orchestra providing the orchestral backgrounds. It is pretty, and the orchestrations are lush and complement her singing quite well. But all of the vocals heard here are previously released, and her voice is the show. While orchestrated versions may well appeal to some of her fans, there's really nothing new here. 

Walkin' After Midnight is actually material that has not been previously released. It was recorded thirty years ago at the Maryland Inn’s King of France Tavern in Annapolis. Without her usual full band, only bassist Chris Biondo and guitarist Kieth Grimes, along with guest violinist Bruno Nasta accompany Ms. Cassidy and her acoustic guitar. Most of the songs were also performed just two months later for the Live At Blues Alley session, but these casual arrangements are unique to her body of work. Her cover of ZZ Hill’s Down Home Blues is a song not previously released by Cassidy, as is her version of Desperado, which is a live recorded vocal isolated from a different performance with a new piano and organ backing provided by former bandmate Lenny Williams. The stripped down band lets Cassidy's vocals shine, and the addition of violin makes for a different twist on some of the songs. Cassidy is in particularly fine voice and the recording is very good. Cassidy herself didn't want to release Blues Alley because she had a cold the night it was recorded (you can't tell), but she's certainly healthy here. Compared to most of her tossed-together posthumous records, at least this one is from one show (almost), and it is a worthy addition to her catalog.

While I have not always been happy about the way her legacy has been milked by her family, I absolutely recognize her as an amazing talent, an astounding voice coupled with heartfelt interpretations, and an impeccable taste in songs to cover from a broad spectrum of genres. Live At Blues Alley remains an essential addition to any collection, and either or both of these will find an audience among her fans.

Eva Cassidy Nightbird 2015

Nightbird is the long overdue release of the entire night recorded at Blues Alley on January 3, 1996 that, edited, became the 1996 classic Live At Blues Alley, reviewed here.

Live At Blues Alley is indispensable for anyone interested in the jazz-pop light genre, and Cassidy's voice was a thing of nearly unparalleled beauty. Pitch-perfect, and with an astounding range and power, we can only speculate on her potential. But given the success of Diana Krall and Norah Jones, it is hard to believe that Eva Cassidy wouldn't have found fame in her time.

Her choice of material was all-encompassing, with songs from the great American jazz songbook, sixties soul, folk, pop, rock and gospel. She could sing it all with her lovely phrasing and immaculate voice. And she was emotionally invested in every song.

But the question now is whether you need to own this new, two-CD, 33-track expanded version of the performance that gave us Live At Blues Alley. Most of the 33 songs here have been released previously. There are only eight that have never been heard, although some of the others were released in re-recorded form over Eva's original vocal tracks. Quite a few of the songs have been released on one of the many posthumous releases since Cassidy's tragic death at age 33. Of the ones that have never seen the light of day, a few are a bit rough, and Cassidy drops a lyric on a couple of them. But overall, the quality is very fine. There could have been a Live At Blues Alley Part Two that would have been every bit the original's equal. And that is pretty much your answer.

I suppose if you own all of her posthumous recordings, you've already purchased this one. If not, you'll have to buy it to get at those eight unreleased tracks. Maybe you love Blues Alley, and got tired of buying the mixed quality of the posthumous releases- they definitely progressed to weaker and weaker material and production with each "new" release. For you, I can also recommend this CD without reservation. It's not perfect, but the quality of the original release is certainly not tainted in any way by getting to hear the whole performance. Having all the songs in one place is nice, and most of the deserved accolades that the original received can be applied here with only rare exceptions.

It really is a shame that she died so young and full of potential. That we cannot ever hear what she might have produced is sad indeed. This should be the last of her offerings, and it should have been done sooner, but all that aside, it is one fine record for anyone that loved the original.

Eva Cassidy Live At Blues Alley 1996

Eva Cassidy's Live At Blues Alley from 1996 is a wonderful record featuring Cassidy's fine band as well as her magnificent vocals. Something of a folk-jazz-pop hybrid, Cassidy's song selection is impeccable, and she invests herself fully in every song, and in the process, gives unique  and stellar performances of classics such as Stormy Monday, Bridge Over Troubled Water, People Get Ready, and Take Me To The River. Her version of Tall Trees In Georgia is achingly beautiful, and the studio version of Oh, Had I A Golden Thread added to the end of the record is breathtaking.

She had an amazing voice, full of emotional gravitas, and pitch-perfect to boot. The arrangements are quite good, and the band, if not all-stars, plays with style and professionalism. It is a CD you should own if you're into the plethora of jazz-pop chanteuses available these days. It is special good.

Then tragedy struck, when 2 months after the CD came out, she died at age 33 of melanoma. 

Her family and producer-bassist Chris Biondo then released Eva By Heart in 1997, a studio record that contains songs that had been mostly, if not fully, completed by Cassidy before her death. It's pretty good, but does not contain the perfect set of songs found on Live At Blues Alley, and some of them sound more like demos than competed projects.

The compilation Songbird, released in 1998, contains tracks from Blues Alley, Eva By Heart, and her signature Over The Rainbow from her 1992 duets record with pianist Chuck Brown, The Other Side. Like most decent compilations, it is a good record, and rivals Blues Alley as the one to have if you only have one.

Since 2000, her family has worked hard to tarnish her beautiful image by releasing every speck of recorded material they could find. Some of it is not bad, and there was probably a decent live CD to be found in the recordings made at Pearl's, King Of France Tavern, and the left-overs from the Blues Alley sets. But instead they doled out those tracks, mixed with demos and toss-offs, over the course of no less than five CDs and two more compilations from 2000-2012. The woman who completed two CDs in her lifetime (Live At Blues Alley and The Other Side with Chuck Brown) now has no less than six additional original CDs and three compilations all released after her untimely death. Only Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Presley have had more posthumous releases. So shame on her family for bilking the public that fell in love with their daughter with second-rate material over the course of the last decade.

Live At Blues Alley is indispensable. Songbird is a fine collection. After that, caveat emptor.