Melody Gardot - Live In Europe (2018)

01. Our Love Is Easy 06:22
02. Baby I'm A Fool 04:24
03. The Rain 11:22
04. Deep Within The Corners Of My Mind 06:56
05. So Long 05:35
06. My One And Only Thrill 07:33
07. Lisboa 07:06
08. Over The Rainbow 05:06
09. (Monologue) Special Spot 02:09
10. Baby I'm A Fool 04:03
11. Les etoiles 03:23
12. Goodbye 04:05
13. (Monologue) Tchao Baby 00:22
14. March For Mingus 11:13
15. Bad News 06:29
16. Who Will Comfort Me 07:19
17. Morning Sun 12:22

An album of live recordings which our singer and her band did in various cities in Europe, during the period 2012-2016. Ms Gardot explains that she originally thought she would choose the best tracks she could find, but then she decided it should rather be ‘a postcard from our tours of Europe’ giving ‘the feeling, the nostalgia, the memory’ of performances, and be a gift to herself as well as to the listener.

The songs appear to be originals, except for Over the Rainbow, mostly love songs, and Ms Gardot’s style leans towards cabaret, with something subtly French about the singing, which is often quiet, intimate, breathless, almost muttered. Listeners need to hear the songs a few times to fully appreciate the artistry. I estimate the instruments involved to be guitar, keys, saxes, (some tracks) strings, clarinet, flute, drums, and some delightful cello and very skilled double bass, which often introduces each song.

The cities visited include Paris, Bergen, Lisbon, London, Zurich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Utrecht. The Rain (Bergen) is highly descriptive, with long, lowering guitar chords, crashing piano chords, a strong jazz tune from saxes, and a bass solo, signifying ‘goodbye’ to a lover. Our Love Is Easy is a flowing tune, sung with breathless intimacy. Deep Within the Corners of My Mind is a song of longing with string accompaniment. From Lisbon, we hear a Latin number with percussion, clarinet and flute, and singing in Portuguese (I think). Other titles include Baby I’m A Fool; So Long; My One and Only Thrill; Les Etoiles; Goodbye. The album is rounded off with a long track, March for Mingus, which includes most of the instruments giving us a strong jazz tune, saxes in harmony, eastern type vocals, then a final band mash up with a gospel song.

I found this to be a quite listenable CD but maybe something of an acquired taste, and I’m not sure whether I would eventually acquire that taste or not. It is available as a double CD or a triple vinyl LP. ---Ann Alex, lance-bebopspokenhere.blogspot.com

Jak mówi sama artystka: „Ten album ma w sobie całe moje serce i miłość wszystkich ludzi, którzy wspierali nas przez te wszystkie lata. To w taki sam sposób podarunek dla mnie – zawiera wszak tyle wspomnień, jak dar ode mnie dla Was – słuchaczy. Ten album to po prostu jedno wielkie słowo „dziękuję”, które pragnę wykrzyczeć z siebie w Waszym kierunku. Będę Wam wdzięczna do końca swoich dni.

Melody Gardot to nieprzeciętny głos i wyjątkowa, silna osobowość, będąca zarazem wielce uduchowioną artystką. Melody jest połączeniem naturalnego talentu z wyjątkową intuicją muzyczną i sceniczną, która pozwala wprowadzić widownię w niezapomniany klimat. ---jazzforum.com.pl

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