Articles

Melody Gardot: Sunset in the Blue

by Scott Gudell
January 25, 2021

Melody Gardot emerged from her own smoky shadows of the mid-2000s as if she were some femme fatale emanating from a film noir movie. The plot twist was that she was the good girl, but it was her body that had been damaged in an auto accident. An extensive recovery followed. Her long, lean cane only reinforced her long, lean looks. The shades added just a touch of mystery. If there was anything positive, it was that she confronted the ...

Melody Gardot at the Merriam Theater

by Victor L. Schermer
October 19, 2015

Melody Gardot Merriam Theater Philadelphia, PA October 9, 2015 In this highly touted concert, Philadelphia born and bred vocalist Melody Gardot made a return visit to her home town after several years on the road in Europe and other destinations where her stunning voice and soul-stirring original songs have grabbed the world's attention. Her loyal fans know her life-changing story of a bicycle accident and the severe brain trauma it inflicted, with music playing ...

Melody Gardot and New York Pops Open Central Park Summerstage 2010

by Ernest Barteldes
June 9, 2010

Melody Gardot and the New York PopsCentral Park/Mainstage Rumsey Playfield New York, New YorkJune 1, 2010

For the opening of the 2010 Central Park Summerstage concert series, the New York Pops (which also performed at the 2009 opener) kicked off with versions of Dave Brubeck's “Blue Rondo a La Turk" and Duke Ellington's “It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" before welcoming Melody Gardot, who came on with her ...

Melody Gardot at the Kimmel Center

by Victor L. Schermer
October 30, 2009

Melody GardotThe Kimmel Center for the Performing ArtsPhiladelphia, PAOctober 17, 2009“A Star is Born" is the only adequate way to characterize singer-composer Melody Gardot's appearance on the stage of the Perelman Theater of the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia on October 17. While the recent buzz surrounding her debut recordings are all about her fine jazz and blues vocalizing with a sensual flair, neither the media spin nor her first two albums prepare one for the ...

Melody Gardot: My One and Only Thrill

by Ian Patterson
June 27, 2009

The old saying 'stick to what you know' has paid handsome dividends for Melody Gardot, for in writing her own songs she is able to express her considerable talent to the full. With the exception of one non-original, (a Brazilian tinged “Somewhere Over the Rainbow") these self penned songs show that Gardot is a poet bursting with lyricism and a balladeer of real class, spiced with panache. Gardot's voice is her own, but exhibits the intimacy of Peggy Lee, the ...

Melody Gardot: Perspective

by Esther Berlanga-Ryan
April 20, 2009

Sometimes life just has the overwhelming ability to throw some rough tests your way, and a person can find oneself dealing in silence with the aching certainty of an unfinished journey, where life seems to have ended with you and with all the marvelous possibilities that used to lie before your feet. This is as far as you will go, you tell yourself. You struggle to breathe and drag what is left of you around, and then life tends to ...

Parallels of Recovery: Melody Gardot Finds Inspiration in the Spirit of New Orleans

by Craig M. Cortello
October 14, 2008

I recently interviewed Ms. Melody Gardot for a podcast episode regarding her amazing journey from a devastating accident to a successful music career. For those not aware of her background, Ms. Gardot was struck by an SUV while riding her bike at the age of nineteen. She suffered brain trauma and multiple fractures of the pelvis. As a result of her injuries, she remained bed-ridden for more than a year, endured pain that was at times excruciating, suffered ...