Melody Gardot - Sayonara Meu Amor

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2024
Time: 32:23
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 75,5 MB
Art: Front

(6:55) 1. La Chanson de vieux amants
(4:49) 2. Once I Was Loved
(3:00) 3. Get Out Of Town (Acoustic Version)
(4:52) 4. Se Voce Me Ama
(5:31) 5. So Long (Live)
(7:13) 6. Samba Em Prelúdio (Un Jour Sans Toi) (The Paris Sessions)

Pull down your shades and light some candles. A simple, yet poignant blend of jazz and folk is headed your way. At 22, singer-songwriter Melody Gardot has a hauntingly smooth voice that can melt even the coldest of hearts.

Melody Gardot has set the bar for what it means to be a musical athlete. Drenched in a sublime vapor of mellow blues, eclectic folk, and the faintest essence of jazz, she breaks forth with her debut full length album, Worrisome Heart. The record is an effervescent 11-track collection of original songs co-produced by Melody Gardot and Grammy-Award winning producer Glenn Barratt. With a superb narrative and inventive vocal-scat patterns, the pianist/guitarist tackles heartache full on by way of velvet tongue and alluring disposition.

Few females successfully master the art of capturing mood and emotion the way Gardot does. There is an expressive candor and yearning in her voice an insatiable longing reminiscent of greats like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nina Simone. Her roots as a piano player in nightclubs of Philadelphia undoubtedly set the framework for developing her post-midnight sultry sound. Though a motor vehicle accident left the young singer disabled, hidden behind dark glasses and a tempting smile is an extraordinary young woman whose daily struggles feed her artistic pursuit: “I believe in sharing your heart with people, no matter how hard it may be” says Gardot.

At the age of 19, Gardot was hit by a car while riding a bicycle. The injuries sustained mean Gardot now needs to wear dark glasses and carry a cane. Prompted by a tending physician who believed music would help her regain some of her former cognitive abilities, her first musical venture was in 2005, an EP titled, “Some Lessons” recorded from her bedside.

Gardot’s story garnered attention as a fighter who has overcome adversity and risen above her limitations. City Paper Philadelphia honored her with a People’s Choice award saying, “To our eyes, nobody's a more inspiring, more talented fighter than young singing-songwriter phenom Melody Gardot. She turned the pain of a life-changing car accident into surprisingly mature and utterly enthralling music.”

In addition to the trio of musicians who accompany Gardot live, the record features an impressive cast of musicians including guitarist Jef Lee Johnson (Billy Joel, George Duke, Aretha Franklin), Kurt Johnston (Bon Jovi) and trumpeter Matt Cappy (Jill Scott, Kirk Franklin, Dave Chapelle Movie).

Poised and ready the young singer shines on “Worrisome Heart”, proving she is an undeniable lyrical contender who from the very first word will knock you out.

“It was a most unusual start, but when you come from a place where things are tough it makes it that much easier to appreciate the times when life is easy.” she says. In addition to the trio of musicians who accompany Gardot live, the record features an impressive cast of musicians including guitarist Jef Lee Johnson (Billy Joel, George Duke, Aretha Franklin), Kurt Johnston (Bon Jovi) and trumpeter Matt Cappy (Jill Scott, Kirk Franklin, Dave Chapelle Movie).

Poised and ready the young singer shines on “Worrisome Heart”, proving she is an undeniable lyrical contender who from the very first word will knock you out.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/melody-gardot/

Sayonara Meu Amor

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Melody Gardot Feat. Philippe Powell - Entre Eux Deux (The Paris Sessions)

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 20:47
Size: 47,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:52) 1. This Foolish Heart Could Love You
(4:57) 2. Perhaps You'll Wonder Why
(7:13) 3. Samba Em Prelúdio (Un Jour Sans Toi)
(4:43) 4. Darling Fare Thee Well

Melody Gardot And Philippe Powell Add Strings For ‘Entre Eux Deux’ EP. It features hand-picked selections from their successful 2022 collaboration, in new versions with string arrangements.

Vocal jazz stylist Melody Gardot reunites with French composer and pianist Philippe Powell for the EP Entre eux deux: The Paris Sessions, out now via Decca Records. It features hand-picked selections from their successful 2022 collaboration Entre eux deux, in new versions with string arrangements.

