My One and Only Thrill - Melody Gardot

Melody Gardot had a cycling accident when she was 19, and was rendered disabled. She had her pelvis fractured, her spine damaged and she suffered trauma. Now, she is "making sweet music" like the birds she commands in "If The Stars Were Mine" of her latest album. 2006 gave us the absolutely delicious Worrisome Heart. The album would almost place the listener in a cool smoky jazzhouse in The Big Easy, enveloped in soothing sad music, where the night would be long, and none would want it to end. 2009 has Ms. Gardot return with her new album - My One And Only Thrill and claim her rightful place among the women who make Jazz great today. She has been compared to the talented Norah Jones; but Melody Gardot is a rare flavour, a voice which is sultry, caressing and gentle at the same time.

With My One and Only Thrill, Melody expands her musical horizons with deeper melodies and lingering strings, yet her vocals remain caressingly intimate. One of the highlights of the album is "Our Love Is Easy" - a number in the lines of classical jazz tracks with trumpets and soft brushes; rendering it timeless and sophisticated - almost like a walk down a cobbled road on a rainy foggy night in 1920's London. Gardot is a proclaimed fan of "motionless sound", and her songs encourage and enable the listener to fill in the gaps and create their own music in their own head. Many songs have limited string arrangements, subtle percussion, and an emphatic piano. Gary Foster provides subtle hints of alto-saxophone in several songs.

"Your Heart Is As Black As Night" is a slow yet passionate blues track with background trumpets and brass instruments lending colour to the singing. "Baby I'm a fool" is a class act in the long history of jazz torch songs. Look me in the eye and tell me love is never based upon insanity, / Hear the way my heart is beating every other moments fleeting.

The lilting latin rhythms of 'Les Etoiles', with its vocal acrobatics - Gardot's own version of scat singing - is a charming effort, made better with the sexy French singing.

The title song sees Gardot almost whispering in the first minute, and slowly chanting along with the growing music; almost vintage and sensual. The only song on the album Gardot hasn't written is the classic "Over the Rainbow" - a song covered by everyone from Eva Cassidy to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. Gardot sambafies the song, and transforms it into a cheery latin beat. Although the cheery charm might be questionable for some, the song and the album as a whole serve as a salubrious counterpoint to the melancholic Worrisome Heart.

The entire album recalls greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sinatra; and Melody Gardot, with her luscious vocals and intimate chansons that speak to the heart (as if she is singing only for you) -- makes this one of the better albums of 2009.

Song Picks:

- The Dramatic "Our Love Is Easy".

- The sprightly intimate of "If The Stars Were Mine"

- "Baby I Am A Fool"

Baby I'm a fool - Melody Gardot