Waters of March

Did you know that in Brazil it only rains in March?

Well, neither did I.

Last night, while listening to that modern marvel that is the iPod random shuffle, I came upon a song I'd never heard, an "album cut" on a Nancy LaMott live CD. (Aside: If you want to hear a tragic story, Google Nancy LaMott.) The song is called "Waters of March" and was written by the legendary guitarist/composer Antonio Carlos Jobim.

According to Wikipedia, March is the rainy season in Rio de Janeiro. Inhabitants look forward to it because the water quenches thirst. Inhabitants fear it because it brings floods.

This is an incredible, almost Shakespearean, dichotomy. The song is poignant, but not dramatic or sentimental. I think I expected something with distinct movements and bombast, a Brazilian "MacArthur Park." Instead, it is understated, but with a downward progression, like precipitation.

Here is a piece of the English translation of the Portuguese lyrics:

A stick, a stone, it's the end of the road; it's the rest of a stump, it's a little alone; It's a sliver of glass; it is life, it's the sun; It is night, it is death; it's a trap, it's a gun.

Believe it or not, Coke used the song as a jingle in the 1980s. Art Garfunkel recorded it. So did others.

What elevates this above trivia is the notion that what brings you life also kills you.

A point to ponder, in March or any other rainy month.

'Fields of Gold'

It's happened four times.

The voice hits you like a tidal wave, drowning you in the undertow, clutching you in its magnetic pull.

Four times I've heard it: Karen Carpenter, "Close to You," middle school. Alison Krauss, "Ghost in this House," Tennessee Theater, 2001. Robinella, "Teardrops," Barley's, 2006.

And, last night, Eva Cassidy, "Fields of Gold," YouTube.

I first heard Eva on Jonathan Schwartz's "Sunday Show." I've forgotten the song, but it made me stop in my tracks. I wrote down her name and the album title, but never got around to buying it. You know how you do.

My friend and Fountain City historian Dr. Jim Tumblin, a fellow audiophile, sent me a YouTube clip of Cassidy singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" from YouTube. That got me exploring and I came across her live cover of "Fields of Gold."

And, my god, it happened again.

Eva's life is a tragic tale. Like Karen Carpenter and Nancy LaMott, Eva's voice was taken from us too soon. She was virtually unknown outside of the Washington D.C. area when she died of melanoma in 1996. But, word spread, and she's become a favorite among fans and critics of a certain musical bent.

Her voice is haunting, full of emotion and depth, capable of soaring higher and higher, giving the listener the "wow" factor that sends chills up the spine. Hers is the kind of performance that gives the illusion of intimacy. This moment is just for you.

Go to You Tube and search for her and the song "Fields of Gold" if you like this kind of music.

I just hate she's no longer here to brighten our lives with her talent.

But her voice lives on...

File this one under "bittersweet."

I was whiling away a recent lazy afternoon by the radio, listening to the American standards station on XM. Up popped this fantastic song called "Listen to My Heart" by a singer named Nancy LaMott.

I was blown away by the power of her voice. "Wow," I thought when the record ended, "I need to find out more about her."

A quick Google search revealed a tragic story.

Nancy LaMott was a talented cabaret singer who first made her name playing clubs in San Francisco. Plagued by illness her entire life (she was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease as a child), Nancy was often broke and found herself staring at a big pile of hospital bills.

She finally moved to New York, where she became known as one of the best cabaret singers to ever hit the Big Apple. Noted disc jockey Jonathan Schwartz, an expert in such music, says LaMott is the best cabaret singer since Sinatra.

Her songs are often peppered with positive thinking, odes to an optimistic future in which everything will work out for the best. Sadly, her own story played out under a much different ending.

LaMott was diagnosed with uterine cancer just as her career was taking off. According to her Web site, LaMott opted for hormone therapy over surgery in order to complete her landmark album "Listen to My Heart."

The title song, composed by David Friedman, is a fine piece of music. Her voice soars, far and high, full of optimism and hope. Of special treat is the CD recording an engagement at New York's Tavern on the Green shortly before her death.

Not long after being diagnosed with cancer, Nancy met and fell in love with actor Pete Zapp. They were married just before her untimely death in 1995.

I wish Nancy LaMott were still around to share her beautiful talent with the world. As it is, she's in a better place now, free from pain.

But her music lives on; her talent survives. Ours may not be to question why, but I can't help but wonder why the world was robbed of this remarkable voice.