Melody Gardot
Célia Kameni / Alfio Origlio
Yessaï & Marc Karapetian x Terri Lyne Carrington

Since her first appearances in 2009, when she was barely 24 years old, Melody Gardot has never stopped reinventing herself and revealing through each new project a new, unseen side to her personality After a return to the soul-rock sources of her hometown of Philadelphia and rhythmic infusions from the various countries she has lived in, Melody Gardot’s music, which is ever more personal, is now a celebration of her special relationship with France. Her new repertoire was conceived and composed in close collaboration with French pianist and composer Philippe Powell (the son of the great Brazilian musician Baden Powell) and mainly comprises original compositions, but it also draws on Chanson Française and Brazilian standards and skilfully deploys a broad palette of moods and poetry. Supported by piano harmonies that naturally tie together the music of Bill Evans, Claude Debussy and bossa-nova, Melody Gardot’s deep and sensual voice brilliantly winds in and around the mysteries of love songs with unstoppable melodies.

This quartet is the result of one of those chance encounters that completely change people’s lives : pianist Alfio Origlio had already collaborated with his generation’s biggest names, from Didier Lockwood to André Ceccarelli, Bobby McFerrin, Michel Legrand, Henri Salvador and Michel Jonasz, but in Célia Kameni, he found a rare pearl. Her unique, misty voice and mesmerizing aura add to her extraordinary stage presence and make her the perfect embodiment, alongside a molten rhythm section, of a repertoire of covers of songs by the biggest names in pop, soul and Chanson Française, from Gregory Porter to Stevie Wonder, U2, Seal and Jeanne Moreau.

Lien-up :

• Célia Kameni (chant)
• Alfio Origlio (piano)
• Marcel Bottaro (contrebasse)
• Zaza Desiderio (batterie)

First spotted as a keyboardist alongside saxophonist Guillaume Perret and as a member of the Onefoot trio, young Franco-Armenian pianist Yessaï Karapetian passed a milestone last season with his début release, revealing him to be a fascinating and sophisticated lyrical leader. Now taking advantage of the Adami Jazz Talents scheme, which allows a young musician to collaborate with an internationally renowned artist of their choice, he has called upon drummer and composer Terri Lyne Carrington, his mentor during his one-year stay at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. In her company, Karapetian does not intend to betray his yearning for syncretic creation, but to reaffirm his art’s truly African American roots and to deploy the many facets of his modern musical universe.

Line-up :

• Yessaï Karapetian (piano)
• Marc Karapetian (basse)
• Terri Lyne Carrington (batterie)