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Jazz legend Charlie Parker once said "Master your instrument, master the music, and then forget all that shit you just learned and just play" On Live in Paris Diana Krall does just that her playing is carefree but tight and her voice joyful and sultry. The album kicks off appropriately with Peggy Lee's 'I Love Being Here With You" It's a reminder of why Krall has been compared to the late singer. She manipulates Jazz vocal phrasing much like Lee did in her time inflecting differently on a line just to tell the tale her way. It's one of the reasons Diana Krall can sing the standards and almost make it seem like she wrote them giving the tunes a new shine. Her take on the Bacharach/David classic 'The Love Of Love' is a great example on first listen it's easy to think the coolness of the the track is simply conveyed through slick production - sure that helps but listen to the the vulnerability in her voice, how she almost talks the words. Her strength is not in her range but her understanding and interpretation. Having said that it did take a few listens to warm up to her take of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You" again Krall's phrasing stretched the classic but Mitchell's a hard act to follow especially with this raw hurtin' tune. The track is also representative of Joni Mitchell at her prime and that's a steep mountain to tackle. Another interesting choice is Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" on print this might sound like another bad idea but Krall pulls it off - the production is simpler than the original and trademark Sax solo is brought up a notch by Michael Brecker. As great as her backup band is on this superb live album it's Krall that really hypnotizes the audience on this one. - by John Beaudin
Diana Krall-The
Look Of Love It's easy to understand why some
just don't get Diana
Krall. She's
like a lover who fails the checklist test but quickly becomes
something you can't live without. Here's a lady without a multi-octave
range and though she knows her way around the ivories is usually
drowned out by orchestration but time and again releases albums
that lead her Jazz genre. Krall is an artist who's strength shines
on a whole album not a particular song and on the whole package
not just her voice or piano chops. When I first heard her debut
album in 1992 I thought 'maybe in a few years she'll knock my
socks off' only to be surprised on phoning a radio station to
find out the singer I was grooving to was in fact Diana
Krall and worse
the same debut disc that originally didn't impress me. So I warn
you she grows on you and fast. This new CD is much smoother and
even more intimate than her groundbreaking 'When I Look In Your
Eyes' from 1999. Opening with Gershwin's S'Wonderful is never
a bad idea featuring Brazil's Dori Caymmi on guitar and layered
to symphonic perfection by the Los Angeles Session Orchestra.
The London Symphony takes over on the timeless 'Love Letters'
a subtle masterpiece in the hands of producer Tommy Lipuma who
worked on her last one and produced some big albums for George
Benson in the
70's. Krall stretches with Latin flavour on Consuelo Velasquez
Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Much) a romantic ballad sung in Spanish.
Krall seems to own Hoagy Carmichael's 'I Get Along Without You
Very Well' adding subtle passion to a already melancholy lyric
about turning a corner and being reminded once again how much
you miss the one that got away. Unlike her last album this one
features only very slow ballads. How Krall can make releasing
a Jazz standards Cd an event is pretty amazing in itself considering
this is not exactly re-inventing the wheel for Jazz fans, it's
been done too many times but this local phenomenon proves it's
all in the execution. If your Cd collection is lacking Some Diana
Krall this new
one is a great place to start. By
John Beaudin |
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