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Diana Krall -
The Look of Love
CD review & article on her early years -
Sheet music
by Diana Krall.
Article added on
September 21, 2001, last update on September 28, 2001.
The Look of Love
CD review by Louis Gerber - one of her best albums
With her new album The Look of Love, Diana Krall confirms her
exceptional status as a jazz singer. Her new CD is a touch too polished, too
clean, but never kitsch, as one might have feared, since the album was
recorded together with the London Symphony Orchestra. But the
special, sometimes rough-edged character of her previous recordings is
missing. Still, these ballads may well encounter as huge a success as her
previous CD, When I Look In Your Eyes, since it also appeals to an audience which
normally only listens to pop music. Her new ballads and Bossa Novas are
elegant and sensual. Besides the title song The Look of Love,
especially her subtle piano playing towards the end of Besame Mucho is
enchanting. However, the album's highlight comes with the first song, 'S
Wonderful, which also sums up my general impression: "It's
wonderful, it's marvelous."
The Look of Love is the fifth album by Diana Krall in a row that
Tommy LiPuma produced. LiPuma is also known for his work with Barbra
Streisand, Miles Davis, João Gilberto, Natalie Cole and Shirley Horn.
Regarding Claus Ogerman, Diana Krall said that, together with Johnny
Mandel, he has been her favorite arranger/composer since she was
seventeen. Ogerman had an important role on albums recorded by Frank
Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Ogerman also had been
working for years together with LiPuma, for the first time on George
Benson's outstanding album Breezin'. Since Claus
Ogerman featuring Michael Brecker in 1990, the two had gone separate
ways. But when Diana Krall was on tour in Munich, LiPuma arranged for her
to have lunch with Ogerman. That is how the pianist/singer, the
arranger/composer and the producer began to work on a common project: The Look of Love.
On her new album, Diana Krall's voice sounds fuller, richer and
softer than before. Her songs were arranged by Claus Ogerman who also
conducts the London Symphony Orchestra. The Look of Love gives an
impression of unity despite the fact that it contains material from a lot
of different sources: e.g. Cry Me A River by Julie London, Love
Letters by Nat King Cole and jazz-standards such as Dancing in the
Dark by Arthur Schwartz (music)/Howard Dietz (text), I Remember You
by Victor Scherzinger/John Mercer and 'S Wonderful by George and
Ira Gershwin.
Regarding the three compositions mentioned last, one can find a lot of
information in the book edited by Hans-Jürgen Schaal: Jazz-Standards.
Das Lexikon (in German, Bärenreiter, 2001, 590 p. Get it from Amazon.de).
For instance, I Remember You was part of the music film The
Fleet'S In. In 1953, Charlie Parker recorded a version of it in New
York. Sonny Rollins played the composition in 1959 during his European
tour. The song Dancing In The Dark was written for The Band
Wagon, the musical in which Fred Astaire appeared for the last time on
Broadway with his sister Adele as a dancing partner. Years later,
Cannonball Adderley recorded the piece at the demand of his boss of that
period, Miles Davis, on his album Somethin' Else. Finally, the song
'S Wonderful was part of the Broadway show Funny Face which
premiered in 1927 in the newly opened Alvin Theatre. The song was often
interpreted by Fred Astaire. Jack Teagarden in 1930, Count Basie in 1957
with Joe Williams as a singer and the pianists Dave Grusin and Chick Corea
in a duo in 1991, after the model of the Broadway pianists Oman and Arden,
delivered other notable recordings of the composition.
More articles about Diana Krall
deutsch:
- Krall, Diana
Biographie, CDs, Konzert am Montreux Jazz Festival 2000
- Krall,
Diana When I Look in Your Eyes CD 1999
- Krall, Diana
Heartdrops CD aufgenommen 1990, veröffentlicht 2003
- Diana Krall:
The
Girl in the Other Room
English:
- Krall,
Diana biography, CDs, concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival 2000
-
Krall,
Diana CD: The Girl in the Other Room
Article from Cosmopolis no. 3,
added in February 2000 and moved here on August 6, 2010:
Diana Krall: When I Look In Your
Eyes
Audio CD, 1999, Universal/Impulse.
