The Artistry of… series is sponsored by the Alzheimer Society Music Project.

The Artistry of… Melody Gardot

Melody Gardot shies from perfection. That might seem a bold and brazen — and possibly dangerous — statement to make as she is an artist embracing and embraced by a genre that all too often demands notions of perfection from its players. It’s an unnatural demand that sets things up to rob creativity of liberty and horizons.

The experience of art belongs to the observer — from the educated or self-proclaimed aficionado to one seeing or experiencing for a very first time. Experience art at any cost, and then go further and experience it at all cost. Effective words on this come from those on Gardot’s website homepage, where she muses on art and creativity: “Sleep too long and the day is done.”

Melody’s artistry is in her presentation. The expression is exposed, vulnerable, bared and transparent to the depths of heart and soul. Humor, wit, tease, seriousness, sadness and melancholy — these elements all share a tender place in the artistry.