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Nightbird (2015)

Where the lyrics of Nightbird take you, and where it was really made.

The concert was recorded in January 1996, but the album did not come out until November 2015, nineteen years after Eva Cassidy's death.

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Key places

Recorded live at Blues Alley (1996)

Recording site Blues Alley — The album was recorded live at the Blues Alley club in Washington, D.C. in January 1996. Discogs notes give 3 January 1996 as the date. The album was released in November 2015. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

Nightbird: 2-CD plus 1-DVD live album by American singer Eva Cassidy
Released posthumously in November 2015, nineteen years after her death
Recorded at the Blues Alley club in Washington, D.C.
Two audio CDs hold 31 songs, of which 12 are previously unreleased
Unreleased tracks include the title track “Nightbird” by Doug MacLeod and the jazz standards “It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)” and “Fever”
Eight of the 12 unreleased tracks are previously unheard songs
Recordings were remixed and remastered from the original tapes
DVD contains 12 songs from the same set
Nine DVD songs were previously included on the 2004 DVD Eva Cassidy Sings, and three are released for the first time

Background

Some tracks had previously been released on the 1996 album Live at Blues Alley
Previously released tracks include “Blue Skies” and “Fine and Mellow”
Setlist covers songs by Irving Berlin, Bill Withers, Sting, Paul Simon and Cyndi Lauper
Material spans jazz standards, blues and soul songs

Recording

Recorded live at Blues Alley, Washington, D.C., on 3 January 1996 according to Discogs notes
“Oh, Had I a Golden Thread” was recorded at Chris Biondo's studio instead
Sound by Charlie recorded the live performances
Engineering by Roy Battle
Mixing credits: Chris Biondo, Eva Cassidy, Dan Weinberg, Geoff Gillette
Mastering credits: Robert Vosgien, Dan Weinberg, Pete Norman
Video restoration and editing by Darren Tiley
Produced by Eva Cassidy and Chris Biondo
Band: Eva Cassidy on vocals and guitars, Chris Biondo on bass, Keith Grimes on electric guitar, Raice McLeod on drums, Lenny Williams on piano
Hilton Felton plays Hammond organ on “Oh Had I a Golden Thread”

Cover

Cover photograph by Larry Melton
Liner notes essay by Bill Straw
Comes in a gatefold sleeve

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Disc 1

1	Blue Skies	2:44
2	Ain’t Doin’ Too Bad	3:30
3	Ain’t No Sunshine	3:36
4	Fields of Gold	4:48
5	Baby I Love You	5:11
6	Honeysuckle Rose	3:16
7	Route 66	2:54
8	Bridge Over Troubled Water	5:39
9	Eva Introduces the Band	0:57
10	Chain of Fools	4:38
11	Fever	4:10
12	Autumn Leaves	4:52
13	Fine and Mellow	4:03
14	Cheek to Cheek	3:57
15	It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)	2:36
16	Late in the Evening	3:52
17	Next Time You See Me	3:09
18	Waly Waly	4:34

Disc 2

1	Take Me to the River	3:56
2	Nightbird	6:19
3	People Get Ready	3:31
4	The Letter	5:03
5	Son of a Preacher Man	3:42
6	Stormy Monday	5:51
7	Tall Trees in Georgia	4:02
8	Something’s Got a Hold on Me	3:55
9	Time After Time	4:29
10	Over the Rainbow	5:41
11	You’re Welcome to the Club	3:55
12	Caravan	5:52
13	You’ve Changed	5:09
14	What a Wonderful World	5:28
15	Oh, Had I a Golden Thread	4:50

Disc 3

1	Cheek to Cheek	3:52
2	Nightbird	6:18
3	Honeysuckle Rose	3:15
4	Autumn Leaves	4:43
5	People Get Ready	3:32
6	Stormy Monday	5:53
7	Tall Trees in Georgia	3:39
8	Take Me to the River	3:57
9	Bridge Over Troubled Water	5:28
10	Time After Time	4:07
11	Over the Rainbow	5:38
12	You’ve Changed	4:45

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

Eva Marie Cassidy (1963–1996) was an American singer and musician known for jazz, folk and blues interpretations with a powerful, emotive soprano voice.
Her first album, The Other Side (1992), was a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown; Live at Blues Alley (1996) followed.
She was honored by the Washington Area Music Association and won two Wammies in 1994, but was virtually unknown outside the Washington, D.C. area when she died of melanoma at 33 in 1996.

Posthumous Success

In 1998 the compilation Songbird was assembled; BBC Radio 2 airplay in 2000 brought her music to British audiences.
Songbird topped the UK Albums Chart, and her posthumous recordings have sold more than ten million copies.
Nine posthumous albums have been released, the latest I Can Only Be Me (2023) with the London Symphony Orchestra, which reached number 9 in the UK.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

Matt Adams of The Herts Advertiser called the album an exceptional release
Adams said it offers fresh insights into perhaps one of the greatest female vocalists of all time
Adams gave the release a highly recommended verdict
Michael Bailey of All About Jazz wrote that Nightbird reveals a modern song stylist not unlike Frank Sinatra
Bailey said Cassidy's interpretive skills had few, if any, peers
Bailey noted she was equally at home with the Box Tops and Bobby Troup, and with Peggy Lee and Aretha Franklin
Bailey said her repertoire outside jazz standards and blues stayed easily in the memory of anyone who came of age in the 1980s and '90s
Bailey called Nightbird a singular event to be savored, and a talent too great to have been experienced for such a short time

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

Some tracks had previously appeared on the 1996 album Live at Blues Alley
“Oh, Had I a Golden Thread” was recorded at Chris Biondo's studio rather than at Blues Alley
German copies carry an FSK sticker with age rating 0 on the front cover
The recordings were remixed and remastered from the original tapes
Three DVD songs appear here for the first time, while nine were already on the 2004 DVD Eva Cassidy Sings

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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