Melody Gardot has cropped up in many guises. With each album it seems as though she's wearing a different hat. On one infamous album - Live in Europe - she didn't wear even a hat on the cover! It gave a new meaning to the term B-side when referring to an album.
However, no such frivolity here. Recorded at the Abbey Road Studios the techno wiz-kids managed to accommodate the socially distanced RPO in the historic studio. If they'd all arrived on foot by the famous zebra crossing it would have caused a traffic jam! Other musicians were zoomed in from wherever they were quarantined. No names are given but the trumpet on If You Love Me sounds a bit like Chris Botti. There's also an unidentified tenor sax on You Won't Forget Me.
Most of the numbers are laid back, late night, songs of love lost and found and the aptly named Melody's sensuous interpretation sent shivers down my spine - the cover of Live in Europe had the same effect!
It's an album to get lost in, to immerse yourself in fanciful dreams. The two Latin numbers, sung in Portuguese, are brighter, offering a glimpse of sunshine amidst the pale inconstant moon.
Over the years, Ms Gardot may have strayed away from her early jazz roots but with Sunset in the Blue she's almost back in the fold. Maybe not quite jazz but much more than easy listening - I guess you could have said the same about Peggy Lee and Julie London!
Lance
PS: There's reputed to be a duet with Sting - Little Something - but it didn't show on my download!
If You Love Me (not the Edith Piaf song); C'est Magnifique (not the Cole Porter song); Love Song; You Won't Forget Me; Sunset in the Blue; Um Beijo; Ninguém, Ninguém; From Paris With Love; Ave Maria (not Schubert); Moon River; I Fall in Love Too Easily.
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