Melanie Marod
Assured and clear-voiced with an original style, Melanie has become an integral part of The Manhattan music scene. She has charmed audiences at Birdland, Blue Note, and City Winery. During her residency at the prestigious Oak Room in The Plaza Hotel, she received a huge congratulatory hug from the legendary singer and Tony award-winner, Diahann Carroll. Melanie's original song can be heard in the movie "Wetlands" with Heather Graham. Her voice can also be heard in the recent Acura Christmas commercial and on The God's Behaving Badly soundtrack, while also appearing as a wedding singer in the movie starring Christopher Walken and Sharon Stone. About her Birdland performance in NYC, Schaen Fox, contributor for The Journal of The New Jersey Jazz Society, said, “The set ended too quickly, but it did give Melanie ample time to demonstrate her considerable songwriting and singing skills. She is a talent well worth checking out."
Videos
“She has truly mastered the knack of writing catchy and memorable songs that suit her voice superbly, in addition to considerable skills at interpreting standards.” Will Friedwald, music critic, New York Times
“Excellent Singer” Chris Meyer, Huffington Post
“Congratulations on your performance- you have a beautiful voice, and I love your music.” Diahann Carroll
"Super Bowl Sunday is rarely a good day for live performances, but when Melanie Marod took the stage at Birdland, she was greeted by a young, enthusiastic, and surprisingly large crowd…. The set ended too quickly, but it did give Melanie ample time to demonstrate her considerable songwriting and singing skills. She is a talent well worth checking out." Schaen Fox The Journal of The New Jersey Jazz Society
Photos
Photo credit: Andres X Sebastian
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Bio
Melanie Marod
Vocal
Melanie Marod has traveled the world to pursue a lifelong passion in the musical arts, from performing in Europe to studying opera in Buenos Aires, Argentina (Instituto Universitario Nacional de Arte) and Hillsong College in Sydney, Australia. Born and raised in Western Michigan, she found her love for singing at age Seven. By age ten, she performed in the Musical Sweeny Todd with George Hearn (Tony Award Winner) and Pamela Meyer (Tony Nominee). After graduating Cum Laude from Hope College, this small town girl left for the New York Jazz scene. She thrived at the top Jazz venues (Birdland, The Blue Note, City Winery, and weekly residences at the Oak Room in The Plaza Hotel).
Ms. Marod sang on the soundtrack and appeared as a wedding singer in the movie “God’s Behaving Badly,” directed by Marc Turtletaub and starring Christopher Walken and Sharon Stone. Her original song “Running Back to You” can be heard on the soundtrack and in the film “Wetlands” with Heather Graham. She can most recently be heard singing on The Acura Christmas Commercial for 2021.
Marod collaborated with Chris Wiser to write and produce the EP Stars. Melanie’s Jazz influences combined with Chris’ Rock and Blues background formed a unique and eclectic sound. Laidback, intimate, and joyful with throwback undertones.
Stars was recorded at Downtown Recording Studios in NYC and was mixed and mastered by GRAMMY-nominated Tyler McDiarmid (Gregory Porter, Fred Hersch). An All-Star Band can be heard on this album: Chris Wiser (vocals, guitar), Art Hirahara (keyboard, organ), Sam Bevan (bass, guitar), Brian Fishler (drums), Jim Shaneberger (slide guitar), Mitch Marcus (flute, trombone, trumpet, saxophone), Joe Hettinga (engineer, piano), and Max Lockwood (cello).
Reviews
Super Melanie at Birdland
Review – The Journal of The New Jersey Jazz Society
by: Schaen Fox
When Melanie Marod took the stage at Birdland, she was greeted by a young, enthusiastic and surprisingly large crowd. In her concert, Marod performed nearly all the songs on her 2016 CD I’ll Go Mad, a nice mix of standards (“Smile” and “Candy”) popular songs (“Everybody’s Talkin” and “Spanish Harlem”) as well as her own engaging originals (“Love Ain’t Easy” and “I’ll Go Mad”). She did include one original that did not make the album — “Cry to Me.” I do hope the song will be on her next album, because I’d love to hear it again. Her singing is reminiscent of Stacey Kent’s with soft hints of Lady Day’s phrasing. She concentrated on filling the set with music and some humor such as thanking the crowd for being there rather than watching “some kind of World Series game.” She was ably assisted by Art Hirahara (piano); Elias Bailey (bass); and Alvin Atkinson (drums). While all three had crowd-pleasing solos, Alvin Atkinson got the most applause for a melodious solo, performed in part with one stick and his elbow. The set ended too quickly, but it did give Melanie ample time to demonstrate her considerable song writing and singing skills. She is a talent well worth checking out.”