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Pianist/chanteuse Diana Krall's latest
recording, The Look of Love, continues to offer
the trademark Krall sound-jazzy piano over a gentle
quartet, lush orchestral arrangements, and Diana's
smoky, sexy voice. It is likely that Krall is currently
the best torch singer around; certainly she is in
the top handful. This latest disc will certainly not
disappoint those who enjoyed her previous effort,
When I Look In Your Eyes.
Diana was born in British Columbia, and began studying
piano at age four, then joined the jazz band in high
school. At fifteen she managed to get her first professional
gig, playing three nights each week at a local restaurant
called, fittingly enough, the NHL.
She went on to win a scholarship from the Vancouver
Jazz Festival, which enabled her to study for a year
and a half at the prestigious Berklee College of Music
in Boston. Returning to B.C., she was spotted by bassist
Ray Brown, who was duly impressed and convinced Diana
to move to Los Angeles. There she studied with pianist
Jimmy Rowles, who encouraged her to develop her vocal
talents as well as her piano chops.
In 1990 Diana moved to New York City and began to
play regular gigs there and in Boston with her own
trio. She also had the opportunity to develop her
vocal technique further and to experiment with various
styles and sounds. By 1995 she released the recording
Only Trust Your Heart, which featured the instrumental
work of Ray Brown, Christian McBride, and Stanley
Turrentine. Next she released All For You on
the Impulse! label, an album that was dedicated to
the spirit of the Nat King Cole Trio. The album remained
on the Billboard Traditional Jazz chart for 70 weeks,
and earned Diana a Grammy® nomination for Best
Jazz Vocal Performance. Love Scenes, her followup
recording, sold more than 500,000 units and was certified
Gold by the RIAA. The album contained her smoldering
rendition of "Peel Me A Grape" and earned
her yet another Grammy® nomination.
When I Look In Your Eyes, Diana's most recent
recording prior to The Look of Love, added
orchestral arrangements by Johnny Mandel to the mix
and offered up a Sinatra-like group of songs that
showed off the full range of Diana's talents. On the
strength of that album she won Grammy® and Juno
Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Performance and Album as
well as being given the Order of British Columbia.
The album successfully broke with the piano trio
setting of her previous recordings, and while this
was a highly successful formula,  there
were some detractors. Krall has been the latest artist
to suffer from the "Nat Cole syndrome"--a
wonderful and versatile pianist whose vocal work has
overtaken her instrumental prowess in the mind of
the mainstream public. The last artist to suffer this
fate was Harry Connick, Jr. Some jazz critics and
fans question her seriousness as a jazz artist when
she seems to wander into the popular vocalist category.
The bottom line is that it is wonderful and amazing
that an artist of Krall's statue has caught the ear
of the record-buying public. Some will see her in
concert and no doubt be amazed at her abilities as
a pianist, a few may even become lifelong listeners
of jazz as a result of their exposure to Diana Krall.
And she is definitely a fine singer and interpreter
of torch songs-in my opinion, she is truly what Frank
Sinatra called (defining himself) "a saloon singer".
Krall is as diginified and elegant a performer as
you'll find out there, but her songs definitely wouldn't
sound out of place when you're sitting at the bar
at 3 A.M. wondering where it all went wrong.
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