I was already a Melody Gardot fan, and I particularly like her album My One and Only Thrill, I have the ORG/Verve limited edition 2LP, 45rpm pressing. It is her second studio album, released on April 28, 2009, by Verve Records. Three singles were released from the album: “Who Will Comfort Me,” “Baby I’m a Fool,” and “Your Heart Is As Black As Night.” The album received three Grammy Award nominations: Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for the title track (Mendoza), Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical (Helik Hadar and Al Schmitt), and Producer of the Year, Non-Classical (Klein).
It is Melody’s unique approach to songwriting that I like more than her covers. Although her songs often sound like jazz, they defy easy categorization. On the Elusive Disc website, they describe her as “…a touch of Peggy Lee’s poetry, a hint of Norah Jones and Joni Mitchell…” Melody’s tunes already feel like classics, and the Grammy-nominated album achieved an air of sophistication due to the talents of producer Larry Klein, who won the Grammy for the Album of the Year with Herbie Hancock’s River, and the tasteful orchestrations of Vince Mendoza.
Live in Europe is a box set that presents three LPs that are live versions of her greatest hits recorded from different concerts worldwide between 2012 and 2016. The set was personally put together by Melody, and she included such hits as “Baby I’m A Fool,” “My One and Only Thrill,” the wonderful “Les Etoiles,” and “March For Mingus.”
Melody said of the album “I dreamed to have a live album since many years ago. Something that would be a dedication to the people who welcomed us all over the world. At first, I had wanted to seek out the ‘best of’ in a way that would illustrate the most perfect performances from our concerts over the last few years. I struggled listening to over 300 shows, judging, analyzing and critiquing every solo, every note, every phrase… it was painstaking until finally, I reached a breaking point… I heard a song that made me cry – not because of the performance itself, but because of the memory of the feeling of that evening… and then suddenly, I remembered the point of all of this… why this album exists as it does is simply down to the ‘feeling’, the nostalgia, the memory – it’s not about perfection or ego or demonstration – it’s just about what happens live – because live there is only one element that counts: heart. This album holds my heart and the love of all the people who supported us along the way. It is as much a gift to me, for the memories it holds, as it is my gift to you, the listener. This album is simply a very long thank you to all of you. I am forever grateful.”
I want to say I’m grateful too for these LPs. I love live recordings, and I love her voice and her songs. While I like all three LPs, I especially like the second one because it includes my two favorite cuts, “Lisboa,” which was from the Lisbon 2015 concert and “Les Etoiles” from the London 2016 concert. It also has an interesting cover of “Over The Rainbow” from the Zurich 2013 concert. Then, there is “Baby I’m A Fool,” a very cute song that sounds like it’s from the ’30s.
The second side of the second LP has three incredible songs, “Goodbye” from the Utrecht 2016 concert, which is only on the LP version of the album, and then from the same concert there is “March For Mingus” and “Bad News.” The sound of this box set is full of energy and sounds very good, but it is mostly about the music and her talent and heart as a performer. I highly recommend both the box set and her album, My One and Only Thrill. If you haven’t discovered her yet, it’s time you get to know Melody Gardot’s remarkable talent!
