Melody Gardot's voice wanders between vulnerability and seductiveness, though she never really takes side. In her third studio album, The Absence, which will be released in China soon, the Grammy-nominated American jazz singer makes the best use of her voice and immersed in the cultures of Portugal, Argentina and Brazil, where she visited in a protracted journey of musical discovery.

The 27-year-old also lends her voice to Edith Piaf's iconic La Vie en Rose, a song that holds a special place in her mind and imagination. It's an inspiring song, just like her connection with her guitar, when Gardot, a fashion student in Philadelphia then, turned to music as therapy as she recovered from a traffic accident that damaged her brain and fractured her pelvis and spine.

- Chen Nan