I just discovered Eva Cassidy on Joey Cohn’s list, The Mix: 50 Great Jazz Vocals. Here are two performances that I liked. One commenter put it, “She plugs straight into the emotions.”

Autumn Leaves
The performance took place at the Blues Alley jazz supper club in Georgetown, DC, on the 3rd January 1996.

Over The Rainbow
The performance took place at the Blues Alley jazz supper club in Georgetown, DC, on the 3rd January 1996.

Cassidy performed these in early 1996. She passed away several months later …

In 1993, Cassidy had a malignant mole removed from her back. Three years later, during a promotional event for the Live at Blues Alley album in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals while perched atop a stepladder. The pain persisted and X-rays revealed a fracture. Further tests found that cancer had spread to her bones, causing the fracture, as well as to her lungs. Her doctors estimated she had three to five months to live. Cassidy opted for aggressive treatment, but her health deteriorated rapidly. On September 17, at a benefit concert for her at the Bayou, she made her final public appearance, closing the set with “What a Wonderful World” in front of an audience of family, friends, and fans. Additional chemotherapy was ineffective, and Cassidy died on November 2, 1996, of melanoma, at her family’s home in Bowie, Maryland.

… which makes the above performances that much more poignant.