The Other Side
Only in America could an album like this have come together: Eva Cassidy, a young vocalist who, had she lived, might have gone on to become her generation's favorite song interpreter, trading verses withChuck Brown, seasoned godfather of the D.C. underground funk movement known as go-go. By the time this was recorded in 1992, the go-go trend had long since peaked for Brown, while the twentysomething Cassidy was still an unknown local session vocalist. Yet, on this set of standards, the two collaborate as if they were picking up where they'd left off decades earlier, from easy-riding versions of "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You" to near-definitive renditions of "Over the Rainbow" and "Dark End of the Street." And while it's easy to focus on the posthumously acclaimed Cassidy, Brown's haunting solo turn on "You Don't Know What Love Is" suggests that unjustly overlooked talents are still making music in the shadows of our nation's capital.--Bill Forman