My angel, Melody Gardot

[StealthHit06]

Alright, so she’s not technically my angel. However, I heard her on the radio while driving and fell in love with her voice, quite literally melting. It took my family days to get me out of the upholstery. The song I heard, “Worrisome Heart”, was the first song I heard on my jazz station that was not contemporary and it was absolutely great.

I wasn’t really much into jazz music before listening to her which is kind of funny considering I played saxophone for eight years.

So I got her CD as a gift and I love almost every song on there. Now I’ve plugged her into my Fire.fm plugin on Firefox to see what other artists similar to her sound like but regardless of the other artists I’m hearing, I still love her sound.

Has anyone else heard her before? If so, what do you think?

[Equipoise]

Yeah, she’s pretty wonderful. I’m not much into what’s known as “smooth jazz” but I really like her phrasing and voice. Her music isn’t all smooth jazz though. I discovered her a couple of years ago via her page on MySpace. She’s only been making music for a few years! It’s so nice to see that she’s doing well, getting on a major label and getting airplay! She seems like a really cool and nice person.

Here’s Melody’s web site, which looks like it’s being renovated. Here’s her YouTube page too. Her story of her grandmother (McVittles) is so sweet and fun. Of the ones I’ve watched/heard, I really like the fan-made (audio-only) “Goodnite,” the fan-made video to “Worrisome Heart,” the live “Worrisome Heart” and the audio-only (with pictures) of “Some Lessons.” Here’s a nice interview with her too. There are tons more I haven’t had a chance to go through and watch yet. I’m sure they’re all wonderful.

Her story is fascinating. What could have been a tragedy turned out to be a new beginning for her. From her Wikipedia page:

Melody Gardot is an American jazz singer and musician in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born in 1982, she was disabled at 19, after being struck by a car while riding her bicycle.[1] This event, though tragic, led to her recognition as a remarkable musician.

Her musical beginning was prompted by a tending physician who was concerned with her cognitive impairment as a result of head injury sustained in the accident. He believed music would help her brain injury drastically improve, as it has been known to show remarkable results in improving peoples’ cognitive ability after such trauma. It helps by rebuilding the pathways within the brain which are necessary for recalling data (specifically in the areas of Memory, Calculating Data, Executive Functioning Skills, etc.).[citation needed]

Speaking from British Columbia, Katherine Wright of the Music Therapy Association explains, “Music enables a person to reminisce and reconnect with her sense of identity. Songwriting is an excellent tool to use when working on concentration and other cognitive issues.”

Following her doctor’s suggestion, Melody Gardot made recordings bedside, while still unable to walk, and eventually released the works as an EP titled Some Lessons - The Bedroom Sessions. Gardot’s desire to be well, combined with a bit of luck, brought her to the attention of a local radio DJ at the AAA station WXPN, known for launching the careers of artists such as Amos Lee and Norah Jones. She quickly gained public esteem both for her stunning music as well as her remarkable courage despite her afflictions.

…

The Bedroom Sessions and her first full album Worrisome Heart are both available at CD Baby. I take it the new one will be available very soon.

It looks like she’s going to be playing a couple of upcoming shows, in New York and Paris, which, when you hear more of her story, you’ll see are very important dates:

Apr 28 2009 8:00P City Winery New York, New York
May 13 2009 8:00P Alhambra Paris, Centre

There are many variables that make performing nearly impossible for the young songstress. Still in her early twenties, Melody Gardot carries a cane and must wear dark glasses. She often has a little black box tied to her waist; called a TENS unit, it is used to alleviate neuralgic pain/muscle pain. She sits on a specialized chair while performing, owing to pelvic fractures sustained in the accident. Her pelvis remains misaligned, and she also suffers from an autonomic nervous system dysfunction, causing hypersensitivity to noise and sound.

In other words, don’t miss her if you get a chance to see her live because it doesn’t look like she’ll be touring much. At least she has a reason, unlike my beloved but frustrating gal, who, sigh, releases a new album, plays one show, then goes back to tending her farm and disappears for years again, goddess love her.