Krall enthralls crowd with intimate performance

By JEFF HEINRICH, The Gazette June 27, 2011

Diana Krall's Sunday-night show was the first of her three sold-out jazz fest concerts.
Photograph by: DAVE SIDAWAY THE GAZETTE, The Gazette

Diana Krall invited her audience into the living room of her childhood home in Nanaimo, B.C. and, alone at the grand piano with only her dad's gramophone as a prop for company, played the music she loved as a girl.

It was an intimate show Sunday night at Théâtre Maisonneuve, as Krall put a sold-out hall at ease with standards and surprised with some not-so-standards of the Great American Songbook.

Opening with Peel Me a Grape, she soon launched into a medley of Fats Waller tunes, stamping her black stiletto heels as she pounded away at the keyboard, boogie-woogie style, tossing her blond curls to the rhythm.

Form-fitting, sleeveless black dress aside, it was a far cry from that old Chrysler ad and The Look of Love, more a return to the roots of Krall's 1995 fest debut when she proved her love for Nat King Cole.

In between songs, she talked fondly of learning her chops from Jimmy Rowles and jamming in Oscar Peterson's basement, recalled how she was a disaster on third clarinet in her high-school band, and reminisced about listening to jazz on her father's reel-to-reel tape player and 78-rpm records.

If the audience didn't always get her jazz references, Krall forgave them. "Thanks for listening to songs you might not have heard before," she said after introducing something by Bix Beiderbecke and getting no response.

No matter. Whether it was a familiar tune like Don't Fence Me In or an unfamiliar one like the vintage ode to dope, Reefer Song, Krall's performance - her first full-length solo concert ever - pulled the crowd into her world.

She closed her 15-song, 80-minute uninterrupted set with a lovely but obscure 1938 movie tune called As Long As I Love and came back for a three-song encore playing - guess what? - a ukulele. Why? Because her childhood hero, Groucho Marx, played one.

She and her husband, Elvis Costello play the instrument in bed, she explained, before softly strumming All I Do Is Dream of You and encouraging her fans to sing along. Few knew the words.

Then it was back to the piano for Krall's own Departure Bay and, as an adieu, a Prairie Lullaby for her twin boys, Dexter and Frank. Sweet dreams, all.

jheinrich@ montrealgazette.com
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Gallery: Diana Krall Jazz Fest concert

Diana Krall in concert at Place des Arts during the Montreal International Jazz Festival on Sunday, June 26, 2011.







Fuente: www.montrealgazette.com

Montreal Jazz Festival: Diana Krall holds crowd in thrall in solo show

By Jeff Heinrich, The Gazette June 28, 2011


Diana Krall enthralled the crowd at Théâtre Maisonneuve Sunday night with a set that referenced her childhood. The Grammy-winning songstress performs again on Monday and Tuesday.

Diana Krall invited her audience into the living room of her childhood home in Nanaimo, B.C. and, alone at the grand piano with only her dad’s gramophone as a prop for company, played the music she loved as a girl.

It was an intimate show Sunday night at Théâtre Maisonneuve, as Krall put a sold-out hall at ease with standards and surprised with some not-so-standards of the Great American Songbook.

Opening with Peel Me a Grape, she soon launched into a medley of Fats Waller tunes, stamping her black stiletto heels as she pounded away at the keyboard, boogie-woogie style, tossing her blond curls to the rhythm.

Form-fitting, sleeveless black dress aside, it was a far cry from that old Chrysler ad and The Look of Love, more a return to the roots of Krall’s 1995 fest debut when she proved her love for Nat King Cole.

In between songs, she talked fondly of learning her chops from Jimmy Rowles and jamming in Oscar Peterson’s basement, recalled how she was a disaster on third clarinet in her high-school band, and reminisced about listening to jazz on her father’s reel-to-reel tape player and 78-rpm records.

If the audience didn’t always get her jazz references, Krall forgave them. “Thanks for listening to songs you might not have heard before,” she said after introducing something by Bix Beiderbecke and getting no response.

