Diana Krall

jssmith, another of my favorites is Madelyn Peyroux The Blue Room disc.  Have you listened?  My son and I saw Heart in NYC about 10 years back, they were sensational.  

@czarivey ,

"Elvis king of rr"... hardly.........

Ever heard of Little Richard or Chuck Berry? Many, many more examples, I'm sure.

I rest my case.

I opened to read this discussion because I too am a big Diana Krall fan. But after reading some of the posts I just put on Shirley Horn "I Love you Paris" and I must say its right up there with the best of them. Hadn't listened to it in a long long time but it will be going to the frequently visited list for sure!!

Shirley Horne was an extraordinary artist.  Anyone who doesn’t know her work and likes romantic ballads should check out “Here’s To Life” with orchestrations by the great Johnny Mandel.  An exquisite recording artistically and sonics wise.

Saw her last night in Durham, NC and thought it was a great show.  Her band was amazing and while I agree she doesn't have the most dynamic range, we really had a great time.

rpeluso;  I concur with almost everything you've said, and admire you're effort to stay classy.

Who cares whether DK has a classical voice or not. All I know is that she brings so much comfort and joy after a long hard day at work. I've been listening to her albums for 10+ years now. You can't have that kind of success and longevity if you're not talented or merely mediocre. 

Whether floats your boat floats you boat . I'm glad she brings you comfort as she does many others .

That said , there have been many singers with little talent that have had great careers lasting well over a decade or three .

@slaw Elvis isn't king of rr. Diana Krall is.

@mattmiller Thanks also for introducing me to Kandace Springs. Been Tidaling her for a few weeks now. Very engaging to listen to.

@schubert  "That said , there have been many singers with little talent that have had great careers lasting well over a decade or three . "

Sir, if you are in any way implying that Ms. Krall has "little talent", then you are blindingly misguided.

We just say her last night at the Carpenter Theater, and the performance was astounding.  Yes, astounding.  Center stage, 9 rows back.  Live music at its very very best.

Comparisons of DK to historic jazz personalities like Shirley Horne are simply not helpful, and really, rather silly.  Ms. Krall is her own person, her own presence, her own "thing".  She brings us a smooth, sultry, silky, soulful voice that is a real pleasure to hear.  Her phrasing is delightful, presentation is flawless.  It is not and should never be a "this person sings jazz better" issue, different artists, are just that, different.  But Diana Krall's importance to the jazz world does not start and stop with her voice.  Indeed, it is just the beginning.  Her prowess as a Jazz pianist is well recognized by her peers on its own!  She was fantastic on the keys....and make no mistake, she leads her band!  The eye contact, the smiles from one band member to another as they traded solo's and moved from section to section was very apparent.  But make no mistake, she leads this band.  And what a band it is.  I'm sure you are familiar with Anthony Wilson who is with her so often.  I never tire of watching him play.  Robert Hurst on bass.....7X grammy winner nuff said.  And what a surprise Stuart Duncan was, we were literally shell shocked by his frankly unbelievable contribution.  Look him up if you don't know who he is.  Diana is a master of featuring each of her musicians, it's a total presentation.  I think very few of your jazz diva's endeavored to provide this type of musically holistic leadership. 

In a tender moment last night, Diana gave a great tribute to Shirley Horne as she introduced one of Shirley's standards.  It was not only respectful, but an amazing rendition, her style.  Fantastic.  Isn't that part of what music is all about?

@theglees I envy you your experience. Great post!

@theglees  Well said.

By chance , I heard her in one of those Duo jobs singing, "You Don't Know Me" with the great Ray Charles  this AM in my car .

His toe nail could sing better  .

@schubert   Toe-tappin' music eh??👣

Well maybe I did lay it on a bit thick , hifiman 5 .

To be dead honest the contrast between her and Ray on this love song
 was ludicrous .

I'm starting to get the impression schubert doesn't care for Diana Krall.

I second the Shirley Horn "Here's to Life", a true masterpiece. She is an amazing artist.

I am listening to an album titled "The Love I’m In" by Kate Reid. Kate Reid has a very similar style as Diana Krall but Kate is so much better at phrasing and emotion. If you like Diana you owe it to yourself to listen to this album by Kate Reid. You can easily find her on any of the streaming services. These two artists are so close in style it is amazing but so far apart in "soulfulness". Just listen to "With Every Breath I Take" from this album or almost any other cut. This album is so much better than anything I have heard from Diana but so very similar in style that it is a real education listening to both artists.

I’ll be experiencing my 80th year this coming summer. And ... I’m still blessed with excellent hearing.

I’ve been a jazz fan since the middle 50’s when I was still in high school and frequenting the local jazz clubs as a teenager here in Southern California.

I’m a Diana Krall fan. While she doesn’t have the "voice" of Dinah Washington ( Blue Gardenia), June Christy (Something Cool), the phrasing of Billy Holiday, or dare I say, an equal to the late, great, Sarah Vaughn, she still has that sultriness that good female jazz singers should have.

IMO, DK is a much better pianist than a singer. Over the years, I’ve learned to listen between the notes and have discovered that what a musician doesn’t play is just as important, if not more important, than what they do play. Miles is a good case in point. DK does a fine job with silence between the notes as well.

Singers like DK are a matter of taste. There is no right or wrong here. I really like DK and have plenty of her recordings including some bootlegs. How about a private New Years Eve party where she sang for friends? I have it. Or another recording where she is overcoming the flu, sneezing and coughing throughout the performance? I have that one too.Her "Live in Paris" CD is really, really good to my ears ... I think its her best album.

But then, I have just about everything Julie London recorded as well. Not all of Julie London’s work was great ... the best IMO was the album on which she sang "Cry Me a River." That album made her name. She was heavily promoted by her husband Bobby Troup.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/JULIE-LONDON-Julie-is-her-name-great-cover-and-Play-Tested-LP/401498614784?...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=bobby+troup&_osacat=11233&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l...

Want to hear an obscure jazz singer who showed a lot of promise before she dropped out of the scene? Try Joanie Sommers:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=joannie+sommers&_sacat...

Joanie was two years behind me in high school where she used to sing at our assemblies. Jazz muscians loved to play as her accompaniment because her jazz phrasings were so good. A real cutie too.

Again, music is a matter of taste. No rights and no wrongs.

Frank

IMO, DK is a much better pianist than a singer.

I feel same, but her instrument skills are also very limited and primitive.

"Again, music is a matter of taste. No rights and no wrongs."

While each individual has the right to consume whatever suits their individual tastes, there are standards of excellence in the arts that must be maintained and recognized. Not everyone possesses the ability to recognize or appreciate true artistic ability. But there are "rights and wrongs" even if everyone doesn`t have the ability to recognize it.

Any person with average smarts who listens to live acoustic music unamplified over a few decades will develop a sense
of what is excellent , good, fair or poor in music .

It is a matter of taste , good taste or bad taste . It takes considerable effort to own the first.

IMHO, any person with average smarts that lacks sportsmanship is no connoisseur. He or she is pretty much a common snob, nothing more nothing less!

Of course there are standards of excellence in the arts and this comment is not about DK.  Why should the arts be any different than any other endeavor in that regard.  Is the relatively casual observer/fan of figure skating just as qualified to discern the level of excellence (or lack of) in a skater as someone who has devoted a lifetime to studying the sport or is a skater himself?  I don’t think so.  Relativism in order to justify personal taste (subjectivity) is a sure way to stop learning and growing as a listener; and there is so much to learn.  

any person with average smarts that lacks sportsmanship is no connoisseur.

It's blunt.

Minor detail ,lalitk .
Classical and Jazz and much of true folk music are Fine Arts not Sports .
Take decades to learn to play and listen to .
I’ll really do care who or what people want to listen to, I do care if they
elevate a mediocre artist to a level they do not deserve .
Not for me, I am nothing  , I run my mouth for others who might believe that and never get into the best .
And and at its best Music can do what no sport can do or for that matter no other Fine Art can do, raise the human
mind , body and soul to the highest level  . The other Arts are representational, music is the thing itself .

