Eva Cassidy - Songbird
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.99 You Save: $6.99 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.56 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Songbird
Free Music Review: Voice of an angel
Hit: 5 Stars
Simply put, this CD has changed my life. "Over the Rainbow" stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it, bringing tears to my eyes. I've listened to it at least 50 times in the last few days, and it still moves me like no other piece of music ever has. "Autumn Leaves" and "Fields of Gold" are equally brilliant and have also set new standards for their interpretations. Then in the blink of an eye, Eva turns into a soulful,sultry, bluesy wailer on "Wade in the Water", "Wayfaring Stranger", and "People Get Ready". The range of expression and depth of phrasing in her songs are second to none. The most amazing thing about her singing, however is that no matter what type of music she sang, whether pop, soul, R&B, folk, jazz, or standards, she outsings the best of the masters in each area and does it effortlessly, simply and with no pretense. Are you listening out there, all of you graduates of the "Sam Harris(of Star Search infamy)/Mariah Carey School of Pyrotechnical Caterwauling"? Just sing from the heart, like Eva did!
Eva Cassidy has raised the bar by which vocal performance will be measured from now on. And she did it on her own terms, singing what she wanted to sing, the way she wanted to sing it. After trying to work out a deal with record execs and refusing to be pigeonholed into a certain style of music, she said "I just wanna sing. I like to do a little of everything". Eva, I just wanna listen!
Free Music Review: Something the Lord Made...
Hit: 5 Stars
Born in 1976, I was raised on music from the 70's, 80's and 90's. I own about 500+ cd's, have compiled an electronic music library of about 2000 songs. I have tried to expose myself to all genres of music, ignored categorization and judged what I listened to by my emotional reaction to it. I have never had as wide a range of emotional responses as I did when I first heard the voice of Eva Cassidy. I too like the rest of the world was completely unaware of Eva's voice until after her passing in 1996. Ironically, I moved to Washington DC, her home base, around the time of her passing. I had been online downloading music, looking for "Aint No Sunshine" by Bill Withers. I mistakenly chose the version by some female singer named Eva Cassidy instead of the one I had originally wanted. I listed to the file out of curiousity and was instantly floored. The voices was both earthy and otherworldly, her pure tone and phrasing was amazing and without realizing it, I started to cry as the song took on a completely differnt vibe than Bill Wither's version. My curiosity piqued, I sought out more from Eva and decided to purchase Songbird. This collection of songs made me feel like I was the only one in the room. Her voice singing just to me. Her reading of Time is A Healer has beome an anthem of sorts for me. This collection should be a must have for everyone. God blessed us all when he created this singer and his blessings are evident in her body of work. Gone too soon, missed so dearly.Free Music Review: 6 stars out of 5.....
Hit: 5 Stars
The beautiful, irreplaceable Eva Cassidy died at the young age of 33, leaving behind a treasury of beautiful and bluesy songs she reinvented with her beautiful voice, guided by an intuitive grace. SONGBIRD is like no album I have ever heard. It has a quiet strength, not unlike Eva herself, that sets it apart from all folk, jazz, blues and pop albums. The first cut, "Fields of Gold," was made completely unrecognizable from Sting's original. The words took on a different meaning for me, and Eva's melancholy voice made me think of those moments of solitude in the early morning before life begins to emerge, where you can truly be alone with your thoughts in introspection. Eva also has an amazing talent for pumping even more soul into the blues, R&B, gospel and jazz songs she interprets on the album. ("Wade in the Water," "Wayfaring Stranger," "People Get Ready,")
Of course, one of the most well known tracks off of this collection is her arrangement and interpretation of "Over the Rainbow." This truly brought tears to my eyes! When I finished listening to it, the yellow brick road and Dorothy were nowhere to be found.......all I could see was Eva, surrounded by her beautiful light and energy that permeates throughout this recording.
This album will change the way you think about music. Please listen to the samples and make your call. Believe me, this will become a frequently-played part of your CD collection.
Free Music Review: Oh, to have heard her in person......
Hit: 5 Stars
I first heard Eva Cassidy on "Songbird" three years ago in a store here in Maryland, right in what had been Eva's D.C.-area home base. I'd just moved here and I didn't know who was singing, but I had to find out. The sales clerk told me her story, and I went home with the CD. I now have all her CDs. If you've ever heard her, I'm sure you understand why. If you haven't, all I can say is -- start now! Her voice, her musicality, her versatility, her creativity and fearlessness in singing absolutely what she wanted to sing the way she wanted to sing it -- all of those were breathtaking and incomparable. We lost such a rare talent when she died so young. Would she have been a "big star" if she'd lived? Maybe not, because she sang what moved her, not what fit into a marketable pigeonhole. But just listen to all her CDs, and I can virtually guarantee that you'll be floored by her mastery of a whole range of genres. "Songbird" might still be my favorite Eva CD, though -- while she's singing, you'll forget that Sting ever sang "Fields of Gold" or that anyone else ever sang "Over the Rainbow." But let me make a suggestion: get the CD by the Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwoole on which he sings "Over the Rainbow" in his beautiful, sweet style. "Iz" also died too young. I like to think that he and Eva are somewhere now where they're singing "Over the Rainbow" together.Free Music Review: Words are inadequate
Hit: 5 Stars
I am a huge popular vocal music music fan. I love and study vocals from well before I was born to the present day. I always appreciate a well-done vocal even if not necessarily to my taste. What I look for in my personal library is that 'certain something' that can't be defined... that quality that feels as if a vocalist is reaching into my soul and communicating the very essence of humanity as divine... that quality that always makes my pulse move in time no matter how often I listen to it. Eva Cassidy not only had this God-given gift, but few have ever used it as well... much less better. No matter the genre, she had an extraordinary way of being completely true to a song while still making it exquisitely her own. Few voices in this century have had the combination of technical perfection, emotional honesty and extraordinary versatility as did Eva. God must have missed having this voice near. I'm thankful it was shared with us for at least a little while. This album is now among my most-listened-to.
Related Anecdote: Record Companies take note... I first heard this album as a friend's illegally pirated copy. I was so moved that not only did I purchase it but I'm here now to purchase everything of Eva's I can find. I may have never heard her in the first place without 'song sharing'. Spend your resources learning how to embrace and use new technology instead of fighting it!