Eva Cassidy - Songbird
|
List Price: Our Price: $10.00 You Save: $6.98 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.54 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Songbird
Free Music Review: from Solo Piano Publications
Hit: 5 Stars
I usually review piano and keyboard CDs, but this album is so good and is making such a stir that I decided to throw in my two cents. One of my adult piano students gave me this CD for my birthday, and I had never heard of Eva Cassidy, so I was a little skeptical. Just goes to show that there are still new wonders to discover! Compiled from three previously-released albums, "Songbird" clearly indicates the many facets of Cassidy's voice and the incredibly natural way she was able to use it to convey such depth of emotion. From standards ("Autumn Leaves", "Over the Rainbow") to gospel ("Wade in the Water", "Wayfaring Stranger", "Oh, Had I A Golden Thread"), rock ("Fields of Gold", "Songbird", "People Get Ready"), and gorgeous ballads ("I Know You By Heart", "Time is a Healer"), she slips effortlessly from one genre to another with a voice as pure and honest as a Judy Collins or a Joan Baez. On the gospel and R&B songs, she gets down with the best of `em! Could this really be a slender, painfully shy, white girl? And then she goes on to a simple ballad and her guitar, and the sweet-voiced folkie returns. The backing instrumentation (usually bass, guitar, and drums) is simple and fully enhances the vocals. It is such a tragedy that Eva Cassidy's life was cut short at the age of 33, but God bless Chris Biondo for recording her singing whenever he could so that her gift and talent can live on and grace us all.Free Music Review: Songbird Soars!
Hit: 5 Stars
I just happened to catch the Nightline story about Eva on July 4, 2001. The next day I read many of the reviews of her CDs here at Amazon (thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts). I decided to start by buying this disc (a compilation from other discs). I wondered if the music would hold up to the acclaim. It does! Eva does not disappoint. Some of the songs I knew by other artists (Sting's "Fields of Gold", Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird", for instance), but most of the songs were unfamiliar to me. But I know and love them now, because Eva makes them her own. "Over the Rainbow" is stunning. It is so pure and hopeful. Wow!
"I Know You By Heart" is a wonderful track: beautifully arranged lyrics, a great vocal, and lovely violin by Eva's brother Dan. And Eva works similar magic on all of the tracks of this compilation: Wade in the Water, Autumn Leaves, Time is a Healer, all of them. I love these arrangements, and I love how Eva reaches into the heart of each song and pulls me into the soul of it. This is a musical ride I can take again and again.
Songbird was/is a great place to start. Of course I now have her other discs: Live at Blues Alley, The Other Side (with Chuck Brown), Time after Time, and Eva by Heart. I enjoy them all, and look forward to the coming release of Imagine (August 2002). What a gift this singer had, and what a gift she's shared with us. Thank you Eva!
Free Music Review: Prepare to bawl ...
Hit: 5 Stars
Interestingly, I first heard of Eva Cassidy through the company that I work for, which sells "Songbird" in its catalog. I read the sappy superlatives about her untimely death and surmised that she just had good PR--after all, if she'd been really that good, surely there would have been some hints of it while she was still alive, right? The cynic in me had a field day.That was before I heard the CD and read more about this shy, garden-loving woman who doubted her own immense talent. And it is immense. Eva wasn't a technically perfect singer, but I have NEVER heard anyone sing with so much emotion. I have sat dry-eyed through movies and other things that left others as sodden heaps upon the floor, but the tears were pouring down my face before "Fields of Gold" was halfway through. And don't even get me started with "Over The Rainbow." Often accompanied only by a guitar, Eva's heartfelt renditions of jazz and pop standards are nothing short of astonishing. She leaps genres with ease, and makes every song sound as though it was written for her alone. Sting who? Judy who?
Eva Cassidy was not meant to be a pop star. The music industry would have forced her to become another Jewel-type folkie. It's unlikely she would have been very well known outside her native D.C. had she lived, and it's probably better that way. Listen to "Songbird" and be glad that it exists outside of the MTV-run world.
Free Music Review: An essential addition to any great music collection
Hit: 5 Stars
It's rare finding quality new music out there nowadays with so much garbage passing as "art". Yes, you can hardly qualify cover tunes as "new music", but Eva pulls it off nicely. Who has successfully performed other people's music with such skill as Eva has in this album and "Imagine"? She's put a new face on "Over The Rainbow" and "Fields of Gold". The way she expresses her emotions in song is nothing short of incredible. Other singers try to "emote" and feel the music, but it turns out to be a forced show of their performance and just glitz. (Neil Diamond is a prime example, although I like a lot of his music) Eva convices you of the passion she feels while she sings. My favorite tune on "Songbird" is "I Know You By Heart" for this very reason. It wasn't familiar to me as were many of the other songs, but I can listen to it repeatedly and each time get transported into the world she is singing about. It's a very simple song that she has crafted into a masterpiece! The inflections of her voice, the unanticipated hesitations...just make the song incredibly wonderful. If you feel passion about music, buy this CD if only for that one cut. It's got plenty more good ones on it, though. Then pick up "Imagine" for "Fever" and "Who Knows Where The Time Goes". I purchased "Time After Time" and "No Boundaries", but was not at all thrilled with those two albums. "Songbird" is an essential.
Free Music Review: BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL VOICE
Hit: 5 Stars
I had first heard "Over The Rainbow" a few years ago and was totally amazed by the person singing it. Her voice was so clear and full of emotion. I had to find out who sang it and buy her CD. I was able to find out her name and went to a local store and bought "Songbird". I played it over and over and never got tired of hearing Eva Cassidy's version of "Over The Rainbow". I felt then and still feel her rendention far surpases Judy Garland's. Anyway, I moved and lost my Songbird CD. A few nights ago (May 2006) I happened to turn on the t.v. and was trying to find something to watch. America's Top Inventor was on. I would not normally watch that type of show, but it was almost over and then they played Eva Cassidy's "Over The Rainbow". I had not heard it in awhile. I was so excited to hear it again-it was so touching. Once the show was over, I got on my computer, pulled up various web sites about her, ordered 3 each of her Songbird CDs from Amazon which I will receive this week. I will keep one, and send my sister and best friend her CD as well. I already sent them an email telling them how much I like her voice, songs and they are anxious to hear her for the first time. Her voice is so beautiful, but it is sad at the same time because she is no longer alive. I also really liked her version of "Fields of Gold", "Songbird". I would describe her voice as hauntingly beautiful".