If you want to hear true feminine Fine Art , listen to Nina Simone singing
"Porgy" and listen close .

schubert,

“I do care if they elevate a mediocre artist to a level they do not deserve”

And why do you care so much if few folks out of the millions chose to put DK on a pedestal. As it’s been said repeatedly in this thread, music or artist is a personal choice or preference.

Although Nina Simone is a fine artist, do you think everyone out there should appreciate her true feminine art as much you do?

AMERICA is built on diversity my friend, you should learn to embrace and appreciate the freedom of choice we all have been afforded (and often taken for granted).

I could offer some comments in rebuttal and further explanation, but I wouldn’t want to cause anxiety, anger and depression; sincerely. What I find intriguing is why discussion of this subject and expression of different points of view is felt to be “humanity being ugly”.  Why the hypersensitivity to disagreement?

When I was devoted to Beatles in my youth, my older friend offered me to listen to Frank Zappa. After that I realized how tasteless and plain Beatles are. I was super happy to learn that and more of less popular and interesting bands, artists and orchestras. Facebook? Anxiety? Anger? Depression? It's trivial stand-up material! Trust me, laughing is much easier and healthier LOL! Hopefully I took this A-A-D off the direction regardless of evaluation abilities...
Now imagine her in X-Factor: 
1. How many Yes-es she would get if any?
2.Who would Yes and who would No if any?
3.Will she win an X-factor? 

czarivey,

Does she need to compete for any popularity vote in X-factor, probably only in your imagination...LOL!!!

She is a accomplished jazz pianist and talented singer, who has already sold 15 million albums worldwide.

Krall is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debuting at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums. To date, she has won three Grammy Awards and eight Juno Awards. She has also earned nine gold, three platinum, and seven multi-platinum albums....imagine that.

But I do agree with you, laughing is much healthier and easier. And I am laughing my rear off listening to Frank Zappa.

czarivey,

All jokes aside, Frank Zappa may be considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse rock musicians of his era...but he is not my cup of tea. I guess I am bit young to appreciate his unconventional style of singing.

Peace out!

What an interesting discussion! It's always refreshing to see those with less than mediocre talent in music become self-proclaimed defenders of musical excellence or whatever that is supposed to mean.

Anyways, I am hoping that DK releases another album very soon. I'll be the first to place my order.

Dianna has a very interesting talent and likes to explore it and use it.  She IS married to Elvis Costello and I wonder what they talk about?  .    Her T Bone Burnett album (Glad Rag Doll) is completely different from her Live in Paris and I have heard some criticize this difference as though her exploration of her own talent is overshadowed by an obligation to "be true to her previous records".  I think if you are musician, you try things.  You make a record, it sells a little or it doesn't sell at all.  Oh well.

The biggest issue with quality I have is many of her earlier records (Live in Paris for example) have tremendous sibilance in her voice that drives me crazy.  

Brad

@lalitk do you REALLY believe that Howard Stern would YES to DK? I hardly do LOL!

I do not mind DK but prefer the following Jazz singers:

Ann Hampton Callaway
Blues in the Night, To Ella with love, From sassy to devine: The Sara Vaughan Project

Cheryl Bentyne
Talk of the town

Karrin Allyson
In Blue, Round Midnight

Holly Cole
Temptation, Don’t smoke in bed

I think Diana Krall is best when she is playing the piano. She an outstanding bar singer. I still love Joni  Mitchell's A Case of You, but Diana Krall's is equal but different. I have an album of Diana where she just sings. I seldom listen to it. I think like Peggy Lee, record companies tried to change her. I think Diana can get away with telling them to  jump in a lake!

One thing for sure about Diana Krall ...she exudes controversy among music lovers. My friend and fellow music lover - audiophile, Robert hates DK as much as I like her. I can’t play any of DK’s albums when Robert is over lest he has a conniption fit.

I listened to the entire "Live in Paris" CD this morning. You know what it is about DK? Its her phrasing and the sultry nuances in her voice. Sexy as all get out, in my opinion. She does the same thing with her piano playing.

