Songbird.txt

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Title: Songbird – A Tribute to Eva Cassidy – The Hayley Clare Quintet
venue :: Assembly Universal Arts
see links :: http://www.myspace.com/listentohayleyclare 
http://www.hayleyclare.com
category :: Music / unlisted 
Review :: by Ed Stack
4 gold bats

To step into the shoes of Eva Cassidy is no mean feat and the 
way touring Australian singer Hayley Clare decided to do so was
suitably tasteful, reverent and relevant to the ethos of the 
fallen star.

Hayley Clare writes her own music but came to the fringe this year
to pay tribute to Cassidy one of her greatest inspirations, but 
assuming a persona, perhaps uniquely in the case of Eva Cassidy 
as a talent almost wholly by virtue of her voice, would have been
a difficult task. Cassidy was a thoroughly individual person, and
in honour of this, save perhaps for the gesture of wearing a baggy
top rather than something more flattering to her attractive 
physique, Hayley Clare did not attempt to impersonate her on 
stage. 

Add to this that Cassidy performed one of her most famous 
appearances whilst very ill with cancer and this very illness 
along with her extraordinarily gifted voice and stage presence 
has meant Eva Cassidy has had a haunting significance beyond the 
grave. Tender reminiscence, as tonights, was a thoroughly fitting
medium by which to enjoy her impact again. 

Between each of the ten song set, Hayley Clare acted as an 
affectionate guide through the stages of Eva's life and musical 
development. These were short easy to follow interludes and as the
show went on, she appropriately structured in, after emotional 
ballad 'Autumn Leaves', the tragic news of Cassidy's being 
diagnosed with cancer, with moving restraint. 

As for the singing itself, Hayley Clare's own voice had a resonant
vocal purity and several moments of magic comparable to the star. 
Her passion seeming to be inspired by the songs themselves as well
as by the night's namesake. There were certain moments where I felt
the performance a fraction restrained, but Eva Cassidy herself was 
a restrained singer, and when I heard afterwards that Hayley Clare
had been suffering her own bout of illness over the festival, this
was more than understandable. 

The band, made up of international young travelling musicians, with
a Swiss Drummer and guitarist, Chilean Double Bassist, an Australian
Violinist, formed a professional and emotionally aware accompaniment
to the songs, building up the atmosphere by volume as the night went
on, most notably with the change from drum brushes to drum sticks
for the later numbers. 

My favourites, along with most of the rest of the crowd were among
the final songs, True Colors and What a Wonderful World, but another
highlight was swinging sixties tune 'Wayfarer and the Stranger' 
from earlier in the set. With the moment we'd all been waiting 
for, Somewhere over the rainbow, Hayley Clare did not disappoint
and by the end of this eminently fitting finale, I felt a sense 
of privilege to meet the ensemble in the bar afterwards. 

By Ed Stack