Soul Stream Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 (edited) I watched Diana Krall on T.V. tonight. A 1996 trio gig at the Monreal Jazz Fest. I don't have her records and don't really count myself as someone who would go out of my way to listen to her stuff. That said, whenever I do hear her, I for the most part like it. I like Russell Malone a lot too so that's a big help. However, I have to say I like her piano playing at times. She did some nice George Shearing and Bill Evans-type things on the t.v. show. So... Anyway, maybe it's backwards day today. I dug Krall and hated Herbie.... Pretty lame I know. Edited November 2, 2003 by Soul Stream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 Might as well come out of the closet here...between my wife and I, I think we have all of her CDs in the house. I thought the first three were pretty good, and really like All For You. Love Scenes was a let down, but the wife liked it, and she bought all of them after that, except the live one. On the other hand, I like the live one, except for one song, which I think really sucks: Just the Way You Are which closes out the album. Guess what is the only song my wife likes on that CD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Stream Posted November 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 One thing about Diana Krall, she's surrounded by some of the best musicians, arrangers, engineers and producers available today. So, whether or not you think what's she's trying to do is pedestrian, you have to admit it's done well. I think her "Live In Paris" sounds great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny weir Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 OK - I'll out myself as well. I think her records have basically got progressively worse - or at least more and more insipid. All For You, her third, though is a little gem - and almost makes the after hours classic realm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 (edited) As a piano playing singer (or a singing piano player. more to the point), I can handle her just fine. But as a SINGER, and all that that implies, she's got too many deficiencies in phrasing vis-a-vis lyrics and phonetics for me to enjoy her. Sorry for the dichotomy, but when you set yourself up to be something you're not yet being, them's the breaks. The bar has been set quite high, and walking under it, no matter how glamorously, is not the same as getting over it. On a side note, is it just me, or is there the same "Canadian Female Singer" thing in her voice as I hear is such disparate vocalists as Joni Mitchell and Anne Murray? What would you call that, a "twang" (too strong, and possible derogitory in its implications, but not meant to be)? I hear it unmistakably (and it's not a factor one way or another as to whether I like/dislike any particular singer/performance), just wondering if anybody else does. Edited November 2, 2003 by JSngry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Stream Posted November 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 Yeah, Jim...I have to agree with you. Her actual "singing" is my least favorite part of the package. I like the "concept" and execution of the jazz direction, but her singing seems more of an afterthought for her and is closer to 70's and 80's rock phrasing(Gino Vanelli anyone?) than jazz phrasing and delivery if that makes any sense. Also, I agree the farther she gets away from the jazz trio the worse it gets. And a lot of that has to do with my previous point. Focusing on her singing seems to be hanging your hat on the weakest hook. Although to Joe Blow, her singing and blonde hair is the sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 (edited) On a side note, is it just me, or is there the same "Canadian Female Singer" thing in her voice as I hear is such disparate vocalists as Joni Mitchell and Anne Murray? What would you call that, a "twang" (too strong, and possible derogitory in its implications, but not meant to be)? I hear it unmistakably (and it's not a factor one way or another as to whether I like/dislike any particular singer/performance), just wondering if anybody else does. I certainly hear this 'twang'. You can also pick it up with kd Lang and Allanah Myles. Krall is from Nanaimo, BC and the accent sounds to me pretty standard West-Coast Canadian. Remember passing on a gig she played in Alberta around 1992/93 ish when she was pretty well unknown. It was $5 admission . There were other (great) gigs by Bobby Watson, Mulgrew Miller, Julian Priester, Dave Holland and Sonny Rollins around the same time so I didn't feel to bad about missing it. Edited November 2, 2003 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 I love the Nat Cole disc. Very hard to recall today, when she has become such a huge commercial success (and inevitably a target for jazz 'insiders'), just how fresh that sounded. I bought two more after that but found the strings and emphasis on ballads lost my interest. The crisp 'All for You' suited her better to my mind. I've never had any problem with her voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 I love the Nat Cole disc. Very hard to recall today, when she has become such a huge commercial success (and inevitably a target for jazz 'insiders'), just how fresh that sounded. I bought two more after that but found the strings and emphasis on ballads lost my interest. The crisp 'All for You' suited her better to my mind. I've never had any problem with her voice. This sums it up pretty well... ... though I picked up all her discs... I did like "Love scenes" when it came out, but it has been a long time since I last heard it. Then her first two records (the ones before the Cole) are quite good in my opinion. And I have to confess I do like some things on the one following Love scenes (can't remember the title of that), the first "diva" one. The strings one is pretty lame (though she does a pretty "Cry me a river"), but the live disc is another quite good one. ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parkertown Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 I just recently saw the "Live In Paris" dvd; from the libarary. Wow, this is really good stuff. The sound and video are top notch. I think I liked it from start to finish. I like her singing quite a bit; lots of nuances to her voice and phrasings. Her piano playing seems competent. However, I was blown away by John Clayton & Jeff Hamilton. They make it look so easy. It just falls from their fingers... Anthony Wilson was great too. All of her releases usually have impeccable sound. This Al Schmitt guy sure know his bidness... Some of the naysayers should give this one a look. B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 And I have to confess I do like some things on the one following Love scenes (can't remember the title of that), the first "diva" one. When I Look in Your Eyes. You think I'm kidding about 'em all being here? Although this one, in my wife's bizarre filing system, is next to Englebert Humperdink rather than Lee Konitz... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 I think Jim hits it pretty much on the head, although I'm not quite as hard on Krall's singing. But no matter how I slice it, she still comes up strictly middle of the road in terms of her talent at this point. When you start comparisons with someone like, say, Shirley Horn, it's easy to see this. But she does have potential, no question, to become something great. I think her vocal deficiencies go from forgiveable to "hand me the remote for the disc changer so I can get that horrid sound to stop" when she sings in front of orchestral arrangements. She flat out can't carry it off, in my opinion. So a friend of mine burned the audio track from the live DVD she has out, and I distilled it down further to just the stuff with the small group, which I actually enjoyed more than I expected (she IS making progress, this sounded far superior to me than her earlier small group dates, even the Cole tribute which was solid). Every time the strings started in (and I'm not morally opposed to jazz with strings like some) it sounded mawkish and awful, and it had nothing to do with the arrangements which weren't bad at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 Well hey, a lot of people rag on the thing she did with Claus Ogermann and blame the arrangements. WRONG. Claus Ogermann is one of the more inventive, tasteful, outright MASTERFUL string writers in the history of jazz and pop music. He's not a hack, and he doesn't write sickeningly sweet. Lush, yes, but if the artist he's writing for has the chops and concept to work in his contexts, the results can be stunning. Check out the Sinatra/Jobim side. No, the problem here is with Krall, Listen to how she sings "The Look Of Love", a song whose lyrics rely heavily on sensual vowel-ization. Krall displays no sensitivity to this at all, and just ploughs through the sucker like it's the Notre Dame fight song. The rest of the album offers similar examples of interpretive bedlam. If she's trying to do a Betty Carter and run counter to everybody's expectations, she' going about it all wrong, because, regardless of of how you feel about her reworkings of standards, there's never any doubt that Betty Carter understands the implications of vowels to a sung lyric as well as anybody has. Krall still sounds clueless about this stuff. But it's ok for me, overall, becasue I really think she knows that she's a kid who got lucky with a few breaks and is taking advantage of that. She'd be crazy not too. And I never read an interview with her that sounds like she thinks she knows more than she does, so I've no doubt that she's not complacent about her skills. I'm just not INTERESTED in following her career (at this point, anyway), but it's not like she's evil or anything. Her handlers on the other hand... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 Some months ago, I caught some sort of pop/jazz concert/gala on PBS. Just stumbled onto it, watched a few minutes, and surfed on to something else (which is why I don't recall what it was). The part I saw was the tail end of a Krall trio performance, which was okay... one of those Nat Cole tunes she does which make you want to hear Nat instead; which was followed by Natalie Cole walking out and doing a number with the trio. I think it was "Route 66". Natalie and Diana traded off on the vocals, and I found it very interesting that Diana came very close to rolling over and playing dead. I mean, it was obvious that she was singing the tune in as MUNDANE a fashion as possible, with absolutely no attempt to reach even her own level of flair. Natalie sang very well, perhaps better than I've ever heard from her. Krall was obviously letting Cole have the spotlight, which I thought was cool, but I think she almost went overboard in terms of making herself sound bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 Well hey, a lot of people rag on the thing she did with Claus Ogermann and blame the arrangements. WRONG. Claus Ogermann is one of the more inventive, tasteful, outright MASTERFUL string writers in the history of jazz and pop music. He's not a hack, and he doesn't write sickeningly sweet. Lush, yes, but if the artist he's writing for has the chops and concept to work in his contexts, the results can be stunning. Check out the Sinatra/Jobim side. No, the problem here is with Krall, Yes, my point exactly, although as usual Jim says it with a lot more flair and gets the point across better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neveronfriday Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 Parkertown: However, I was blown away by John Clayton & Jeff Hamilton. They make it look so easy. It just falls from their fingers... Anthony Wilson was great too. Yep, I totally agree. Watching Jeff Hamilton is just pure joy. And if you watch closely, they also have a lot of admiration for Krall - smiling and nodding at a lot of the stuff she plays. I like her CDs, all of them. The newest one btw, as announced for 2004, is supposed to be more soul/pop oriented. Would fit her career so far. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazaro Vega Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 Anyone know where Diana Krall's version of "Autumn Leaves" might be found? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazaro Vega Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 I know there are MP3 versions, but don't know personnnel, when it was recorded, where available...Lil' Help, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 It's not on anything I have; sorry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neveronfriday Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 (edited) Are you sure it's Diana Krall (and not Patricia Barber or Jacinta ... or however you spell her name)? The German (totally complete) site lists all available songs by Diana, and "Autumn Leaves" is not amongst them. It would surprise me (unless it is brandnew) if the webmaster had missed this standard. The site is known for its utter attention to detail. Cheers. http://www.dkrall.de/alben/songographie.htm Note: All the references to this song through Google seem to come from Winamp generated playlists. If one person mislabled the song, millions downloaded it and thought it was D.K. Just a thought. Edited November 3, 2003 by deus62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazaro Vega Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 I'm thinking it's Paula Cole on the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Soundtrack that folks have it confused with, or Diana did the arranging for that. Dont' know...Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacman Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 stuff like this is so subjective, i mean why do i prefer Dexter Gordon to John Coltrane. just to weigh in, i really like her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 Just to weigh in: I like her piano playing, and the trio albums were nice. Her singing doesn't send me though; I don't get much from it, though I have tried, I'm not just dissing her cuz it's cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKE BBB Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 I found "All for you" very refreshing when I first bought it, three or four years ago. Then I picked "Love scenes" (too much on the insipid ballad side) and "When I look in your eyes" (didn´t like the orchestral arrangements). And that´s when I stopped! I began feeling less and less interested on her music. Her voice is not specially expressive, but I don´t dislike it. Her piano playing is OK for me. BUT I COULDN´T HELP FEELING MORE AND MORE DISAPPOINTED EVERYTIME I LISTENED TO HER RECORDS ... anyway I still give a spin to "All for you" occasionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 Chalk me up as one who has nothing against her, but I'm just not interested. Too much other stuff out there to get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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