Madeleine Peyroux

Jazz Madeleine Peyroux Bare Bones Rounder ESSENTIAL "Instead" Stylistically, "Bare Bones" is more of the same from Madeleine Peyroux. But who complains about more of the same when it's another dish of hot fudge sundae or another night in Paris? What's different on this, Peyroux's fourth album, is that all of the songs are originals. As its title suggests, this is a laid-back, stripped-down affair. The lyrics, too, suggest that we slow down, decide to be happy, and enjoy life.

For "Standing on the Rooftop," a graceful new album that nudges her aesthetic into a more organic territory, Madeleine Peyroux enlisted a cast of characters. How else to describe working with guitarist Marc Ribot, bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, violinist Jenny Scheinman, drummer Charley Drayton, and New Orleans icon Allen Toussaint? "All of these musicians are definitely more than musicians, more than session players. They're individuals in their own rights in so many ways," says Peyroux.

For "Standing on the Rooftop," a graceful new album that nudges her aesthetic into a more organic territory, Madeleine Peyroux enlisted a cast of characters. How else to describe working with guitarist Marc Ribot, bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, violinist Jenny Scheinman, drummer Charley Drayton, and New Orleans icon Allen Toussaint? "All of these musicians are definitely more than musicians, more than session players. They're individuals in their own rights in so many ways," says Peyroux.

Jazz Kat Edmonson Take to the Sky Convivium ESSENTIAL "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" Kat Edmonson may be a young jazz singer, but she is already a confident interpreter of song. Her debut album, "Take to the Sky," brims with originality. But first her pipes. It is tempting to compare her to other young chanteuses like Madeleine Peyroux, but Edmonson, who lives in Austin, Texas, sounds more like Blossom Dearie to these ears. Though her voice isn't as high and chirpy as Dearie's, the intonations and enunciations are remarkably similiar.

Jazz Kat Edmonson Take to the Sky Convivium ESSENTIAL "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" Kat Edmonson may be a young jazz singer, but she is already a confident interpreter of song. Her debut album, "Take to the Sky," brims with originality. But first her pipes. It is tempting to compare her to other young chanteuses like Madeleine Peyroux, but Edmonson, who lives in Austin, Texas, sounds more like Blossom Dearie to these ears. Though her voice isn't as high and chirpy as Dearie's, the intonations and enunciations are remarkably similiar.

Madeleine Peyroux showcased the supremacy of a powerful song -- and the remarkable instrument the human voice can be -- at the Berklee Performance Center Tuesday night. She may be young, but her smoky vocals bear an uncanny resemblance to the late Billie Holiday's. Her wise, emotionally resonant renditions of blues and country standards manage to evoke the Parisian cafes in which Peyroux came of age as a performer, while showcasing her passion for the improvisational spirit of jazz.

"I'm glad you all made it into the ho -tel," the jazzy chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux remarked to a packed Regattabar audience Thursday night, her earthy accent favoring her Georgia roots over her Paris upbringing. "Music happens in the strangest places. " Perhaps. But with cleaner sound, reduced bar clatter, and -- finally -- concert lights worthy of the name, the Charles Hotel nightspot is at least a tad less strange than in the past. It proved a fine venue for Peyroux's vocal stylings, which at their best distilled a productive blend of lounge sensibilities and...

Oct. 7 Madeleine Peyroux at Berklee Performance Center. www.livenation.com Oct. 9 Hanson at House of Blues. www.livenation.com Oct. 12 The Lemonheads at the Paradise Rock Club. www.livenation.com Oct. 13 Yo-Yo Ma (pictured) Joins the BSO and Guest Conductor Juanjo Mena at Symphony Hall through Oct. 18. www.bso.org Oct. 14 Oberon and the Gold Dust Orphans present Richard O'Brien's "The Rocky Horror Show" opening at Oberon in Cambridge. www.cluboberon.com Oct. 15 "Weird Al" Yankovic at the Orpheum Theatre.

Jazz Melody Gardot My One and Only Thril VERVE ESSENTIAL "My One and Only Thrill" Melody Gardot's 2008 debut was swell: an understated collection of savvy jazz-pop packed with Norah Jones-caliber crossover appeal. But the follow-up is a stunner, the work of an artist who over the course of a couple of years has made great leaps as a composer and a lyricist. Gardot is a singer-songwriter who works in the jazz idiom, but where "Worrisome Heart" was an alluring fusion of folk, blues, pop, and jazz, the new album falls firmly into the latter camp.

Sometime just after the midpoint of Madeleine Peyroux’s performance Sunday at the Berklee Performance Center, something strange happened: People started leaving. It wasn’t a mass exodus, probably just a dozen or so, but they got out of their seats a few at a time and didn’t return. Two or three times as many did the same before the encore. Maybe they simply decided that Peyroux wasn’t worth hearing anymore. That wasn’t the majority opinion - the remaining audience’s applause was enthusiastic - but there were times when it wasn’t hard to sympathize.

Jazz Madeleine Peyroux Bare Bones Rounder ESSENTIAL "Instead" Stylistically, "Bare Bones" is more of the same from Madeleine Peyroux. But who complains about more of the same when it's another dish of hot fudge sundae or another night in Paris? What's different on this, Peyroux's fourth album, is that all of the songs are originals. As its title suggests, this is a laid-back, stripped-down affair. The lyrics, too, suggest that we slow down, decide to be happy, and enjoy life.

Madeleine Peyroux showcased the supremacy of a powerful song -- and the remarkable instrument the human voice can be -- at the Berklee Performance Center Tuesday night. She may be young, but her smoky vocals bear an uncanny resemblance to the late Billie Holiday's. Her wise, emotionally resonant renditions of blues and country standards manage to evoke the Parisian cafes in which Peyroux came of age as a performer, while showcasing her passion for the improvisational spirit of jazz.

"I'm glad you all made it into the ho -tel," the jazzy chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux remarked to a packed Regattabar audience Thursday night, her earthy accent favoring her Georgia roots over her Paris upbringing. "Music happens in the strangest places. " Perhaps. But with cleaner sound, reduced bar clatter, and -- finally -- concert lights worthy of the name, the Charles Hotel nightspot is at least a tad less strange than in the past. It proved a fine venue for Peyroux's vocal stylings, which at their best distilled a productive blend of lounge sensibilities and...

Thursday, April 19, is the 110th day of 2012. There are 256 days left in the year. Today's birthdays: Actor Hugh O'Brian is 87. Actress Elinor Donahue is 75. Rock musician Alan Price (the Animals) is 70. Actor Tim Curry is 66. Pop singer Mark ‘‘Flo" Volman (the Turtles; Flo and Eddie) is 65. Actor Tony Plana ("Ugly Betty") is 60. Former tennis player Sue Barker is 56. Former race car driver Al Unser Jr. is 50. Recording executive Suge Knight is 47. Singer-songwriter Dar Williams is 45. Actress Ashley Judd is 44. Singer Bekka Bramlett is 44. Latin pop singer Luis Miguel is 42. Actress Jennifer Esposito is 40....

Kat Edmonson came out of nowhere in 2009 and released one of that year's best albums, "Take to the Sky," a delicious collection of rearranged standards and pop songs turned into jazz. Most remarkable was that the little-known Texan with the stunningly sweet voice had never had any training. The buzz over that album and her performance at the 2009 Tanglewood Jazz Festival led to a coveted slot at George Wein's New York Jazz Festival. And when Edmonson began raising money to record her sophomore album, she attracted some major attention.