Just got the latest Melody Gardot CD, “My One and Only Thrill.” She’s one of those smokey-sounding women songsters that seem to have a resurgence lately–Madeleine Peyroux, Amy Winehouse, etc.
Not only do I like her music, but I’m also impressed with her disability identity. On her MySpace page she talks about the term disability. She, like many in our community, disavows it–“The very word is self-demoting.” But, by saying anything about disability she outs herself in a way that very, very few contemporary artists do.
Interestingly, her MySpace page has only one picture of herself using her cane. Most impressive is the booklet that comes with the CD has two photos of her and her cane, Citizen Kane.