Eva Cassidy was a local DC-area legend before she died at the age of 33 in 1996. She preferred to skip around in styles, though one album revered by many I know is The Other Side, a collaboration with fellow DC luminary Chuck Brown (otherwise known as the godfather of go-go) that was released not long before her death.

Eva Cassidy I Can Only Be Me (Blix Street)

Since her passing, many posthumous releases and re-releases have sold more than ten million copies. She's much better known in Europe than the U.S. Her story and success are both bittersweet. What we all can treasure is her voice, which always seems to be somewhere in-between.

This album consists of her vocals stripped from their original recordings and put to new accompaniment from the London Symphony Orchestra. On the face of it, this sounds like a terrible idea. Sure, Cassidy's voice is perfect for such a treatment, but how could an entire orchestra play off her vocals and phrases? The task is almost unimaginable.

And yet, somehow Christopher Willis succeeded. The members of the orchestra listened to her vocals in headphones as they played, and somehow the soul and strength of Cassidy's voice remains true. These aren't the definitive Cassidy versions of these songs--those were captured more than three decades ago. But they do present a wonderful new setting for her voice.

Is this just a cash grab? Blix Records has made a mint off Cassidy's finite recording career. But this is a massive undertaking, and many of these orchestral arrangements open up more space around Cassidy's voice. I do prefer some of the earlier versions, to be sure, but this set does what it intends to do: Give Cassidy her moment in front of a full orchestra. Her spell remains unbroken.

Jon Worley