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Melody Gardot in concert she's in Seattle 6/19

Melody Gardot played Portland's Aladdin Theater last night, and her performance was nothing less than jaw-dropping. I've been a fan since hearing two cuts from her album in a New Years Eve countdown of the year's best releases on Portland's KMHD, but nothing could have prepared me for the power of her live performance. Twelve or fifteen songs from her two releases, most of which were done in a completely different style from the albums, and a band--drummer, bass, and a sax/flute player--with an astonishing range. THE most remarkable combination of vocal talent and songwriting ability that I've yet enountered.

Waiting for my wife outside the theater after the concert, I watched people come out of the theater in near disbelief: did we just hear that? Most concerts you come of of, people are talking afterward about where to go for a drink. The people I saw were all talking rapturously about the performance they'd just seen. Seattleites out there, do yourself a favor and get to the Moore Theater tonight. I'm sorely tempted to get on the road and see her a second time.
stewie
btv_jazz
8 posts
 
From Stewie:
Twelve or fifteen songs from her two releases, most of which were done in a completely different style from the albums, and a band--drummer, bass, and a sax/flute player--with an astonishing range.
If you haven't seen the following two videos before, you really should see them now. The supporting players, again, are two young musicians in their twenties, from the U.K. and Germany (I think), who have also joined Melody on several of her spring 2010 dates.

"Get Out Of Town" and "I Love Paris" at Olympia (Paris)
"La Chanson des Vieux Amants" (Jacques Brel) at Olympia (Paris)

In April she also did a somewhat different arrangement of Cole Porter's 'Get Out of Town' for a BBC Four Sessions program in London, accompanied by a guitarist and Irwin Hall on sax. This performance was on YouTube for a while, but has since been removed.

Perhaps some of these covers will appear on her next album, on which she has apparently begun working (according to a couple of her posts on Twitter).
btv_jazz
8 posts
 
See this article, currently online at Elle.com (but probably not for long). It dwells much more on the accident and its consequences, and her rather mysterious history prior to it, than the music. That said, it is quite well-written and seems to be more carefully researched than usual.

(Note: "Melody Gardot" turns out to be an adopted name.)
stewie OP
187 posts
 
Interesting article, and one does get the sense, seeing her live, of young woman, of immense talent, playing a role: the stilt-high heels, allusions to a trail of men, the air of European sophistication. If you look at some of her earliest clips, you see someone whose demeanor was like Eva Cassidy's. The comparison to Dylan in that regard seems perfectly apt. And the role works, too, especially since there's just a smidgen of irony about the whole thing.
btv_jazz
8 posts
 
Having read Andrew Goldman's article, I can't help but wonder about another alleged fact, that she was born on February 2, which is also Eva Cassidy's birthday. (See Wikipedia.) I don't mean to be cynical by saying that. One gets the sense she is very much in the throes of constructing an identity, because of her age (isn't that what one's teens and 20s are about anyway?), the after-effects of her accident, and the process of unfolding her talent and discovering where it might take her.

I've read quite a lot about the development of young musicians recently, especially jazz musicians, and finding the balance between audacity and humility—with a capacity to listen deeply to other musicians—is central to the process. Some pretense and role-playing is also probably unavoidable for most, especially if one is trying to escape certain constraints and inhibitions of one's background.

NOBODY can doubt her courage.

(PS: In this connection, see this AAJ interview with saxophonist Myron Walden.)
stewie OP
187 posts
 
Nicely put, Btv. I guess I only get cyncal about it when it's done badly, and in her case, it certainly isn't.
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