I listened to it over and over again; I had to figure out how she brought such fresh life to this Gershwin classic while uncovering its natural roots.
Hugh and Barbara Cassidy carefully guard their daughter's legacy while generously sharing her with a world of fans.
A retired special-education teacher, metalworking artist and his daughter's first music teacher, Hugh showed me and my husband the metal angel sculpture of Eva that he completed a month after her death. Later, inside the house, he dragged out a box containing maybe 1,000 letters from Eva's fans all over the world telling how her music had touched them. Hugh said that he answered every letter.
FOR THE RECORD - A caption to a photograph accompanying an article on the late singer Eva Cassidy misspelled the name of the lawyer who handled the singer's estate. The lawyer is Elana Byrd.
The Baltimore Sun regrets the errors.
As custodian of her work, he expressed his regret that because one tape recorded at Blues Alley contained a hum, it had been recorded over, losing music that with current technology could have been salvaged. He also explained the importance of pacing when putting a recording in the right order, as he said Straw has consistently done.
Eva was also an accomplished artist whose work reflects her individuality and joyous spirit. This art is lovingly displayed on both levels of the house on the banks of the West River: mostly dream-like, near-surrealistic landscapes containing tall cypress trees, still ponds with swans floating, clouds that seem suspended, executed in her favorite cool and serene palette of blues and greens.
If, like me, you are only now becoming acquainted with Eva Cassidy, or are a longtime fan, you'll want to own Somewhere. Happy listening.