I can see why DK isn’t everyone’s cup of tea though. She certainly doesn’t have the perfect pitch and size of instrument that Sarah Vaughn enjoys, or the soul of Nina Simone ... but she DOES swing.

It doesn’t get much better than Nina Simone singing "Porgy," or Sarah Vaughn singing "A Foggy Day" and "I've Got A Crush On You."   Zowie!

Frank

Much better?
I don’t think it get ANY better than Simone singing "Porgy " .

A great artist, not to be confused with a good entertainer .

My first time seeing Diana Krall was live at Tanglewood on PBS many years back. Dressed in a black chiffon dress sitting behind the keyboard of I suppose was a Steinway concert grand with her beautiful blond locks blowing in the wind, quite a vision. The fact she was pretty good, no Nina or Sarah for sure, really is beside the point to me. I like her ok, some covers better than others (I’ve got you under my skin) but I’ll always remember seeing her the first time and enjoying every minute of her performance.

Gawd - the snobbery here is hilarious. And to think that in my decades of ignorance I had just assumed Krall was a fine jazz artist and performer in her own right.

But now I know she is just a mediocre "entertainer" in a world where only Music - not sports or poetry or drama or visual art -  can elevate the human soul to its goal of achieving Platonic form.

It must be lonely being so perfect in your messianic omniscience.

strongarm13 posts03-04-2018 10:54amI think Diana Krall is best when she is playing the piano. She an outstanding bar singer.

For casual bar performances she's fine agree.

All said and done Simao, i am about as influenced by others opinion as I am of their taste. I actually had someone in my home say they didn't want to listen to Tony Bennett after i suggested a recent purchase of a great vinyl recording of an early Carnegie Hall performance, "i can't stand to listen to that guy" was his response. Who cares what he thinks, not I and we moved on. You like Diana, good for you and be comfortable with it, you are far from alone. I do sometimes wonder why some go beyond their opinion with insulting remarks. It can and does come across as unnecessarily arrogant, that is when my hackles raise and opinion crosses over to rudeness.

@tubegroover It's not a matter of liking or not liking Diana Krall. Up until this thread, I'd never considered it with too much aesthetic thought. However, what raised MY hackles and tugged on my jowls was

1. The hijacking of the OP's original intent and purpose into a rant and demeaning of an artist the OP plainly admires and enjoys. It's like being invited into someone's house and then openly and without shame excoriating his artwork and cuisine.

2. How smug some of the responders come across as. I mean, everyone's an armchair quarterback, but only 32 real quarterbacks suit up every Sunday. That's not to suggest we're not entitled to a learned opinion, but to take someone as respected as DK and claim she's nothing more than a piano bar singer is to suggest you're somehow more learned and musically astute than everyone else. But hey - if you think you are, then feel free to create your own reality (that's "you" as in the responders, not "you" as in tubegroover).

It's like the person who posted several years ago that Steely Dan was nothing more than studio musicians who got lucky. I mean, fascinating.

Please! The etiquette protocols of an online forum are NOT the same as being invited into one’s home. If I was a guest in the OP's home and he was playing DK I would listen politely and grin and bare it.

As far as keeping to the original OP’s intent of his post, FREQUENTLY an OP will raise a subject that then morphs into to a more deep and interesting topic but still related to the original post. Happens all the time and nothing wrong with that. That has happened here. And I don’t see anyone being disrespectful of the OP’s original message. Great, he likes DK.

The broader subject that this thread has morphed into beyond DK is about mediocracy in music and whether “audiophiles” should have the ability to recognize it and tell the difference between it and truly exceptional artists. And if you can then why would one choose the former and not the latter?

I keep reading posters that seem to believe that there really is no difference or that the difference doesn't matter because it is all about taste and anyone who attempts to recognize the difference is a snob. I like to drink low cost red wine, rarely buying a Cabernet above $12 a bottle. When someone tells me I don't have refined tastes in wine I tell them they are right but I don't deny that there is a difference between a $50 bottle of Cabernet and a $9 bottle. I just say I can't appreciate it.