Diana Krall - I've Got a Crush on You...
Apr 10 '07 (Updated Apr 19 '07)
The Bottom Line The world (and my wife) are going to have to pardon my mush, 'cause baby, I've got a crush on you...
Those of you following my haphazard review output during the past year are aware that I've been spending a lot of my time listening to female artists, some women I'd never heard of, discs rescued from the dollar bin at my local trading post. Others I knew merely by name, some by reputation, and very few through actual listening experiences. It's finally time to devote some time to reviewing several works by one of these ladies, one whose music I've grown to love these past months – jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall.
A quick glance back at the bottom line for this piece gives away the fact that I really, really enjoy her music, and yes, I will readily admit that she's easy on the eyes too. But it's how easy she is on the ears that appeals to me –the way she pounds out a dissonant chord progression, caresses a flowing melodic solo, or brings a sassy curve of her own to a familiar jazz standard – all these things appeal to my ever-growing appreciation for jazz in general, but also add to the allure of Miss Krall's singular style.
A Brief Biography of Diana Krall
Diana Krall is a native of Canada, born in 1964, the daughter of a stride pianist who saw to it that she received training at the instrument early on. Educated as a child in classical music, continuing on with jazz studies as a teenager, and then, at age seventeen, winning a scholarship from the Vancouver International Jazz Festival to the prestigious Berklee School of Music, Krall was a prodigy with great promise.
Ray Brown (bassist for the Oscar Peterson Trio, husband to Ella Fitzgerald) discovered Diana in Canada, where she was singing and playing jazz for local venues, and he encouraged her to move to Los Angeles. Taking Brown's advice, she began studying with jazz piano legend Jimmy Rowles. A few years later, Krall moved on to New York City, and in 1992, she recorded her first album, Stepping Out, with two of modern jazz's finest musicians – bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton, both of whom would feature strongly in Diana's later albums.
Throughout the nineties, Krall compiled an increasingly impressive jazz repertoire, and the albums she recorded during the decade showcase her versatility and complete command of her voice and the piano. 1997 to 1999 were Krall's breakout years, when the rest of the world discovered her music through the jazz/pop crossover hit albums Love Scenes and When I Look in Your Eyes (the former of which showed a romantic side hinted at in earlier albums, the latter of which earned Krall a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year, and the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Album).
2001 proved to be a year of continued commercial success for Krall with The Look of Love, an album that didn't wow some critics but which went quintuple platinum in her native Canada, earning her three Juno awards for Artist, Album and Vocal Jazz Album of 2002. In December 2003, Krall married Elvis Costello, and in 2004, collaborated with him to write and record some original music, released that year in The Girl in the Other Room. 2006 brought another collaboration with Costello, twin sons Dexter and Harley, as well as the release of her most recent album From This Moment On.
The Diana Krall Series
So, where does this leave you now? I'm planning on some persistence, hoping to break down your resistance, ready to take (most of) you on a journey of jazz discovery. Jazz is an art form that I've always enjoyed, but have really come to love only in the past several years.
Now that you've learned something of the history of Diana Krall, it's time to begin learning something of her music, her style, and the reasons you need to begin listening to her as soon as possible.
Albums by Diana Krall that I'm planning to review in the coming days:
Stepping Out
Only Trust Your Heart
Love Scenes
The Look of Love
The Girl in the Other Room
From This Moment On
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Member: Andrew
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