The songs on the new EP chosen by Gardot and Powell are “This Foolish Heart Could Love You,” which Jazzwise hailed as a “standard-in-the-making”; “Perhaps You’ll Wonder Why”; “Darling Fare Thee Well”; and “Samba Em Prelúdio.” which pays tribute to, and revisits the legacy of, Powell’s father, the Brazilian composer, and guitarist Baden Powell.

The arrangements have been overseen by the celebrated pianist, composer, and arranger Alan Broadbent, whose credits include such major figures in jazz as Charlie Haden, Diana Krall, and Natalie Cole. The songs also feature the violinists Astghik Vardanyan and Gohar Papoyan and violist Astghik Gazhoyan, all members of the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia, and Armenian-born musician-producer Artyom Manukyan on cello. This distinguished ensemble also went on the road with Gardot for the 2022 tour that was named after the album.

“We’re thrilled to be working with such an incredible team of musicians and collaborators,” says Gardot. “We wanted to create something special for our fans to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Entre eux deux, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Press releases are boring. Just listen to it…”

Adds Powell: “In Paris, during the rehearsals, the stunning musical encounter with these four incredible artists took place. They came from Yerevan, during a time when the Armenians were suffering the effects of a war that continues to this day. Yet, from the first notes played together, the songs we had written were suddenly reinvented with their hope, love, and strength. At each concert, this expression became deeper, and the music was renewed. Through this recording, we had the chance to capture this musical communion. We hope it will touch your hearts.”

In a banner year that saw the release of Entre eux deux as her sixth studio album and first duo collaboration, 2022 also saw Gardot receive the prestigious Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the highest cultural accolade in France. Her extensive tour included five sellout shows in Paris, and she is now preparing for a new global tour to run from June into early 2024, with multiple runs in North America and Europe. Full tour dates and ticket information are at her website. (Published on June 11, 2023 By Paul Sexton)

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/melody-gardot-philippe-powell-entre-eux-deux-ep/

Entre eux deux (The Paris Sessions)

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Melody Gardot - Entre Eux Deux

Styles: Vocal
Time: 43:30
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 104,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:32) 1. This foolish heart could love you
(4:31) 2. What of your eyes
(4:49) 3. Plus fort que nous
(3:53) 4. À la Tour Eiffel
(4:34) 5. Fleurs du dimanche
(4:35) 6. Samba em prelúdio (un jour sans toi)
(4:45) 7. Perhaps you'll wonder why
(2:10) 8. Recitativo (instrumental)
(5:52) 9. Ode to every man
(4:45) 10. Darling fare thee well

Melody Gardot’s sixth studio album is both bigger and smaller, in different ways. “Entre eux Deux” can be seen as a more minimalist collection, certainly, in that it’s the first time she’s recorded with only a piano for accompaniment instead of a full band. But the billing, at least, has expanded it’s a duo record, with that piano played not by her, accomplished as she is, but by Philippe Powell, whom she calls “the Bill Evans of Brazil.” He’s un of the titular deux in every way, having also fully collaborated on the album as her co-writer as well as pianist, with the album coming out of an intensive two-week workshop in her Paris studio apartment, writing around the clock with a view of the Eiffel Tower for inspiration.

But you may find yourself checking and re-checking the credits to make sure most of the songs on “Entre eux Deux” really were written by these two. Many of them sound like forgotten trunk songs from the Great American Songbook… or the Great French Songbook, since half of them are in the language of the city where they were conceived. In fact, unlike Gardot’s previous album, 2020’s “Sunset in the Blue” where most of the songs were original but she also threw in a few standards like “Moon River” and “I Fall in Love Too Easily” this album eschews reaching back to the classics, at least in everything but ear-deceiving spirit.

“We tested the material out, and we had some New Yorkers and some cats from San Francisco and Paris in the room, and they said it sounded like standards,” affirms Gardot. “I just went, ‘Cool.’ Because I think we need more! I think there's a kind of a chain-formed policy, whether it's in Hollywood or art or literature or music, where we redo old things and look back and go, ‘Okay, let's do that again.’ And it's nice to have people who are working forward, with the same aestheticism, creating something new. So I'm happy if people think that they feel like standards. But mostly I’m hoping that they mean something to somebody, because otherwise there's no point in doing this at all.”

Gardot’s music often gets shunted into the category of jazz, which she’s perfectly happy to be in, or not to be in that’s the listeners’ choice, not the lady’s. “I never really worried about genre; that, to me, was just consequence. They actually didn't even know where to put these records for a long time, but I just love music. That's the only thing that ever made sense to me, and coming from where I came from, I'm lucky to be able to do anything at all. If this is where the world said you ought to go, I take it as a great responsibility but also an amazing opportunity to do something beautiful and to hold myself to a standard that maybe is a little bit too high,” she laughs.

