Melody Gardot

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.

Melody Gardot in the Noches Del Botanico in Madrid: an open air show on a hot summer night and amazing music from one of my favourite singers. Melody is a natural performer, reaching to her audience with her songs and little stories once in a while and with her outstanding band (featuring young sax player Irwin Hall), she can do whatever she wants … slow and quiet as in the beautiful and touching Baby I’m A Fool or powerful and engaging as in Preacher Man or She Don’t Know from her latest CD Currency Of Man. She is an artist who can touch me deeply, as she did with her incredible rendition of Morning Sun from the same album and a simple, but extremely powerful See-Line Woman, the iconic song by Nina Simone, which she made completely her own in a version full of respect for the original, but still being able to add something special to it. The Madrid audience was fully behind her and sang with her creating some extremely beautiful moments. Melody Gardot and her band were in great form last night and delivered what easily could be the concert of the year for me. Sensational!!!

Philadelphian Melody Gardot may only be thirty years old yet she has already made quite an impression on the jazz scene with her impeccable musical talent and honest songwriting voice. There is a wonderfully personable, warm mentality to Melody's stage demeanour and she clearly enjoys the company of her accompanying musicians as they involve each other during earthy, acoustic instrumentals.

There is an assumed manner about the singer, she simply seems grateful to have the opportunity to stand onstage and share her music with the attentive audiences. She is constantly thanking them for the huge applause the likes of 'The Rain' and 'So We Meet Again My Heartache' receive. You would never believe this lady is so esteemed in the music world, having been nominated for numerous Grammy awards. A note perfect rendition of 'Baby I'm a Fool' makes the audience understand as to why many have compared Melody's music to Nina Simone. There is a rich, natural tone to her vocal and an organic humanistic approach to the way in which she makes music.

It was a fantastic evening with smooth jazzy soul-funky music. Melody Gardot was surrounded 360 degrees by audiences in the DR- concert hall, and she managed to take us all in and have a dialogue with us. The elegant way she masters both singing within a wide range of tonality and volume/intensity and also both playing the guitar and piano so skillfully is absolutely amazing and a gift to experience. She and her 7 man band received an immediate standing ovation from a sold out concert hall. I walked out into the night feeling somewhat changed in mind and heart. My sense of connection with the friend that I brought to the concert had somewhat deepened. And on top of frightening terrorist acts in Paris the week before, this gave us love and hope and a sense of connectedness in our hearts. Music is powerful

A bit much noise of sound and whispering. lack of really singing and playing the songs as strong as there are on cd.
It was a bit disappointing as a show. I drifted away from concentration too often. Sometimes Melody sang beautifully concentrated in the ballads like 'Our love is easy" and " Baby, i'm a fool " My personal highlights.
Overall she did not make much of an impression to me with her new poppy and loud screaming sound, although the instrumentalists were great sometimes trumpet, sax, guitar etc).
She talks a lot but is hard to actually hear what she is mumbling. Im a die hard fan from her first album till the fourth, which are all very good albums This is my third concert and it wasn't the best. Might not go anymore for a next gig.

It was the coolest grooviest Jazz concert that I have ever been to. Her voice moves you and her band fill out the room with their melodies.

I will definitely go to her concert again next time that she is in town.

Superbe concert, Melody Gardot a une voix impressionnante et beaucoup de présence sur scène. Elle est magnifique par sa voix et sa présence, j'espère assister à un autre de ses concerts très prochainement.

It was an amazing show, as usual. Melody is a great artist and entertainer, and did not disappoint the expectations. Also, what a great new album! Looking forward to the next concert.

It was a great experience to listen her live. She is just amazing on the stage and the atmosphere in Opernring was beautiful. I will for sure will go more concerts of her.