2021 brought the Silver Jubilee — or 25th anniversary — of Eva Cassidy’s LIVE AT BLUES ALLEY album. Now considered a modern classic, the recording was made on the slimmest of bare-bones budgets and beset with difficulties. Yet the album and videos of the live performance became the foundation of a remarkable musical legacy.
“Live at Blues Alley – The Backstory” tells about how and why the album was made.
“Live at Blues Alley – You Are There” describes the famous performance from the point of view of an audience member.
25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION: Re-released on CD and Vinyl in recognition of the 25th anniversary. The audio was re-mastered from the original source tapes and the cover is a colorized version of Larry Melton’s original photo.
Media Coverage about the 25th Anniversary:
IN THE WASHINGTON POST: Local columnist John Kelly writes, “Twenty-five years after her death, Eva Cassidy’s music is as timeless as ever.”
ARTICLE IN THE GUARDIAN: There’s a nice article about Eva in The Guardian today. Veteran music critic Jim Farber gets it all pretty much correct, I think. It’s headlined ‘One of the best singers ever’: remembering Eva Cassidy, 25 years after her death. But it’s really more about the LIVE AT BLUES ALLEY anniversary.
NBC News 4: Reporter Mark Segraves covered the 25th Anniversary story. Its November 10, 2021 broadcast included an interview with Eva’s parents and with her band members. (Chris Biondo, a relentless promoter of Eva’s music, told me, “I think I already got four new people to listen to Eva Cassidy. Some people saw the news camera and came over to see what it was all about. I had them look her up on their iPhones, and they’re going to listen to her on their way home.”)
Documentary about the 25th Anniversary:
ONE NIGHT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING: Eva Cassidy’s band members return to Blues Alley, not to perform, but to recall the recording of LIVE AT BLUES ALLEY and share their memories of working with Eva. If you’re already familiar with Eva’s music and her story, this is essential viewing. (But don’t start here; if you haven’t already seen the Blues Alley videos, it will be frustrating that “these old guys keep talking over the music.”) It’s on YouTube. Try to watch it on a better screen than the one on your phone.
25 years ago, a little known singer, Eva Cassidy, and her producer scraped together enough money to record a gig and self-produce an album. This is the story of one night – 3rd January 1996 – at a jazz club in Georgetown, Washington D.C., a set of recordings that almost never happened, and the extraordinary success that followed told by her band members who played with her that night. No one could have imagined that the audio and video recordings from that night would prove to be the foundation of her unparalleled posthumous worldwide success.
My personal view: I thought this was extremely well done and I loved everything about it. The Blues Alley album is central to Eva’s legacy despite the flaws that concerned Eva so much at the time. Viewers will get a sense of what Eva was like both personally and as a member of the band; they loved her as a friend and an artist, and more than anyone, they fully believed that she had what it takes to be a huge success. They were, of course, right. Keith Grimes, Chris Biondo, Raice McLeod, and Lenny Williams are all superb musicians, and I know for a fact, Eva considered it a privilege to be able to work with them. They felt the same way. Watch their faces, and you can see how much she meant to them. All four men convey fascinating details and intelligent perspective to their memories of their years in the Eva Cassidy Band.