Melody GardotLive in Europe★★★★☆Andy Sheppard QuartetRomaria★★★★☆Well the nude cover shot (tasteful, from the rear) threw me a bit, but inside there’s a fine record. Amid the flurry of photogenic young women signed by the majors after Diana Krall seduced the pop public into buying jazz, Melody Gardot has proved the most enduring and original. These two CDs feature material recorded from 2012 to 2016 by an artist who has always seemed to own the stage. There’s one standard, a delicate samba version of Over the Rainbow, and some self-penned songs that sound like standards: Baby I’m a Fool and My One and Only Thrill among them. Gardot offers a mix of swagger and vulnerability as she moves through blues, chanson…

Source: The Times February 23, 2018 00:00 UTC