“I know for a fact it's niche,” Gardot continues, “and I know that this kind of music is definitely not going to be bopping on the radio more than Bieber at the end of the day. But it's cool to have something that's out there as art for art's sake, and hope that somebody finds it and it does them a world of good, too. But no, I don't worry about genre I worry about song. A long time ago a drummer said to me, ‘You know, if you got rid of the snare, the upright bass and the sax, your songs would be pop.’ And I went, ‘Yeah, but I like the snare and the upright bass.’”

Of course, she did ditch both those instruments this time, ironically, but not so that she could add electronic programming or samples. The idea of doing a solo-piano record that is not actually a real solo album appealed to her. “I had some friends who had encouraged me a long time ago to do one alone, because I think my first love is the piano, versus the guitar,” she says. “I’m more skilled at it, arguably. But I never really had the courage.” Bravery didn’t really figure into it, anyway, once she met Powell and was just inexorably drawn to engage him in a full-scale collaboration.

There is some musical backstory that led her to this point. In 2005, when she was living in her native Philadelphia in a freezing apartment, Gardot was, in all her poverty, being courted by a succession of jazz labels that had heard about her becoming a phenomenon on the local scene. Part of the romancing that was being done by these gentleman-caller labels involved them sending her stacks of records from their storied catalogs, and these sent her on a multi-cultural jazz journey. She loved Stan Getz’s “The Girl From Ipanema: The Bossa Nova Years,” and proceeded from there to a serious love affair with an album by Brazil’s most legendary jazz guitarist, Baden Powell the father of her future collaborator, Philippe Powell.

The senior Powell had moved from Brazil to Paris when he was about 25, and stayed for about 25 years a period that included the birth of Baden, who, though retaining Brazilian citizenship, has stuck around the city of love since. “I can’t put words on what exactly it is, but there is a love story between the Brazilian and the French,” says Philippe, who certainly counts as a spiritual love child of the two territories.

By the mid-2010s, Gardot, whom Baden says is “very famous in Paris,” was traveling in the circles where she was bound to meet the son of one of her heroes. But she’s quick to establish that he does not ride on any coattails, and it doesn’t hurt that he picked a different instrument to excel on than the one he might’ve seemed destined for. “Even though he's the son, you don't really feel his father,” says Gardot. “He's his own entity. He's unbelievable. As a piano player, it's pretty funky to have the idea to give up your instrument for somebody else. But I’ve got to say, I wouldn't have done it for anyone but him. There's a lot of great musicians, but not a lot of people who know the art of the duo.”

Speaking of duos, their collaborating really felt like kismet when they started collaborating and she urged him to think of what she calls “one of my favorite records of all time,” “Tony Bennett and Bill Evans.” It was around that point that Gardot sheepishly learned that there was more of an Evans connection than she could have guessed: Powell had studied under a teacher who was very close to that late jazz great at Paris’ Bill Evans Academy so that ticked off some unexpected bingo boxes. http://www.frontview-magazine.be/en/news/melody-gardot-philippe-powell-announce-new-album-entre-eux-deux

Entre eux deux

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Melody Gardot - Live At The Olympia Paris

Styles: Vocal, Guitar And Piano Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 101:50
Size: 233,4 MB
Art: Front

( 6:44) 1. Don't Misunderstand
( 7:09) 2. Same To You
( 6:03) 3. She Don't Know
( 7:12) 4. Bad News
(11:29) 5. March For Mingus
(13:32) 6. Morning Sun
( 6:48) 7. Les Etoiles
( 4:42) 8. Baby I'm A Fool
( 8:23) 9. Who Will Comfort Me
(10:24) 10. Preacherman
(19:22) 11. It Gonna Come

Melody Gardot has chosen a Parisian venue of choice, the august Olympia, for her first DVD. With a brass section, organ, guitar to which she adds her own stylish guitar and piano playing and drums she has a full backing within which to serenade her audience.

The nature of the serenading can be artful or intense and the funky patterns of Same To You definitely fall within the latter category, not least because of a storming and stormy tenor sax solo. The Jazz Soul inflections of her instrumental backing they’re well drilled to a man offer Gardot a patter-into-parlando introduction to She Don’t Know at the end of which the lighting rig is focused solely on the striking singer, complete with scarf around her head, black shades, fedora, skinny black trousers, and leather coat. The slow burning blues riffs of Bad News, on which Gardot straps on her easy rider, are accompanied by a voluble tenor solo though because the mic is stationed directly over the bell, it means that the tone suffers. Sitting at an upright piano for March for Mingus, appropriately accompanied by an upright bass, she includes parlando in French in a very theatrical, even knowing way.

But her rapport with the audience is spellbinding an effect not wholly replicated by a moment where one of the saxists stuffs two saxophones into his mouth in clear emulation of Roland Kirk. The Gospel cum Nina Simone inspiration on Morning Sun seems clear enough, Gardot’s vibrato taking on a somewhat insistent edge, whilst Les Étoiles is another attractive French-language chanson, where muted trumpet, bass clarinet and acoustic guitar bring out plenty of fine accompanying figures and make the band sound larger than it truly is.

Wa-wa trumpet gets on down on Who Will Comfort Me I wish there had been more trumpet solos and fewer sax ones and this lively invigorating number prefaces Preacherman where, surprisingly there’s a very brief moment of picture break-up. The cooking outro is the encore, It Gonna Come, with all the band members namechecked and the audience quite rightly on their feet. Gardot is one of today’s most elusive yet understatedly charismatic singers influenced as much by pop mainstream as by jazz as by Parisian confessional and chanson and Motown. She serves up this gumbo as only she knows how. Good camera work (in the main) allows one to enjoy her in the ‘intimacy’ of a filmed concert.~Jonathan Woolf http://www.musicweb-international.com/jazz/2016/Melody_Gardot_DVD.htm

Personnel: Melody Gardot (voice, guitar, piano,): Chuck Staab (drums, musical director): Mitchell Long (guitar): Shareef Clayton (trumpet): Korey Riker (baritone and tenor saxophone): Irwin Hall (tenor and alto saxophones, bass clarinet): Edwin Livingston (bass): Devin Greenwood (keyboards)

Live At The Olympia Paris

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Melody Gardot - Sunset In The Blue (Deluxe Version)

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:39
Size: 182,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:34) 1. If You Love Me
(4:52) 2. C’est Magnifique
(5:48) 3. There Where He Lives In Me
(3:57) 4. Love Song
(6:04) 5. You Won't Forget Me
(4:33) 6. Sunset In The Blue
(4:05) 7. Um Beijo
(3:37) 8. Ninguém, Ninguém
(4:48) 9. From Paris With Love - Single Version
(4:26) 10. Ave Maria
(3:47) 11. Moon River
(3:04) 12. I Fall In Love Too Easily
(2:42) 13. Little Something
(4:21) 14. From Paris With Love - Acoustic
(5:25) 15. Love Song
(4:06) 16. Trav'lin' Light
(3:27) 17. What Is This Thing Called Love
(4:54) 18. C'est Magnifique - Live In Namouche Studios

Melody Gardot emerged from her own smoky shadows of the mid-2000s as if she were some femme fatale emanating from a film noir movie. The plot twist was that she was the good girl, but it was her body that had been damaged in an auto accident. An extensive recovery followed. Her long, lean cane only reinforced her long, lean looks. The shades added just a touch of mystery. If there was anything positive, it was that she confronted the challenges and drew on them as a source of inspiration for some of her songs. Gardot's debut disc contained ten compact, yet gripping, originals and the sophomore release was a compelling and seamless second chapter. Taking elements of Julie London's sultry purr and Sade's sophisticated snap, Gardot nonetheless charted her own original course. Even more great music followed over the next decade.

On Sunset in the Blue, Gardot is pensive but patient and often soothing. Gliding up to the microphone, she is cautious and intimate as she beckons the lush strings to support the album's opener, "If You Love Me." Her vulnerable voice continues to lightly float on many of the songs including the second selection, "C'est Magnifique" (featuring guest Portuguese Fado singer Antonio Zambujo). Later, the lyrics of "You Won't Forget Me" proclaim that her former beau "won't forget me / on nights like this / The moon will cast / Upon you the shadow of my kiss" but her emotions reveal the truth she will never be able to forget him. Moments later, she delivers "From Paris With Love," a romantic postcard from France. Gardot's cool lyrics reveal "Lovers tucked into a quiet café / Sat beneath a shade of red / They fall in love like fallin' out of bed." Undoubtedly, Bogart and Bergman are sitting just a table or two away.

