09 Nov 2018
Eva Cassidy, receives a unique reimagining as her vocal performance of Autumn Leaves is paired with the backing of the London Symphony Orchestra. This inspired musical context was created by isolating Eva’s 1996 live vocal performance recorded at the Blues Alley Jazz Club in Washington, DC and combining it with a new orchestral arrangement by the team of four-time Emmy Award winner William Ross and Grammy winner Jochem van der Saag.The single was released digitally on November 9 by Blix Street Records and is available from iTunes, Spotify and other digital outlets.
Eva
Ross and van der Saag were stunned by Cassidy’s music while working on a project with producer David Foster, which included one of Cassidy’s recordings. That experience moved them to record demos,of their orchestral reimagining of three Eva Cassidy recordings. Foster presented these demos to Blix Street Records.
The London Symphony Orchestra
Earlier this year, William Ross took the reins of London’s oldest symphony orchestra, at London’s historic Air Studios, to record three exquisite new Eva Cassidy and The London Symphony Orchestra recordings. The first to be released is Autumn Leaves.
Single cover
‘I can’t possibly find the words to adequately express my thoughts and feelings about Eva. She is one of the most unique, hypnotic and powerful singers of all time,’ Ross explains. ‘Her voice resonates through my whole being. I don’t understand what she does, but I’m stunned by the experience. In ‘Eva Cassidy with Orchestra’, we present Eva in a ‘different’ musical context. We hope Eva’s fans, both old and new, will appreciate this way of hearing her and be, once again, under the magical ‘spell’ of her transcendent artistry.’
William Ross is a prolific award-winning composer and arranger whose work has spanned feature films, the recording industry and television. He has arranged music for artists such as Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Bublé, Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, Sting, Seal, Quincy Jones and Rod Stewart among many others and has served as Music Director and Conductor for Barbra Streisand’s concert tours and for the Academy Awards telecasts.
William Ross
Jochem van der Saag is a renowned producer, songwriter, arranger and engineer, who has worked with wide range of artists, among them Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé, Diana Krall, Andrea Bocelli, Whitney Houston, Herb Alpert, Seal, Mary J Blige, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Josh Groban and Celine Dion. Van der Saag: ‘There is only one Eva Cassidy, and she is in a league of her own!’
Jochem van der Saag
6 responses to “Eva Cassidy and The London Symphony Orchestra”
David WInton says:
29 March 2023 at 20:19
Remarkable collaboration and beautiful end product! On finding this, I had to learn how EC came to record with the LPO given her near total obscurity at the time of her passing, and thus unlikely to have had the opportunity to perform with them. I can’t praise highly enough. So I’ll simply say Bravo!
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Martha Richler says:
14 January 2021 at 14:24
Dear Mr Ross and Mr Van der Saag, I so enjoyed reading this account and the comments here after listening to your orchestral reimagining of the Eva Cassidy classic so often …. tonight I am planning my weekly late-night radio show and I thought maybe just maybe you might listen. It’s called Night Train, 10pm to midnight. You can listen most easily on http://www.radiowinchcombe.co.uk. It’s a live show. Please forgive any little stumbles as I only started broadcasting live in October – before that I was a cartoonist! Hoping you might be listening because it’s a show devoted to how classical music not only inspired pop/rock/rap/electronic/disco/jazz musicians, but also how these borders are dissolving, as classical music can also absorb influences from contemporary music and be nourished like bees in a field of flowers!!! Hope you will listen … I’m longing to learn more and have taught myself the tekkie basics to broadcast live as we are alone in the studio due to Covid. Quite a challenge but excited and learning all the time. I’d be happy to work after Covid as an assistant or gopher (I love coffee) in a studio where I might learn technical editing techniques by osmosis … it’s probably not realistic to expect a paid job as a radio presenter, but I thought perhaps my discovering how much I adore editing (I use Audacity) and how women before me (Delia Derbyshire!) also loved immersing in the soundscape of radio … my earlier shows, such as my Night Train Halloween, experimented with sound – I guess I’m new to it all but old-school in the sense that I love the tradition of incorporating sound effects (and humour) into the mix … Anyway, hoping you might find this note.
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Martha Richler says:
14 January 2021 at 14:25
Sorry – forgot to say the most important thing which was that tonight I’ll be playing this song!
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Lauri M. says:
27 February 2020 at 15:36
Lovely. A beautiful arrangement and so much attention paid to chord changes that make her phrasing even richer. Thank you for this musical experience.
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John O’Neill says:
22 September 2019 at 17:09
Eva Cassidly is what I’m listening to now.
I. Her upbeat jazzy tunes and Over the Rainbow ? is my favorite.
But when I get near the end and I hear What a Wonderful World I tear up
I did not discover until after she died.Reply
leslie grice says:
10 November 2018 at 18:18
Wonderful praise and nothing less than she deserves…..music for all time….
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