Personnel: Melody Gardot (vocals, guitar, piano).

Audio Mixers: Al Schmitt; Steve Genewick.

Although the plaudits for Melody Gardot's debut album, WORRISOME HEART, were entirely justified, it sometimes seemed as if the young singer-songwriter's compelling personal story--hit by a car and severely injured at the age of 19, the aspiring fashion designer began playing piano and writing songs as part of her physical therapy--overshadowed her music. Gardot's second album, MY ONE AND ONLY THRILL, dispells that sense entirely: this gorgeous collection of lavishly orchestrated jazz-pop ballads is the work of a genuinely talented singer-songwriter. Gardot's melodic sense is greatly matured: opening track "Baby I'm A Fool" and "Lover Undercover" have the feel of new standards in the making. Similarly, she's a more expressive and self-assured singer, with a canny sense of timing and a sultry lower register that's particularly suited to a Julie London-style kittenish purr, as on "Our Love Is Easy." MY ONE AND ONLY THRILL is one of 2009's best jazz vocal releases.

JazzTimes (p.102) - "There's a film noir quality to Melody Gardot's latest....Sultry, mysterious, with a subtle touch of disdain built on a solid foundation of self-assurance."

Q (Magazine) (p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "With a warm voice and a sensitive way with a song, Phildelphia's Gardot mixes jazz and R&B with elegant string arrangements and acoustic guitar to beguiling, small-hours effect."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.103) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Gardot's torch ballads smoulder intensely....'Our Love Is Easy,' 'Deep Within The Corners Of My Mind' and the title track are extraordinary performances..."

Record Collector (magazine) (p.92) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[The album] represents a quantum leap forward both in terms of maturity and quality of her performances....[With] shimmering orchestral arrangements from Vince Mendoza..."