'A citizen of the world' - Melody Gardot

Melody Gardot is an American jazz musician, a singer, composer, pianist and a guitarist, who sings in English and French. She calls herself 'a citizen of the world', though. As her mother (a photographer by profession) travelled       a lot, she was mostly brought up by her grandmother, a Polish immigrant. She started learning music when she turned nine, and as a 16 year-old             she already performed in bars in Philadelphia, singing and playing              the piano. In 2003 riding a bicycle, she was knocked down by a car.                             As a result of the accident, she suffered serious head and spinal injuries and her pelvis was broken in two places. 

Gardot was confined to her hospital bed for one year and she had to re-learn

simple everyday activities, such as walking and combing her hair. The most noticable consequence of the accident was the fact that she got hyper-sensitive to light and sound. She is often seen wearing dark sunglasses protecting her eyes. At her doctors' prompting she began her music therapy in the hospital, learning to play the guitar and composing songs. Gardot has already released two albums -
                  'Worrisome Heart' and 'My One and Only Thrill'.                                                                                                         

To my mind, her music is very mature, charming and atmospheric...

Listen to two great songs of Melody Gardot -
"Our love is easy" and "Les etoiles" :

Glossary

composer - kompozytor

citizen - obywatel

to bring up - wychowywać

to knock down - potrącić

spinal - adj.; 'kręgosłupa' (e.g. injury; uraz)

pelvis - miednica

confined to bed - przykuty do łóżka

hyper-sensitive - nadwrażliwy

at sb's prompting - po namowie kogoś

therapy - terapia
worrisome - kłopotliwy
thrill - dreszcz, przyjemność

mature - dojrzały

atmospheric - nastrojowy