Melody Gardot

The Media Club, Vancouver, BC
October 18, 2008

Melody Gardot made her first trip to Vancouver this past Saturday night in support of her debut full-length album Worrisome Heart. Gardot played to a packed house at The Media Club and smoothly and softly rolled through her 90 minute set with gentle ease. Gardot is an inspirational character and a fresh raw talent in the realms of jazz and blues. As a person, Gardot lives a remarkable and inspirational life. The pain with which she sings comes from Gardot's personal experiences of dealing with an accident where, at the age of nineteen, Melody was struck by a car while riding her bike. In dealing with the new realities that came following her life-changing accident, Gardot embraced music; writing songs, teaching herself guitar and soon recording an EP all while learning how to walk again. Today, Gardot uses a cane and wears dark glasses because she is hypersensitive to light. She performs sitting on a specialized chair and often times has a small black box tied on her waist that is used to alleviate neuralgic and muscular pain existing in her body. That being said I am not so sure that Gardot wouldn't be a success without any background story. Her smokey soulful set was proof of that.

Gardot played some tracks off Worrisome Heart as well as a few cover songs in her set. The vibe was smooth and slow and somber throughout. There were however a few departures such as a very upbeat variation on the classic Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Gardot dedicated the song to her Grandmother who she admitted had a strong influence on her life growing up. It was touching and poignant and demonstrated a very down to earth and funny side. Whether telling jokes about smells of mothballs and soup being strong memories of her grandmother or quoting episodes from South Park, the young blond haired Philadelphia native came off much more light hearted than her music or her life story led me to expect. Admittedly though, the South Park reference, while obvious and funny to this writer and to Gardot, left some of the older members of the audience a bit perplexed. Of the material played from the album, the haunting lullaby Goodnight and the sad and sexy Worrisome Heart were highlights. Her band was a simple and effective arrangement of drums, standing bass and muted trumpet while Gardot moved between piano and acoustic guitar.

Finally if you wish to know of the maturity and wisdom of this twenty three year old, you don't have to look any further than Gardot's Myspace page where she posts some of her thoughts on disability and why she views the word as self demoting. In writing about her life situation, Gardot simply says, "I am able to do some things and unable to do others, that's all." Gardot's ability to work through while drawing from the darkest tragedies of life are a testament to who she is as a determined soldier of soul.

+Gavin Reid