Melody Gardot continues her path as a voice and presentation to be reckoned with on this latest disc. This time around, she’s not as “jazzy” as much as “soulful” letting famed producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, etc) take the helm and bring in some of LA’s finest in Larry Goldings/key, Vinnie Calaiuta/g, Dean Parks/g a horn section arranged and conducted by Jerry Hey that includes Andy Martin and even some strings delivered by Clement Ducol.
The album comes off as a wholistic unit, mixing STAX-flavored horns on “It Gonna Come” and “Same to You” with gospel sounding choir and verve on “Preacherman” while “Morning Sun” feels like a low key Sunday homily. The sonic moods get Hound of Baskervilles foggy on “If Ever I Recall Your Face” and the confessional “Don’t Talk.” Through it all, Gardot’s lyrics and overall message is one of trying to face the challenges of this confused and rudderless world. As far as her delivery, whether in a Spartan or cluttered atmosphere, her dry ice of a voice wafts through the hot lava of instrumentation, proving, as her palpable inspiration from another era Peggy Lee, that you can get a lot more attention from whispering than by shouting. And like Ms. Lee, Gardot’s soulful and well tempo-ed restraint on every tune gives her more of a black soul singer, and would be a stumper on a Blindfold Test. The mix of the instrumental heat and frigid coolness is one that works well to Ms. Gardot and is to savor.
She’ll be hitting the West Coast in the fall, so keep an eye out for the local delivery of this session
Verve Records