As the album draws to a close, Gardot presents a pair of American Standards, "Moon River" and "I Fall in Love Too Easily," before treating us to a final bonus song featuring guest artist Sting. Gentle, supportive guitars weave in and out of the album while understated trumpets and saxophones appear sparingly. When they do appear, they are welcome additions that make rich contributions.

One of Gardot's strengths on Sunset in the Blue is that more than half of the songs are originals, almost as if she were crafting a modernized set of American Standards. "From Paris With Love" could certainly be added to that prestigious list. If there is a weakness, it is the lack of musical variety as you find yourself hoping for surprise twists. Ironically, she gives us almost too much of a good thing. Regardless, find your own corner table, order a vintage French Bordeaux and listen as Sunset in the Blue gently unfolds.~ Scott Gudell https://www.allaboutjazz.com/sunset-in-the-blue-melody-gardot-verve-records

Personnel: Melody Gardot: voice / vocals; Antonio Zambujo: voice / vocals; Till Bronner: trumpet; Donny McCaslin: saxophone,tenor; Anthony Wilson: guitar; Dadi Carvalho: guitar; Nando Duarte: guitar, acoustic; Larry Klein: guitar, acoustic; Philippe Baden Powell: piano; Sam Minaie: bass; John Leftwich: bass, acoustic; Chuck Berghofer: bass, acoustic; Chuck Staab: drums; Vinnie Colaiuta: drums; Paulinho Da Costa: percussion.

Sunset In The Blue (Deluxe Version)

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Melody Gardot - Worrisome Heart

Styles: Vocal And Guitar Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:12
Size: 77,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:22)  1. Worrisome Heart
(2:37)  2. All That I Need Is Love
(2:52)  3. Gone
(3:22)  4. Sweet Memory
(5:24)  5. Some Lessons
(4:14)  6. Quiet Fire
(2:03)  7. One Day
(4:06)  8. Love Me Like a River Does
(3:05)  9. Goodnite
(1:01) 10. Twilight

Melody Gardot's debut recording, released in 2006, came two years after she suffered a near fatal automobile accident, the differently able Gardot triumphing in accomplishing what many others, including her, could only dream of. This project has her singing and playing guitar and a little piano, but more so presenting this project of all original material. Gardot has an interesting personal story, but even more intriguing music that straddles the line between lounge jazz, folk, and cowgirl songs. She's part sophisticated chanteuse, college sophomore, and down-home girl next door. Her innocence, sweetness, and light are very alluring, much like the persona of tragic songbirds Eva Cassidy and Nancy LaMott. Feel empathy for Gardot, but don't patronize her she's the real deal much more that many of her over-hyped peers. "Quiet Fire" is definitely her signature tune, as it speaks volumes of where her soul is at, in a jazz/blues mode, yearning for true love. The title track follows a similar tack, a slow, sweet, sentimental slinky blues that will melt your heart. A finger-snapping "Goodnite" leaves you wanting that night to continue, but also exudes a hope that permeates the entire recording. She might be a bit down on men during the nonplussed "All That I Need Is Love," but her subdued optimism glows cool. "Sweet Memory" might possibly parallel Feist or perhaps KT Tunstall in a rural country mode, while "Gone" is clearly folkish, and the slow "Some Lessons" expresses a contemporary Nashville precept. The laid-back music behind Gardot is basically acoustic, incorporating hip jazz instrumentation, especially the trumpet of Patrick Hughes and occasional organ, Wurlitzer, or Fender Rhodes from Joel Bryant, but with twists including violin, lap steel, and Dobro. The concise nature of this recording and these tunes perfectly reflects the realization that life is precious, every moment counts, and satisfaction is fleeting. Likely to be placed in the Norah Jones/Nellie McKay/Madeleine Peyroux pseudo jazz/pop sweepstakes, Gardot offers something decidedly more authentic and genuine. She's one-upped them all out of the gate. ~ Michael G.Nastos https://www.allmusic.com/album/worrisome-heart-mw0000580130

Personnel: Melody Gardot (vocals, guitar); Jef Lee Johnson (guitar); Mike Brenner (lap steel guitar); David Mowry, Kurt Johnston (dobro); Diane Monroe (violin); Krista Nielsen (cello); Ron Kerber (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Stan Slotter, Patrick Hughes , Matt Cappy (trumpet); Dave Posmontier (piano); Joel Bryant (Fender Rhodes piano, Hammond b-3 organ, Wurlitzer organ); Ken Pendergast, Paul Klinefelter (bass guitar); Charlie Patierno (drums).

