Line-up

Headliner
Melody Gardot Last time in London: 3 years ago

Venue

Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, SW7 2AP, London, UK

www.royalalberthall.com/

Capacity: 5,544

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Additional details

Doors open: 18:45

Concert in your area for Jazz, Funk & Soul, and Electronic.

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Melody Gardot biography

Managing to forge a music career after a life-threatening bicycle accident, Melody Gardot (born February 2nd, 1985) has found critical success with her jazz-infused pop, finding comparisons with Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell and Eva Cassidy.

Born and raised in New Jersey, US, Melody Gardot took to music from an early age, eventually becoming a regular performer in Philadelphia, US nightclubs, during her time studying as a fashion student at the Community College of Philadelphia. Gardot's life was turned upside down, after suffering a bicycle accident that left Gardot fighting for her live, eventually spending several months recovering from multiple head injuries and pelvic fractures.

Whilst in recovery, music was to be the therapy that Gardot needed, helping combat her amnesia and find her past musical talents once again. The accident left her with hypersensitivity to both sound and light, which meant she could only listen to soft, gentle music, influencing her own direction. Whilst in her hospital bed, she taught herself guitar and began to write the songs which would eventually become her debut EP, "Some Lessons," released in 2005.

Having improved dramatically over the year, Gardot decided to pursue a career in music after recovering, with her debut EP being followed by her independently recorded full-length, "Worrisome Heart." The album caught the attention of Verve, who reissued the record in 2007. Her extremely personal music has found widespread praise for her emotive, gentle blues. Her personal story makes her rise to success even more impressive, releasing two further albums, 2009's "My One and Only Thrill" and 2012's "The Absence." Her records have consistently found international chart success, managing to top the charts in Norway and Sweden.

Live reviews

With a name like that, she was surely born to sing, although there’s plenty more to Melody Gardot than meets the eye; she hails from Philadelphia, but considers herself a “citizen of the world”, and despite being just twenty-nine years of age, she’s already made a major impression in the jazz world, a genre often seen as inaccessible for people of the younger generation. It helps, of course, that Gardot writes all of her own material, but it’s also true that there’s touches of the Latin influence to her sound. She’s been nominated for Grammys and seen her records go platinum in parts of Europe, but she’s not all about recording; she’s also a committed advocate of music therapy, dedicating a sizable amount of her time to helping others through sound. As a touring artist, she’s stuck reasonably close to jazz convention at her own shows; with her extensive live band, she can deliver career-spanning sets that delve into every aspect of her music - as well as the typical guitar and drums setup, she brings a brass section, including a saxophonist, on the road with her too. She’s just completed an extensive European jaunt, which kicked off with a performance at London’s Barbican Hall and included a stop in Brighton further down the line; she’s seldom away from the territory in which she’s met with the most success, however.

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