Autumn Leaves

Eva Cassidy's heart-tugging piece feels almost like the plot of the "Movie of the Week" tear-jerker. A native of the Washington, D.C. area, the painfully shy Cassidy has earned a local reputation as a masterful interpreter of standards from virtually any kind of genre, blessed with technical agility and a searching enthusiasm that goes straight to the emotional core of her content. Despite the evocative instrument that was Cassidy's voice, record companies shied away from her, uncertain of how to market her eclectic repertoire; for her part, Cassidy steadfastly refused to enable herself to be a pigeonhole, rewarding music above any possible popularity.

Eva Marie Cassidy released her first record, The Other Side, a compilation of go-go duets with musician Chuck Brown, followed by a live solo album called Live at Blues Alley in 1996. Although the Washington Area Music Association recognised her, she was practically unknown outside her native Washington, D.C. when she died of melanoma in 1996 at the age of 33. Two years after her death, Cassidy's music was brought to the attention of British audiences when Mike Harding and Terry Wogan performed her versions of 'Fields of Gold' and 'Over the Rainbow' on BBC Radio 2. The popularity of the map in the United Kingdom and Ireland has contributed to increased recognition worldwide.

Social media