Order the CD When I Look In Your Eyes from: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk,
Amazon.de, Amazon.fr
or
Amazon
Canada. -
Sheet music by Diana Krall. When I Look In Your
Eyes review: At a small Jazz Festival in the mid 1990s, I had a chance
to listen to Canadian singer and pianist Diana Krall for the first time.
At that time, besides one song, her performance was not impressive, partly
awkward even. Within five years, she has been able to create, with her
means and limitations, her distinctive style - and that is what makes a
great artist. By the way, her grandmother and mother were singers, her
great-great-aunt was in vaudeville in NYC. On her new album, When I
Look In Your Eyes, she interprets great jazz classics from Irving Berlin
(Let's Face the Music and Dance and The Best Things for You)
and Cole Porter (I've Got You Under My Skin) to Michael Franks (Popsicle
Toes). Diana Krall has the astonishing capacity to give them a fresh
look, (almost) as if you never had heard them before. Her twelve tracks
range from songs with a bossanova-touch to classical ballads to tunes of
a certain lightness (East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Brooks
Bowman) which she interprets with ease. Diana Krall's style is at the same
time intense and cool - she is often compared to a star of a film noir.
She may well be one of the rare jazz musicians to get a Grammy Award.
Diana Krall photographed by Robert Maxwell for the album Quiet Nights.
Photos © Robert Maxwell / Universal Music.
Diana Krall photographed by Robert Maxwell for the album Quiet Nights.
Photos © Robert Maxwell / Universal Music.
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Diana Krall photographed by Robert Maxwell for the
album Quiet Nights.
Photos © Robert Maxwell / Universal Music.
New in September 2007: The Very Best of Diana Krall. This new CD with
some of her best material contains 15 songs, 3 of them never released before
(“You
Got To My Head”
and
“Only The Lonely”
are previsouly unreleased from the sessions for The Look of Love; the
Tom Waits standard
“The Heart Of Saturday Night”
was never commercially released outside the United States).
My Deluxe Edition offers in addition 9 songs on DVD. This set is ideal
for people who have never heard of the best female pianist and singer yet
and of course for fans who cannot get enough of her. Order The Very Best of Diana Krall
from
Amazon.com,
Amazon.co.uk,
Amazon.de,
Amazon.fr.
New in September 2006: Diana Krall: From This Moment On. Verve, September
2006. Order the CD from
Amazon.de,
Amazon.com,
Amazon.co.uk,
Amazon.ca,
Amazon.fr.
Yes, this is again the Diana Krall we adore!
Diana Krall: The Look of Love. Verve, September 2001. Get the CD
from Amazon.com,
Amazon.ca,
Amazon.co.uk,
Amazon.de,
Amazon.fr.
One of for greatest albums!
And Diana arrived...
article by Jean-Michel Reisser
"Beethoven" (Reisser
is the man who first brought Diana to Europe. He organized the Geneva Jazz
Parade in 1995, the festival where I discovered her. - Louis Gerber).
In the spring of 1994, I received a package from Ray Brown.
Upon opening it, I saw a cassette with
only 3 names: Diana Krall, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton. As usual, Ray did
not add anything: he just put it in an envelope and that's
all! Of course I had known John and Jeff for years but I had never heard anything about
Diana Krall! Coming from Ray and with
John and Jeff, I said: "It should be something good!" After
a couple of seconds, I immediately understood that it was really
incredible!!!
("This Can't Be Love" was the first tune). Everything was great: the choice of the
tunes, the trio (what a trio!), the piano was outstanding and she sang "Wouawww"!!! So I
called Ray right away to tell him how excited I was about this new young lady! "She's gonna be
big, I'm telling you!"
he added. And her first CD came out on
"Justin Time Records", the wonderful Canadian independent
label: Stepping Out with John Clayton on bass and
Jeff Hamilton on drums (Just 50-2).
A couple of months later, I went to L.A. for
some business and saw Ray for a special tour project with unusual guests.