No matter. Whether it was a familiar tune like Don’t Fence Me In or an unfamiliar one like the vintage ode to dope, Reefer Song, Krall’s performance – her first full-length solo concert ever – pulled the crowd into her world.

She closed her 15-song, 80-minute uninterrupted set with a lovely but obscure 1938 movie tune called As Long As I Love and came back for a three-song encore playing – guess what? – a ukulele. Why? Because her childhood hero, Groucho Marx, played one.

She and her husband, Elvis Costello play the instrument in bed, she explained, before softly strumming All I Do Is Dream of You and encouraging her fans to sing along. Few knew the words.

Then it was back to the piano for Krall’s own Departure Bay and, as an adieu, a Prairie Lullaby for her twin boys, Dexter and Frank. Sweet dreams, all.

jheinrich@

montrealgazette.com
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Concert: Harrah's, San Diego, 19-06-2011

Por {impossible princess} - www.flickr.com

Por TameraTammyTam - www.flickr.com

Concert: Harveys on June 18 - 2011

Jazz pianist dazzles crowd; key to memorable weekend

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – Few entertainers are better live than recorded. Diana Krall is one of those musicians.

Though her voice ranges from purring sex kitten to raspy lounge singer, it’s her fingers that are most magical. The way they glide across those ivory keys — lingering, pounding, subtle, but always with such purpose. Oh, the music she creates – at times getting off the bench to put more oomph into the keys.

Jazz really is about the music, with the lyrics secondary.

It’s that free flowing jam session of sorts that makes for songs not always sounding the same each time they are played. They often seamlessly flow into one another without a clear ending or beginning.

Krall returned to Lake Tahoe on June 18 after a four-year break from being part of the Harveys Outdoor Concert Series.

Accompanied by Anthony Wilson, who on guitar seemed like a cross between Leo Kottke and Eric Clapton; Kareem Riggins on drums; and Robert Hurst on bass, the quartet made for a formidable ensemble.

The most disappointing part was they only played for a little more than hour. A close second was having the carnival at Horizon as a backdrop for the audience. Besides the horrible visual, the noise from it was equally as irritating as the people in the row behind us talking loudly through most of the concert.

The 43-year-old Krall interacted a bit more with the audience compared to 2007.

“The amusement park screams remind me of my husband,” Krall said of husband Elvis Costello.

Krall and Costello have been inspired by a variety of musicians, but both have a fondness for the 83-year-old Mose Allison. They have recorded his songs, with Krall singing “Stop this World” on Friday night. It is on her “The Girl in the Other Room” album from 2004.

And it was the Mose Allison Trio that opened for Krall.

“He really is one of my heroes,” Krall said of Allison.

While many could be overheard asking who Allison was, one woman in the eighth row said, “I’ve been waiting to see him since the 1970s.”

The trio started with a classic syncopated jazz beat. This is what makes jazz so hard to do well – it’s off beat.

His lyrics are quirky, like, “Your mind is on vacation and your mouth is working overtime.”

Allison says his prime inspiration in high school was Nat Cole. Cole is also a big part of Krall’s music. She put out an album in 1996 dedicated to the Nat King Cole Trio.

At Harveys she performed a song inspired by Cole, as well one of his originals.

As the sun turned a brilliant orange on this chilly night, the Allison trio wrapped up a nearly 40-minute performance to mixed appreciation from the audience.

After all, it was Krall they came to see. While the parking lot of a casino is not the ideal place to listen to any jazz artist, especially one of Krall’s caliber, it works. Though I still think the South Shore Room would be a better venue for her.

On this mid-June night it was downright cold. Krall at times sat on her hands to warm her fingers. Dressed in black leather jacket and red scarf, her blonde hair blew in the gentle breeze.

For some of her more somber songs like “Abandoned Masquerade”, the carnival behind her was an unfortunate juxtaposition, not to mention at times it drowned out Krall’s vocals.

But, still, she held her own. She is clearly getting better with age.

And ideally as the concert series progresses, there won’t be any more carnivals or cold nights.

Fuente: www.laketahoenews.net