Worrisome Heart

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Various - Jazz Loves Disney

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:28
Size: 108.7 MB
Styles: Stage & Screen
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[2:55] 1. Jamie Cullum - Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat
[3:40] 2. Melody Gardot - He's A Tramp
[3:11] 3. Stacey Kent - Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo
[3:47] 4. Gregory Porter - When You Wish Upon A Star
[4:59] 5. China Moses - Why Don't You Do Right
[3:51] 6. Raphael Gualazzi - I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)
[4:14] 7. The Rob Mounsey Orchestra - A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes
[4:03] 8. Hugh Coltman - You've Got A Friend In Me
[3:23] 9. Anne Sila - Let It Go
[3:26] 10. Melody Gardot - The Bare Necessities
[3:28] 11. Laika - Once Upon A Dream
[3:16] 12. Nikki Yanofsky - Un Jour Mon Prince Viendra
[3:08] 13. The Hot Sardines - I Wanna Be Like You

The notion that jazz singers love Disney tunes is hardly new, the relationship stretching from Johnny Mercer’s 1947 rendition of Song of the South’s Oscar-winning “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” to Steve Tyrell’s Disney Standards, from 2006. Never, though, has so ambitious or smartly executed a Disney-themed collection of vocal jazz been assembled as this.

Recorded in 2014 and 2015 across sessions spanning London, Paris, New York and L.A., Jazz Loves Disney is overcrowded with A-listers, all in top form: Gregory Porter’s haunting “When You Wish Upon a Star”; Jamie Cullum’s frisky “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat”; Melody Gardot coyly channeling Peggy Lee on “He’s a Tramp” and teaming with Italian crooner Raphael Gualazzi for a sprightly spin through “The Bare Necessities”; and, in French, Stacey Kent reimagining Cinderella’s “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” as a cozy bossa nova. Reinterpretation en français is a recurring theme, with an impressively mature Nikki Yanofsky serving up a sultry “Un jour mon prince viendra” (“Someday My Prince Will Come”) and Miz Elizabeth’s Hot Sardines revitalizing The Jungle Book’s “I Wanna Be Like You” as what might best be described as Left-Bank Dixieland.

Less-familiar names add equally fine performances, among them a Connick-esque “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” by Hugh Coltman and a delicate handling of Frozen’s “Let It Go” by Anne Sila, a victor on the French version of The Voice. If there’s a sour note it’s the sole instrumental track, an overly lush “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from the Rob Mounsey Orchestra that feels entirely out of place. ~Christopher Loudon

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Melody Gardot - Live In Europe (3-Disc Set)

After a serious car accident when she was 19, Melody Gardot used the experience as a springboard to musical success she might never have achieved otherwise. Gardot had played the piano before the accident, and a doctor suggested that she use music as a kind of recovery therapy. Since she couldn't sit comfortably at the piano, she picked up a guitar and now after several albums she is celebrating the international tour success of her career so far by brings us her first ever album of live recorded music. “Live In Europe” presents live versions of her greatest hits recorded at concerts worldwide between 2012 & 2016. An album personally curated by Melody herself, hits include Baby I’m A Fool, My One and Only Thrill, Les Etoiles & March For Mingus.

Album: Live In Europe (Disc 1)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:51
Size: 95.8 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2018

[ 6:19] 1. Our Love Is Easy
[ 4:19] 2. Baby I'm A Fool
[11:18] 3. The Rain
[ 6:53] 4. Deep Within The Corners Of My Mind
[ 5:30] 5. So Long
[ 7:30] 6. My One And Only Thrill

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Album: Live In Europe (Disc 2)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:49
Size: 100.3 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2018

[ 7:04] 1. Lisboa
[ 5:04] 2. Over The Rainbow
[ 2:09] 3. (Monologue) Special Spot
[ 4:01] 4. Baby I'm A Fool
[ 3:18] 5. Les étoiles
[ 4:05] 6. Goodbye
[ 0:22] 7. (Monologue) Tchao Baby
[11:14] 8. March For Mingus
[ 6:30] 9. Bad News

Live In Europe (Disc 2) mc
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Album: Live In Europe (Disc 3)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 19:38
Size: 44.9 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2018
Art: Front

[ 7:17] 1. Who Will Comfort Me
[12:20] 2. Morning Sun

Live In Europe (Disc 3) mc
Live In Europe (Disc 3) zippy

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Melody Gardot - The Absence

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:31
Size: 133,0 MB
Art: Front