And he told me a lot about Diana: "I
met her some years ago in her hometown of Nanaimo in Canada. She was a
teenage piano wiz. I suggested her to come to L.A. in order to study piano
and music. I recommended
her Hank Jones and Jimmie Rowles. Hank was too busy at that time. So she
asked Jimmie. Both are fantastic piano players,
know lyrics, and have a lot of experience accompanying singers. After one or 2
years, she had to go back to Canada because her
permit ended. So Jimmie and I told her that if she took singing lessons
her chances to stay would increase. And she could stay! That is how
Diana Krall
took up singing!" Ray explained to me. Ray really loves her very much and
I can understand it because who possibly knows more about piano
players and singers than Ray Brown? He played with every great pianist (Art
Tatum, Oscar
Peterson, Bud Powell, Hank Jones, Jimmie Rowles, Nat King Cole, Michel
Petrucciani...) and every singer too (Ella of course, Sarah
Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Peggy Lee,
Linda Rondstadt, Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, Dee Dee Bridgewater...).
Diana has excellent phrasing, very good enunciation, groove,
drive. She plays the piano with great power, soul, swing and with superb
piano accompaniment. In November of the same year, I received a
call from Ray: "I'm in New York and I'm doing an album with
guess who? Diana Krall and Stanley Turrentine for the GRP label!". I
said to myself: This is really serious now.
Everybody had been wanting to see Ray Brown in Geneva for more than 10
years.
Being musical director and taking care of
business of the "Geneva Jazz Parade" in Geneva,
Switzerland, I managed to have him with special and
unusual guests for the 1995 edition. Ray and I talked about the possible
guests. After
discussions and suggestions, I said to him. "Hey, why not have
somebody that nobody knows?" and he immediately said "Why
not Diana Krall? You know her and I can tell you she will be a big
sensation at your festival. And this will be her first appearance
in Europe too. Good for the marketing!" That was it. I contacted her the next
day and explained to her who would play in Geneva: the Ray Brown trio, Tom Harrell and Steve
Coleman! "Where and when?"
was her immediate answer! When she arrived in Geneva for the festival
in May 1995, I felt she was already one of the great because of a
lot of little but important things. She smiled when she saw me and said: "Hey Beethoven, thanks a million for taking me over
here. Thanks
for your support and promotion!" Being in this business for a
while now, believe me, this is not a natural attitude that a lot of
musicians have! I trusted her of course but she trusts all of us here and
those were some great moments! At first, she asked me with a soft voice,
almost shy: "Do you think I can have a piano and a
small place where I can do my exercises?" Or: "As you know,
I'm the little girl around all these great musicians! And to play with
Ray is ... I can't tell you how lucky I am!" But she knew
what she wanted. I saw her rehearsing with Ray, his trio, Tom
Harrell and Steve Coleman and she asked for all that she wanted with a very cool
voice but we knew she was already very excellent and hard on herself
too. She reminded me a lot of Ella Fitzgerald in many ways. But Ray was still behind her, agreed and
sometimes suggested things that nobody thought of. As she said: "He knows
every capacity of all of us. Better: when you are on stage with him,
you play things you didn't expect to play from yourself! He's
really THE Man!"
Two days later, she was the "new
star" of the second part of the show in front of 4000 people in
Geneva. She was nervous but quiet. She asked me to take her left hand:
"Can you believe it? Me playing with all these greats?! I don't
how to play after Benny Green!" (pianist of the Ray Brown Trio at
the time). I told her: "You're Diana Krall, OK? So, be yourself and your
going to kill all of them!" And
she did! I remember very clearly her version of
"Just Squeeze Me" which was absolutely magnificent. Just
perfect!
It was dedicated to the master of the trumpet: Harry "Sweets"
Edison (because of the citations of his very popular phrases). A similar
version can be heard on her second CD: Only Trust Your Heart with Ray, Stanley
Turrentine, Lewis Nash, Christian
McBride. Everybody "was on the floor"
after her show. She blew the minds of the 4000 people in the tent! During the following
weeks, I received many
calls from people, promoters... And she came to Europe again in
the Fall of the same year with her trio and played in France, Germany...
So that was
the beginning of the story that every body knows now. But she's still this
beautiful lady with class, a lot of humor, sensitive, quiet with a shy smile that
we all love... -
Sheet music
by Diana Krall.
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