I was in Fort Lauderdale last Thursday and saw/heard Diana Krall. Second time, first was in Wilkes Barre PA after Wallflower cd, this one after her recent one. Two quite different concerts, both outstanding. This one was "jazzy", an upright bass, a drummer, guitarist, fiddle/violinist (and a pianist/vocalist). 5 great musicians on the stage, and a wonderful singer. She is wonderful live. Highly recommended, as equipment reviewers often say. Worth the price of admission.
@rpeluso I've read several such positive critiques of her on stage performances. Perhaps I should see her live as her studio albums somehow leave me cold at times. I've had the same issue with Norah Jones. However, just this past week I pulled out "Feels Like Home" and enjoyed it to the point that I listened to it twice through.
I'm listening to Krall's "Love Scenes" right now and am enjoying it. I should probably pick up her "Live in Paris" disc. Maybe hearing a live performance would help me to connect to her.
Both ladies have real talent and well engineered recordings! Krall's recordings reveal a bit more detail with a tighter focus. Norah's discs have a softer perspective to them.
Diana Krall....? I like Diana Krall very much but lately I'm into a newer artist she is very soulful and sounds very much to me like Diana Krall with a lot of Creole/Soul added, her name is Kandace Springs, her Soul Eyes album sounds very big and warm and vocal, Kandace plays an old Rhodes electric piano which she sits at while she sings, very talented and fresh.
I have seen her live three times, and came away thoroughly impressed and entertained. She doesn't have a great voice, but a voice that's a natural for the jazz genre, and she has a way with a lyric and can curl the words just so and I have a hard time taking my eyes off of her. Call it that elusive "it" factor. Top notch musicians at every show, and she plays that piano with style and verve. No lip synching, no gyrating strippers, real musicians, and great songs. Just what most Americans don't want to see or hear these days!
@2chfreak, you have nailed it. Very few artist that has such onstage presence. She was born to play jazz, I have seen her live twice and she absolutely killed it both times with her sultry voice, exquisite piano play and great choice of musician ensemble.
She is coming to town on Jun 23 and I plan to be there.
Thanks for mentioning Kandace Springs. I just sampled "Soul Eyes" on amazon and am sold. Like you said very fresh sound beautifully recorded as is Bluenote's practice. Just ordered the CD!
Don’t get it. I understand the success and enormous talent and everything but her style and phrasing does absolutely nothing for me. Boring ho hum sums it up for me. The Michael Buble equivalent in the lightweight jazz genre.
+2 for the Live in Paris release. I have a couple of Diana Krall CD's. I find the studio release......ok but the live CD is great in my opinion. I have also seen her live and very much enjoyed the show.
@rpeluso, thanks for the info on the current show/tour. Will be seeing her next Sunday in Charlotte and really looking forward to the line up you cited. Saw her three times in San Diego back in the 90s at an outdoor venue named Humphrey's by the Bay--very intimate with 1400 seats (and we were typically in the first 7-8 rows) and of course, awesome acoustics. The first time, it was just a trio of her, Christian McBride and Russell Malone which was IMO the perfect showcase for her voice and piano chops (each of those guys are pretty remarkable in their own right). In each of the next two shows, a quartet/quintet set up. The last time was in 2000 in Ft. Lauderdale in a much larger, indoor venue--decent show, but not a great venue (as compared Humphrey's). Her popularity had grown by that time so she was playing larger houses and more broader appeal (IOW, less "purist") jazz and standards. Looking forward to seeing her next week and hopefully getting a bit of that throwback vibe!
Thanx to the discussion, I just found out she will be in my area on Friday, going to get tickets now. I have several cd's but always like to hear artist live before I form any opinions
A couple years ago, I bought a couple of Krall LPs to see what the fuss was about.
She felt like Lite Jazz to me. To measured. Too restrained. She left me cold. I sold the LPs.
For someone who blends jazz with gospel, r&b, blues, Broadway, soul, pop and Brill School, and does it with passion and originality, a style uniquely her own, see Laura Nyro. Especially New York Tendaberry, an LP with vocals (from a 20 decibel whisper to a 120 decibel scream) that will test the limits of your system’s performance.
She passed away decades ago from cancer, in her early 50s. There is one live performance recorded at The Bottom Line (sadly closed, I saw Miles Davis, among dozens of others there) in the late 80s that does not quite capture the magic of her live performance, but comes close.
Many of her compositions became pop hits for Three Dog Night, Barbara Streisand, the Association, Blood Sweat & Tears, etc. (Brill School incl Carol King, Janis Ian, Paul Simon, Niel Diamond, Geffen, Boyce & Hart, etc).
She was inducted into the rock ‘n roll hall of fame about a decade ago. Bette Midler did the introduction, burst into tears.
is she considered a jazz singer? I wonder, she seems pretty versatile, more jazz on some discs, less so on others. Wallflower, a wonderful disc, is anything but jazz, but its still pretty great. In my opinion of course. No one is for everyone, that's clear.