( 4:13)  1. Mira
( 3:00)  2. Amalia
( 3:46)  3. So Long
( 4:24)  4. So We Meet Again My Heartache
( 5:25)  5. Lisboa
( 3:47)  6. Impossible Love
( 3:32)  7. If I Tell You I Love You
( 3:38)  8. Goodbye
( 4:52)  9. Se Voce Me Ama
( 2:35) 10. My Heart Won't Have It Any Other Way
(18:13) 11. Iemanja

If Melody Gardot's 2009 sophomore effort, My One and Only Thrill, sustained the sultry, atmospheric vibe of her critically acclaimed 2006 debut, her 2012 follow-up, The Absence, is a bit of a creative departure for the vocalist. Apparently inspired by her world travels, and specifically by a trip that brought her to the desert around the city of Marrakech, the album moves her away from smoky, small-group jazz and into a bright, if still bedroom-eyed, rhythmically exotic sound. Produced by guitarist/composer Heitor Pereira, the album is a lush, somewhat orchestral album that finds Gardot delving into various Brazilian, Spanish, and African-influenced sounds including bits of samba, tango, bossa nova, and calypso that evince her global journey. However, rather than simply making a standards album, Gardot continues her all-original approach, offering up new literate and passionately delivered compositions that bring to mind the work of such similarly inclined artists as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Paul Simon, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and others. Although there are a few name musicians who help add spice to Gardot's musical caravan here, including percussionist Paulinho Da Costa, drummer Peter Erskine, and bassist John Leftwich, primarily it is still Gardot's burnished and yearning vocal style that takes the helm on these tracks. ~ Matt Collar http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-absence-mw0002353010

Personnel: Melody Gardot (vocals, piano); Heitor Pereira (vocals, guitar, piano, percussion); Jo Ann Turovsky (harp); Alyssa Park, Serena McKinney, Katia Popov, Helen Nightengale, Phillip Levy , Tamara Hatwan , Lisa M Absence album for sale. Sutton , Bruce Dukov, Julie Gigante, Sarah Thornblade, Roger Wilkie, Tereza Stanislav (violin); Marlow Fisher, Matthew Funes , Brian Dembrow, Keith Greene, Roland Kato, Dave Walther , Darrin McCann, Andrew Duckles (viola); Paula Hochhalter, Christina Soule, Dennis Karmazyn, Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick, Armen Ksajikan, Martin Tillman, Stephen Erdody , Andrew Shulman, Cecilia Tsan (cello); Dan Higgins (flute, alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet); Coco Trivisonno (bandoneon); Larry Goldings (melodica, piano); Ron Kerber (clarinet); Jessica Pearlman (oboe); Harry Kim, Ramon Flores (trumpet); Andrew Lippman (trombone); Jim Keltner, Peter Erskine (drums); Paco Arroyo, Yolanda Arroyo, Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); Alfie Silas-Durio, Ali Witherspoon, Louis Price, Phil Roy, Tata Vega, Bill Cantos, Bill Maxwell (background vocals).

The Absence

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Melody Gardot - My One And Only Thrill

Styles: Vocal, Piano And  Guitar Jazz 
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:07
Size: 111,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:31)  1. Baby I'm A Fool
(2:50)  2. If The Stars Were Mine
(4:57)  3. Who Will Comfort Me
(2:43)  4. Your Heart Is As Black As Night
(4:26)  5. Lover Undercover
(5:29)  6. Our Love Is Easy
(3:20)  7. Les Etoiles
(3:23)  8. The Rain
(6:12)  9. My One And Only Thrill
(3:22) 10. Deep Within The Corners Of My Mind
(4:34) 11. Over The Rainbow
(3:13) 12. If The Stars Were Mine (Orchestral Version)

Melody Gardot's 2006 debut, Worrisome Heart, was greeted with warmly enthusiastic reviews that never failed to mention Gardot's musical similarities to Norah Jones and Madeleine Peyroux, or her sadly compelling story of surviving a severe hit-and-run accident at the age of 19. The tragedy gave critics an irresistible hook, and the musical similarities which also include her vocal resemblance to Fiona Apple's smoky tones gave new listeners a familiar touchstone, but both merely provided an entry into a fine, accomplished debut. Released three years later, Gardot's second album, My One and Only Thrill, proves that the first was no fluke; it doesn't build upon the debut so much as it sustains its quality. Like before, My One and Only Thrill is built primarily on Gardot originals (a fine version of "Over the Rainbow" that closes the album being the only exception) that seamlessly blend sultry, late-night jazz blues, singer/songwriter introspection, and sophisticated pop melodies. If anything, My One and Only Thrill emphasizes Gardot's chanteuse qualities, feeling like more of a jazz album than its predecessor, thanks both to its languid atmosphere and also Gardot's phrasing, which elegantly elongates her melodies and slips into scat. These are slight, subtle progressions but what impresses is how thoroughly My One and Only Thrill lives up to the promise of her debut, offering another album that is as enchanting in its sound as it is in its substance. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine http://www.allmusic.com/album/my-one-and-only-thrill-mw0000811208

