Melody Gardot

274 Main Street,Northampton MA 01060

11 September, 2022

Description

Melody GardotPresented by DSP ShowsALL AGES Melody Gardot Melody Gardot 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. The story of vocalist, guitarist, and pianist Melody Gardot is remarkable; she's persevered against abject adversity throughout her life. Blessed with a beautiful alto voice and grand insight as a songwriter, Gardot overcame a life-threatening bicycle accident early in her career. As amazing as her story is, what is more evident is that she possesses a blue, jazz-oriented style and dusky persona that reflect not only her afflictions, but conversely the hope and joy of making personalized music that marks her as an original.