Melody Gardot – Music as Medicine
Injuries from a hit and run jeep driver left 18 year old Melody Gardot with ultra sensitivity to light, severe tinnitus and dependence on a walking stick. Six years later she is a rising star in the Jazz world. Keen to see the face behind her angels voice I caught the train to her recent show in Cologne.
Unfortunately there are no photos to this review. Not through lack of effort on my part I should add. I’d very much wanted to photograph Melody Gardot, I sensed a character that would be wonderful to capture but got nowhere with my applications. I even contacted Melody herself via Twitter who could only suggest I bring my camera and see what happens. In fact what happened was that both camera and coat had to be left at the wardrobe (2 euros an item!) As it turned out it was so dark onstage I would have needed a tripod anyway…
The stage in Gurzenich was sparsely lit and when Melody Gardot stepped onto it only a weak spotlight followed her rather frail looking figure across to her piano, the brightest spot glinting from her silver topped walking stick (Harvey Wallbanger as she calls it, due to it’s habit of falling over when unattended).
We had, with varying levels of patience, sat patiently sat through a half hour of quiet jazz on the tannoy which led to some slow handclapping – but now it made sense. As the first sad notes to ‘The Rain’ echoed out it was clear that the earlier music had been a deliberate. A way of calming us in advance of the sensitive 90+ minutes that followed.
For much of the show Charles Staab sounded more like a road sweeper than a drummer His soft rustling runs echoing a broom clearing the Autumn leavessuited the mood perfectly. Ken Pendergrast was maybe a little too understated on stand-up bass (or was maybe a victim of the otherwise perfect sound mix). Irwin Hall, a very recent addition, was undoubted star of the band though with evocative sax and flute solos, not to mention playing two saxes at once – the jazz equivalent of Townsend’s windmill guitar or Jimmy Page’s violin bow solos it might be but even jazz needs it’s visual tricks and Hall’s emotion-riven soloing was more than just eye candy.
These guys could obviously improvise all night. Such jazz not being my thing I’m glad Melody’s songs are there to give them boundaries. For a moment I’m thinking that I could just as easily (and more cheaply) be listening to the CD’s with their lush orchestration and perfect sound balance. Then Melody begins with foot stomps and finger clicks as with ‘Sweet memory’. It’s bluesy in it’s simplicity and suddenly I’m glad she’s here live onstage. The same is true when she takes her guitar and has the audience singing along – a welcome relief from the melancholy ballads.
Anyone who’s looked at Gardot’s blogs on MySpace will also know she is an intelligent and articulate writer so it’s no surprise she also communicates easily between songs: turning technical problems into witty comments as when her mike kept changing volume and storytelling as with her preamble before a haunting rendition to close the show of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ – “The only video my Grandmother ever owned. I had to watch it every day”. It wasn’t in vain though. Like Dorothy’s friends, Melody Gardot has learned through adversity to be thankful for the gifts she has – and I’m thankful that she shares them with us every time she sings.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Jazz Connection
Free Jazz is all around in Bonn, Or so it seems these days. The Rheinaue Season is well underway and the Sommergarten Sunday shows in Museumsplatz are also a regular (fortnightly) attraction. In the end what to see or not to see depends very much on the weather. Friday threatened rain so I headed to Sundays show next to the KAH in Museumsplatz. You’ve guessed it… the rain arrived on Sunday.
The musicians from Jazz Connection though were so nimble on their feet they could easily have dodged between the raindrops.
Jazz on the Roof wasn’t, as it happens threats of a downpour meant the show was moved and the General Anzeiger ‘tent’ pitched up in front of the rather grander ‘tent’ that is the Museumsplatz Stage. Actually this turned out to be a good thing because Jazz Connection like to ‘roam around’ during their sets. During any given number a sax player or trombonist is likely to ‘take off’ for a walk round the audience, instrument in hand.
synchronised 'Blowing' from the Band
For you non-Jazz buffs out there a bit of detail and classification: Jazz Connection hail from Breda in Holland and play under the ‘sub-section’ of Jump Jive. It’s a title I’m familiar with through an excellent Joe Jackson record from way back that centred around the Music of Cab Calloway and Louis Jordan who along with Ellington and Basie was one of the prime movers of Jazz and Swing in the 1940′s. Jordan has been dubbed the King of Rythm & Blues which is maybe why I like his Jump Jazz style so much and why I also enjoy the music of Jazz Connection.
It’s an energetic style which is a refreshing alternative to the aging face of jazz that tends to dominate the beer gardens these days. In keeping with this the band itself is comparatively young too – with only trumpet player Jurgen Feskens sporting a full head of white hair (okay, trombonist Peter VanSteen has no hair at all so we’re not talking teenagers here, but young at heart and fit they all are).
There is of course a large helping of Jordan classics – ‘Jack, You dead’, a surprisingly low key version of ‘Is you is, or Is You aint my Baby?’ and of course a storming version of the Jordan classic ‘Caldonia’. Quirky songs like ‘Nosey Joe’ and ‘Feets too Big’, classics like ‘When You’re Smiling’ and ‘Just a Gigolo’ and even a surprise offering of Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’ – well maybe not such a surprise since they played a set of Morrison numbers here two years ago, the project ‘A Morisson Feeling’, is now available as a (very enjoyable) CD in it’s own right.
Taking it to the People - Sax player Rob Henneveld
The band could give The Jackson Five a run for their money where synchronised instrument playing/dancing is concerned. One trombone going left as the trumpet goes right and hell would break loose. It’s a dangerous life playing Jump Jazz for this band! Everything though seems, as always when it’s done well, effortless and by the shows end I’m thinking this is one of the best acts I’ve seen at a Sommergarten show – and I’ve seen plenty. If they come down your way don’t miss Jazz Connection. And if you don’t start tapping at least one foot after the first song then – ‘Jack, you dead!’
Popularity: 28% [?]
