Ravinia 2023 Issue 1

FRANCO TETTAMANTI musicians, instruments, and arrange- ments. Indeed, 2020’s Sunset in the Blue is diametrically different, both in sound and circumstance: It came together during the dark early days of the pandemic. Gardot had been set to record Sunset with Britain’s famed Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in spring 2020—until everything came to a sudden halt. Months later, she became part of Abbey Road’s first post-lock- down studio session, which combined social-distancing regulations for the orchestra in London while Gardot joined remotely from Paris and her producer from LA. That wasn’t the extent of the international collaboration: Aiming to assist other pandemic-unemployed artists with a paying gig, she invited musicians from around the globe— the United States, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Norway and more— to contribute in recording the lush single “From Paris with Love.” The album ends on a surprising, Span- ish-guitar inflected note with “Little Something,” a duet with Sting. Flash forward two years, and it’s impossible not to immediately notice a sonic shift in Entre eux deux . In songs that range from the flirta- tious “À la Tour Eiffel” to the wistful “Perhaps You’ll Wonder Why” to the frankly bleak “Ode to Every Man,” Gardot pairs with Powell for a melod- ic but minimalist approach: just piano and vocals. The two musicians had met some years before, when Powell attended one of Gardot’s concerts in Paris. They hit it off immediately, and he played piano on Sunset . She says they’ve always felt a natural musical chem- istry, a connection she describes as “telepathic.” After being forced into remote recording for that previous album, it’s easy to imagine the allure of Gardot and Powell’s divergent approach to this project. They chose to write and record on a frenetic schedule, looking for the lightning-in-a-bottle payoff that comes from focused artistic flow. “We recorded the album in Paris, in my old studio workspace, essentially living together for two weeks,” she says. “I’d never done that before, but it proved to be fruitful. Looking back, it was the only place where we could immerse ourselves fully in the music-making process. “I wanted this record to be 50/50 in terms of our approach to music,” she continues, “so we really did share all our ideas from the start. One day, Philippe presented me a melody for consideration. I listened, and once he finished playing, I stepped out to take a walk. On my way back, I called him, saying, ‘I got it,’ and we proceeded to record the demo. The whole song happened in about 15 minutes.” And just like that, they created “This Foolish Heart Could Love You,” which became the lead track. Now, a year after its release, she’s touring North America—and who can say what comes next? “I’m current- ly based in my suitcases,” she notes with a chuckle. “I’ve always loved the phrase, ‘Home is where you hang your hat.’ There’s places to do this every- where in the world. It’s not been so important to me to lay down roots as much as it is to spread my wings.” Native Chicagoan Web Behrens has spent most of his journalism career covering arts and culture. His work has appeared in the pages of the Chicago Tribune , Time Out Chicago , Crain’s Chicago Business , and The Advocate and Chicago magazines. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 6 – JULY 2, 2023 90