Legacy MattersThe jazz, blues, folk, country, pop vocalist Eva Cassidy died in 1996 at 33 after she noticed a pain in her hip that turned out to be melanoma that had metastatasized.
Her final public performance was Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World."
Unknown outside Washington, D.C. at her death, her posthumously released recordings have sold about six million copies.
ABC's Nightline's documentary on Eva has been rebroadcast three times and is, by one account, the most popular Nightline ever.
Now a film is being produced on her life by Amy Redford, daughter of Robert Redford.
Only because of recordings can people like me who didn't know her when she was alive experience her extraordinary voice.
The Eva Cassidy website.
Echoes of a Voice Stilled Too Early. Richard Harrington in the Washington Post
She was, for sure a diamond no longer in the rough but not yet in the proper setting that would showcase a voice so pure, so strong, so passionate that it should have found a home just about anywhere.
Posted by Jill Fallon at June 9, 2008 9:22 PM | PermalinkIf there is space for just a few names at the pinnacle of American female vocalists, Eva would stand easily in this group because of her ability to find the emotional center of songs across musical styles with both an original arrangement and a vocal performance that few will be able to match. The link on my signature is to a breathtaking photo montage set to her signature piece, "Over The Rainbow". It is a perfect complement to Eva's singing and has been viewed over 100,000 times with one year of first being posted.
Posted by: Scott P at June 12, 2008 8:49 AM