Eva Cassidy: A Jazz Legend

One of the best American jazz singers, Eva Marie Cassidy was born in Maryland on February 2, 1963. The multiplicity of her musical inventory ranges from jazz, gospel, blues, folk and even pop. She revealed the authenticity of her talent since she was a young child; her father Hugh, bought a guitar for her and she took advantage of this gift and started playing for her siblings and family.




Her professional career started when she was just eighteen years old; she sang and played the guitar in a local band called Easy Street. They performed for special celebrations: parties, weddings and pubs. During 1983, she performed at the Wild World Theme Park, located in Maryland; her brother Dan helped her widen the production that would lead her to become famous.




All along the 80’s, Eva Cassidy performed with different bands, including the Honeybees and Characters Without Names. She collaborated to write the songs and record them in home studios. By January of the year 1996, Cassidy released the album Live at Blues Alley. The critics were not very positive for this creation; therefore, she recorded another album, which she planned would be eventually released in1997, called by the name of Eva by Heart.


Unfortunately, at a very young age, Eva Marie Cassidy passed away on November 2, 1996; she had sort of pain in her hips, but by the time she was diagnosed, the melanoma had spread all over her body. Her last musical performance was in September, and she sang What a Wonderful World in front of a bunch of friends and devotees of her voice and her experience on stage.


Eva’s musical legacy continues to be flourishing after her death; in 1998 the CD songbird was released. In this compilation, you can find the three albums she recorded while being alive and in 2001 this compilation accomplished the first places in the UK music charts.




If you are lover of her fabulous voice and love jazz, you are welcome to visit the sites devoted to her and look for her whole discography!