[Written in September 2000] With her new album The Look of Love (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de), 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’ (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk). 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. Order the book 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.
Written on September 21, 2001 and updated on September 28, 2001. Added to our WordPress pages on April 27, 2022 at 15:43 Swiss time.
Photograph of Diana Krall. Photo copyright © Mary McCartney, Universal Music.
Photograph of Diana Krall. Photo copyright © Mary McCartney, Universal Music.
Album review written in 1999 (added to our WordPress pages on April 27, 2022:
Diana Krall: When I Look In Your Eyes. Audio CD, 1999, Universal/Impulse. Order the CD from: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr. At a small Jazz Festival in Geneva the mid 1990s, I had a chance to listen to Canadian singer and pianist Diana Krall for the first time. I went there mainly to see her mentor, Ray Brown. 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 had never heard them before. Her twelve tracks range from songs with a bossanova touch to classical ballads as well as 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 has often been compared to a star of a film noir. She may well be one of the rare jazz musicians to get a Grammy Award [article from “old” Cosmopolis no. 3, February 2000].
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, and met her and Ray Brown the day after the concert at Jean-Michel Reisser’s jazz record store. — 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… – Diana Krall sheet music.
Diana Krall. Photo copyright © Mark Seliger, Universal Music.
Articles written for “old cosmopolis” in 1999 and 2001. Added to our new WordPress pages on April 27, 2022 at 15:43 Swiss time.