Personnel:  Melody Gardot – guitar, piano, vocals;  Gary Foster – alto sax;  Bryan Rogers – tenor sax, backing vocals;  Larry Goldings – Hammond B3 organ;  Patrick Hughes – trumpet, backing vocals;  Andy Martin – trombone;  Behn Gillece – vibraphone;  Nico Abondolo – double bass;  Drew Dembowski – double bass;  Larry Klein – bass guitar, backing vocals;  Ken Pendergast – bass guitar, backing vocals;  Vinnie Colaiuta – drums;  Charlie Patierno – drums, backing vocals;  Paulinho da Costa – percussion

My One And Only Thrill

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Melody Gardot - Currency Of Man

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:43
Size: 111.5 MB
Styles: R&B, Retro Soul, Jazz vocals
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[5:23] 1. It Gonna Come
[4:29] 2. Preacherman
[5:03] 3. Morning Sun
[4:59] 4. Same To You
[4:14] 5. Don't Misunderstand
[4:17] 6. Don't Talk
[6:50] 7. If Ever I Recall Your Face
[4:38] 8. Bad News
[3:56] 9. She Don't Know
[4:48] 10. Once I Was Loved

On 2012's The Absence, Melody Gardot made her first shift away from the jazz-tinged ballads that drew such heavy comparisons to Norah Jones and Madeleine Peyroux. Lushly orchestrated, it was chock-full of songs inspired by Brazilian, Latin, and French forms. On Currency of Man, Gardot takes on a rootsier sound, embracing West Coast soul, funk, gospel, and pop from the early '70s as the backdrop for these songs. It is not only different musically, but lyrically. This is a less "personal" record; its songs were deeply influenced by the people she encountered in L.A., many of them street denizens. She tells their stories and reflects on themes of social justice. It's wide angle. Produced by Larry Klein, the cast includes members of her band, crack session players -- guitarist Dean Parks, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, Larry Goldings, the Waters Sisters, et al. -- and strings and horns. The title track is a funky blues with a rumbling bassline, dramatic strings (à la Motown) and fat horns. Gardot uses the lens of Sam Cooke to testify to the inevitability of change: "We all hopin’ for the day that the powers see abdication and run/Said it gonna come…." First single "Preacherman" is similar, employing a wrangling, smoldering blues that indicts racism in the 20st century by referring to the violent death of Emmett Till, a catalyst in the then-emergent Civil Rights movement. A driving B-3, saxophone, and menacing lead guitar ratchet up the tension to explosive. A gospel chorus mournfully affirms Gardot's vocal as a harmonica moans in the background. "Morning Sun" and closer "Once I Was Loved" are tender ballads that emerge from simple, hymn-like themes and quietly resonant with conviction. "Same to You" evokes the spirit of Dusty Springfield atop the punchy horns from her Memphis period, albeit with a West Coast sheen. The nylon-string guitar in "Don't Misunderstand" recalls Bill Withers' earthy funkiness. The song's a groover, but it's also a warning to a possessive lover. "Don't Talk" uses spooky polyrhythms (à la Tom Waits) as brooding, spacy slide guitars, B-3, and backing singers slice through forbidding blues under Gardot's voice. "If Ever I Recall Your Face" is jazzier, a 21st century take on the film noir ballad with glorious strings arranged by Clément Ducol that rise above a ghostly piano. "Bad News" simultaneously looks back at L.A.'s Central Avenue and burlesque scenes. It's a jazz-blues with a sauntering horn section, snaky electric guitar, and squawking saxophone solo. Vocally, Gardot is stronger than ever here, her instrument is bigger and fuller yet it retains that spectral smokiness that is her trademark. Currency of Man is a further step away from the lithe, winsome pop-jazz that garnered her notice initially, and it's a welcome one. ~Thom Jurek

Currency Of Man

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