If Melody Gardot's 2009 sophomore effort, My One and Only Thrill, sustained the sultry, atmospheric vibe of her critically acclaimed 2006 debut, her 2012 follow-up, The Absence, is a bit of a creative departure for the vocalist.
Apparently inspired by her world travels, and specifically by a trip that brought her to the desert around the city of Marrakech, the album moves her away from smoky, small-group jazz and into a bright, if still bedroom-eyed, rhythmically exotic sound.
Produced by guitarist/composer Heitor Pereira, the album is a lush, somewhat orchestral album that finds Gardot delving into various Brazilian, Spanish, and African-influenced sounds -- including bits of samba, tango, bossa nova, and calypso -- that evince her global journey.
However, rather than simply making a standards album, Gardot continues her all-original approach, offering up new literate and passionately delivered compositions that bring to mind the work of such similarly inclined artists as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Paul Simon, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and others.
Although there are a few name musicians who help add spice to Gardot's musical caravan here, including percussionist Paulinho Da Costa, drummer Peter Erskine, and bassist John Leftwich, primarily it is still Gardot's burnished and yearning vocal style that takes the helm on these tracks.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mira | Melody Gardot | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Amalia | Melody Gardot | Play | 03:00 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | So Long | Melody Gardot | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | So We Meet Again My Heartache | Melody Gardot | Play | 04:24 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Lisboa | Melody Gardot | Play | 05:25 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Impossible Love | Melody Gardot | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | If I Tell You I Love You | Melody Gardot | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Goodbye | Melody Gardot | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Se Voce Me Ama | Melody Gardot | Play | 04:52 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | My Heart Won't Have It Any Other Way | Melody Gardot | Play | 02:35 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | Iemanja | Melody Gardot | Play | 18:13 | 41 MB | 0 MB |
| 57 mins | 131 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Abondolo | Bass |
| 2 | Alfie Silas-Durio | Vocals (Background) |
| 3 | Christopher Appleton | Hair Stylist |
| 4 | Paco Arroyo | Percussion |
| 5 | Yolanda Arroyo | Percussion |
| 6 | Glenn Barratt | Assistant Engineer, Engineer |
| 7 | Antonio "Moogie" Canazio | Engineer, Mixing |
| 8 | Bill Cantos | Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Roque Cozzette | Make-Up |
| 10 | Paulinho Da Costa | Percussion |
| 11 | Brian Dembrow | Viola |
| 12 | Andrew Duckles | Viola |
| 13 | Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick | Cello |
| 14 | Bruce Dukov | Violin |
| 15 | Stephen Erdody | Cello |
| 16 | Peter Erskine | Drums |
| 17 | Sam Feldman | Management |
| 18 | Fabrizio Ferri | Photography |
| 19 | Marlow Fisher | Viola |
| 20 | Ramon Flores | Trumpet |
| 21 | Matthew Funes | Viola |
| 22 | Melody Gardot | Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 23 | Steve Genewick | Assistant |
| 24 | Julie Gigante | Violin |
| 25 | Nick Glennie-Smith | Conductor |
| 26 | Larry Goldings | Melodica, Piano |
| 27 | Keith Greene | Viola |
| 28 | Bernie Grundman | Mastering |
| 29 | Tamara Hatwan | Violin |
| 30 | Dan Higgins | Clarinet, Clarinet (Bass), Flute, Flute (Alto) |
| 31 | Paula Hochhalter | Cello |
| 32 | Dennis Karmazyn | Cello |
| 33 | Roland Kato | Viola |
| 34 | Jim Keltner | Drums |
| 35 | Ron Kerber | Clarinet |
| 36 | Harry Kim | Trumpet |
| 37 | Christian Kollgaard | Bass |
| 38 | Armen Ksajikan | Cello |
| 39 | John Leftwich | Bass |
| 40 | Mary Levitan | Management |
| 41 | Phillip Levy | Violin |
| 42 | Jovite De Leymarie | Artwork, Design |
| 43 | Andrew Lippman | Trombone |
| 44 | Steve Macklam | Management |
| 45 | Bill Maxwell | Vocals (Background) |
| 46 | Darrin McCann | Viola |
| 47 | Ladd McIntosh | Orchestration |
| 48 | Serena McKinney | Violin |
| 49 | Jeremy Miller | Assistant Engineer |
| 50 | Helen Nightengale | Violin |
| 51 | Vanessa Par | Assistant Engineer |
| 52 | Alyssa Park | Violin |
| 53 | Jessica Pearlman | Oboe |
| 54 | Heitor Pereira | Arranger, Guitar, Percussion, Piano, Producer, Vocals |
| 55 | Katia Popov | Violin |
| 56 | Louis Price | Vocals (Background) |
| 57 | Phil Roy | Vocals (Background) |
| 58 | Marco Ruiz | Assistant |
| 59 | Al Schmitt | Mixing |
| 60 | Andrew Shulman | Cello |
| 61 | Ivy Skoff | Contractor |
| 62 | Scott Smith | Assistant Engineer |
| 63 | Christina Soule | Cello |
| 64 | Tereza Stanislav | Violin |
| 65 | Lisa M. Sutton | Violin |
| 66 | Sarah Thornblade | Violin |
| 67 | Martin Tillman | Cello |
| 68 | Coco Trivisonno | Bandoneon |
| 69 | Cecilia Tsan | Cello |
| 70 | Jo Ann Turovsky | Harp |
| 71 | Michael Valerio | Bass |
| 72 | Tata Vega | Vocals (Background) |
| 73 | Dave Walther | Viola |
| 74 | Doug Webb | Slide Saxophone |
| 75 | Booker White | Copyist |
| 76 | Roger Wilkie | Violin |
| 77 | Ali Witherspoon | Vocals (Background) |
| 78 | Sebastian Zuleta | Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |