It’s difficult to remember how little known the singer and guitarist Eva Cassidy was at the beginning of 1996, just five years before her Songbird album topped the charts in England and Ireland (and the reissue chart in the U.S.). She had lately been taken with the music of Grace Griffith, a DC Celtic/folk artist who had been winning ‘Wammies’ awarded by WAMA, the Washington Music Area Association. The 20th Anniversary of the Blues Alley performances was an upcoming music milestone. https://lnk.to/evacassidy Restored footage of Eva Cassidy performing Autumn Leaves. The heart-tugging story of Eva Cassidy reads almost like the plot of a "Movie of the Week" tearjerker.

Of the 31 songs recorded that night: 12 were included on the original Live At Blues Alley album; 7 other Blues Alley recordings had been used on other Eva Cassidy albums; leaving 12 previously unreleased Blues Alley recordings, which included 8 new songs.The first question was whether the album should be a complete Blues Alley package or Live At Blues Alley: Vol.
A 'live' performance sorts the wheat from the chaff and this recording displays the maturity of Eva Cassidy and confidence to tackle bluesy-jazz tracks - and no doubt an audience to be fully convinced. In each instance, the luxury of Eva’s considerable catalogue, from various sources, served the basic premise that less is more. In 1992, she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by the 1996 live solo album titled Live at Blues Alley. Still, it was only after her ‘studio’ recording of ‘Oh, Had I A Golden Thread’ was added as a bonus track (also included in this package) that Eva reluctantly agreed to the release of the original Live At Blues Alley album. The couple of inevitable dropped lines actually enhance the overall effect…that what you are hearing really did happen…on the night of January 3, 1996. She had a diverse repertoire of jazz, blues, folk, gospel and pop. In short, Eva Cassidy was a full- grown master musician before she set foot on the Blues Alley stage. Eva Cassidy’s performance at the Blues Alley jazz club has become musical history. Photo courtesy of Blix Street Records One Night, One Take - January 3, 1996. "According to the liner notes of the "Live at Blues Alley" CD:"* this wasn't in the live show but it is my favorite song..." ""There is something about her voice – a quality – that you really can't put into words. The net result was a technically stunning singer who literally inhabited the gospel, blues, jazz and folk roots that underpin most popular music…with an emotional depth that enabled her to breathe truth across the full musical spectrum. When she was nine years old, her father taught her to play the guitar, and she began to play and sing at family gatherings. From slave-era “banjo and bones” accompaniment to ragtime through postbop and bossa nova, it’s always been the beating heart of the jazz idiom. One Night, One Take - January 3, 1996. 2.

Eva Cassidy, circa 1990. They also inducted Eva Cassidy into the WAMA Hall of Fame, which was, according to the Washington Post, ‘a gesture inspired more by sentiment than by any fame garnered by the sadly under-noticed Cassidy.’ In hindsight, WAMA’s arguably sentimental gesture proved to be prescient…the evening of January 3, 1996 turned out to be the night that changed everything… Eva’s Live At Blues Alley album from that one night sparked Eva Cassidy’s musical legacy, which was destined to circle the globe.Nightbird – 20 Years On.
I will never forget the first time I heard the original Live At Blues Alley album. The next step was to mix the un-mixed recordings, assemble all 31 tracks and listen to the lot.I have had the privilege of compiling eight Eva Cassidy albums, beginning with Songbird. In fact, she'd be more relieved when hardly anybody was out there. Two years after her death, Cassidy's music was brought to the attention of British audiences, when her versions of "At age 11, Cassidy began singing and playing guitar in a Washington-area band called Easy Street.Throughout the 1980s, Cassidy worked with several other bands, including the techno-pop band Characters Without Names. Eva started with a strong, clear, pliable vocal instrument that transcended musical categories…coupled with a musical aptitude that embraced the classic recordings that resided in her father’s large vinyl record collection. Eva had spent her small pension to take her shot. The daunting challenge of an album containing 31 tracks is the polar opposite…would more be less?Fortunately, more turned out to be much more. In her free time, she explored other artistic expressions including painting, sculpting, and jewelry design.In 1986, Cassidy was asked by Stonehenge guitarist and high school friend, David Lourim, to lend her voice to his music project, In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for In 1993, Cassidy was honored by the Washington Area Music Association with a Wammie award for the After having a potential contract with Apollo Records collapse when the label went bankrupt, Biondo and Dale decided that she should release her own live album.A collection of previously unreleased studio recordings from 1987 to 1991, was released in 2000 as A bootleg recording that has been in circulation is called To mark the 20th anniversary of the Blues Alley concert, Blix Street Records released A number of filmmakers have proposed films based on Cassidy's life, and have worked with her family to greater or lesser degrees, but to date these projects have not progressed past the early development stages. She would listen more than talk… I remember lots of times, we were playing and it was just empty and dead. “My … If jazz polls don’t become collateral damage of COVID-19, Erroll Garner: The Octave Remastered Series (Mack Avenue) is the odds-on favorite for best reissue of … What we went to offer is a positive notion, a positive offering, a positive spirit. By the time I finished listening to the whole album I had heard one of the best singers, ever…but I am getting ahead of the story. Frustrated with having her musical sophistication mistaken for weakness, Eva took matters into her own hands.She cashed in a small pension from her day-gig at a local nursery to fund a live recording with the Eva Cassidy Band [Lenny Williams (piano), Chris Biondo (bass), Keith Grimes (guitar) and Raice McLeod (drums).] All rights reserved.