Singer Melody Gardot Announces Highly Anticipated U.S. Concert Tour with Philadelphia Performance, September 29
JULY 30, 2012
Gardot to Perform in Philadelphia at the Merriam Theater
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts presents in association with Larry Magid Entertainment Group
Tickets on Sale Friday, August 3 at 10 a.m.
Philadelphia native and acclaimed singer Melody Gardot returns to Philadelphia to make her debut at the Merriam Theater on Saturday, September 29 at 8 p.m. with a performance of works from her third album release, The Absence.
Tickets go on sale Friday, August 3 at 10 a.m. at kimmelcenter.org, 215-893-1999, or at the Kimmel Center Box Office located on Broad and Spruce streets, Philadelphia, Pa. (open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., later on performance evenings). Tickets are available for $37 - $47, plus applicable service charges.
Melody Gardot’s newly released third album The Absence debuted at No. 3 in France, No. 1 on the Billboard Jazz Charts as well as No. 1 on iTunes Jazz Charts around the globe. The album also reached Top 10 in several countries including Germany and Japan.
Gardot who has just completed a highly successful European tour also recently performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival to rave reviews including the Montreal Gazette which described her show as “a spellbinding festival set for a bonafide star…From the moment she walked on stage…Gardot absolutely radiated in front of the rapturous crowd…She seemed to have every single listener under her spell... She sounded every bit the star.”
The Absence was inspired by the culture that the singer-songwriter soaked up during travels to Portugal and Brazil. The songs remind her listeners that while often compared to such musical icons as Nina Simone, Judy Garland, Miles Davis, Edith Piaf, Astrud Gilberto, Stan Getz and others, Melody Gardot is a unique talent with a beautiful voice and a well-earned reputation as one of the great live performers touring today.
Born in New Jersey in 1985, Gardot began taking music lessons at age nine, and was playing piano in local lounges by the time she was 16, performing works ranging from standards from the Mamas and Papas to Duke Ellington and modern groups such as Radiohead. After being hit by a car and severely injured while studying fashion at the Community College of Philadelphia, music became a key therapeutic element in her lengthy recovery process. Hospitalized for months with multiple head injuries and pelvic fractures, Gardot began to write and record songs which eventually became the self-released EP, Some Lessons: The Bedroom Sessions in 2005.
Gardot's first full-length album Worrisome Heart, released by Verve Records in 2008, displayed her instinctive gift for transforming the traditions of jazz and blues with her own personal touch. On My One and Only Thrill, Gardot mixes Latin rhythms, finger-snapping blues and smoldering torch songs, reminiscent of greats like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone. In March 2009, Gardot released Live from SoHo exclusively on iTunes. The live EP features six tracks that were recorded in New York City at the Apple Store in SoHo.
Her last performance at the Kimmel Center was sold out, part of a 2009-10 international tour which included performances at New York's Highline Ballroom, the San Francisco Jazz Festival and in Brussels, and a sold-out show at Australia's Sydney Opera House, among other countries.
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