PS: I can’t edit my comment above anymore, one last thought: Laura made her first record for Verve when she was 16 years old. Clive Davis signed her to Columbia a year later. She was painfully shy, did the Davis audition with the lights off, the keyboard lit by a small candle.
She burst onto the scene in the mid 60s, and is considered the first female singer songwriter in the way we understand the term today. Without Laura Nyro, Diana Krall would not be the Diana Krall we know.
She simplifies lots of classic songs and feels like sufficient effort she places to the score, but either insufficient or unrefined effort for improvisation. Everything she sings seems simplified from jazz to simple pop. She seems to me a female Dean Martin that can put some stuff to the show and show off.
unreceivedogma, I once saw Laura in Central Park, a free concert (not sure they are held any longer), I admire her as a singer, pianist, composer no doubt. But( isn't there always a but?) I don't see the connection between Laura and Diana K. What is it you are saying, if I may ask?
czarivey, thanks for your thoughts/explanation. I can see where our tastes differ, just a fact, no big thing. I find the improvisation less to my liking, so I see why we differ in our views of her. I'm not a big jazz fan, but appreciate that many many are. Thanks again.
FWIW, I tried (and own) many of Krall's earlier recordings. They are not really bad, really. And without references I'd probably enjoy them more. I've never heard her live so I can't really comment on here showmanship and whether or not that is additive in a positive way.
What is interesting is that when I want the kind of music that she wants to sing I always reach for Shirley Horn. If you have not heard her do so when you next want a intimate singer/piano player of great talent.
@lalitk... Yes, she has a sultry voice and a come hither quality that grabs my attention when she sticks to Jazz/American Song Book recordings. I think The Girl In The Other Room, one of the first times she ventured away from her comfort zone, was actually a very good album. Shirley Horn and Blossom Dearie are mentioned often as influences, some similarities. Maybe she is "Jazz lite" compared to the purists out there, but whatever she is and does, she does well and I just happen to dig her. I feel the same way about Julie London; not the greatest voice, narrow range, but she did more with what she had than many more naturally gifted singers. Julie London captured an era and style in the '60s with her sultry, smokey voice and her languid vocal style. It was said that "she sang as if she was in one room - with you, and that made all the difference." It really is amazing what Julie London could do with such limited vocal range, but within that range she was pure dynamite and a unique talent.
I love her Live in Paris cd! It's in my regular rotation. I hope she puts out another live recording soon, as I agree with some on this thread that her studio recordings are just "ok".
I saw her live about 10 years ago, with Chris Botti opening. Both put on an outstanding show... the best concert I've attended.
I have several of her Diana's cds .Sometimes you have to be in the mood more on easy listenjng more relaxing . Sometimes a little snsppier like - - PATRICIA Barber who is a very creative artist and has s lot twists and turns in her jazz music and excellent musicians. Cassandra Wilson a lot of people still don't know and has some very good bluesy music.
Rpeluso, - Nyro’s dad was a jazz bass player - to me, the connection to Krause is obvious and I’ve stated it already. The only thing that I might have left unsaid is that I think of Krauss as a jazz-tinged pop singer, like Nyro, not the other way around. She belongs with Bette Midler, not Billy Holiday or Maxine Sullivan.
Thoughts? Yep. Tearing down well known, beloved artists in favor of the more obscure, at least in the modern sense, makes the naysayers feel like they have a superior musical understanding. Inferiority breeds contempt. 😬
I like her music a lot and really like that live in Paris album. However sometimes I feel like I'm at an audio show when I listen to her music. I feel it's far over played at those types of locations.
And perhaps the uncontrollable impulse to chime in for the sake of adding number of posts to their credit.
All those fans who posted here that Krall CD’s don’t sound as good as her live concert, I urge them to try the XRCD’s. They offer another dimension of her recordings. Sorry to say but I agree that regular CD’s does sound like crap in direct comparison with XRCD’s.
I for one like Diana Krall's music. She stays within her range, which is very nice. She doesn't try to do things she isn't capable of or those that are outside her range. I really like that.
As for Shirley Horn. Wow. everytime she came to Los Angeles, I would go see her perform. Quiet small venues. She would be sitting at the bar with a drink between sets talking. Her music was wonderful and we lost a real artist.
Diana Kral is similar to snow queen of Hans Christian Anderson with heart turned to icycle.
With strong accompany of REAL musicians (live in Japan) she is just a place holder in the band just like Pat Barber and Nora Jones or Joni Mitchell. Somehow TV favors her more. I guess buy low and sell high is main contributing factor of her success
As often happens here (I gave up trying to explain to myself why) an innocent post about an experience at a live music event turned into a vindictive, ugly, depressing (to me, where is humanity now???) series of opinions. What's the point in that? Keep it to yourself why don't you, do you really think your views and opinions are fact and all others are fantasy? Are you that much of a narcissistic a-hole??? I tend to think you do, which is even more depressing.
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