Tweaking expectations - Tennessee concert preview

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Tweaking expectations


Jazz pianist Diana Krall has gone a different direction with her music in her newest release, The Girl in the Other Room.


By LUCAS HENDRICKSON
For The Tennessean

Jazz pianist Krall extends herself with Costello's help

Snapshots, be they visual or aural, shape the careers of every musician, something Diana Krall struggles with every time she steps onstage.

''It's frustrating to be defined by 12 songs and a few pictures, so when you're touring, that's when you enter another phase,'' the Grammy-winning jazz pianist says. ''The songs change and evolve, and you can throw in Don't Fence Me In in the middle of it if you want to.''

Don't Fence Me In? Really? ''It's great, it's spontaneous, and people react to it or they don't,'' Krall laughs. ''The audience might not know you're making a bit of a statement, but it's something I find enjoyable.''

Tweaking with other peoples' expectations is something the native of British Columbia has been doing for most of her decade-plus as a recording artist. Jazz purists are about as hard to please as country music fans, yet Krall's smoky spin on jazz standards has found both critical and popular acclaim through albums such as 1995's All for You, 1999's When I Look in Your Eyes and 2002's Live in Paris.

On her new album, The Girl in the Other Room, Krall takes another step forward as an artist, meshing material from songwriters such as Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell and Mose Allison with original compositions Krall created with new husband Elvis Costello.

As for the reason behind finally throwing her own music out to the masses, Krall sighs and admits, ''Well, it's just time, you know. The right time to do it and the right collaborator.

''I don't think there was a lot of jumping up and down initially when people heard what we'd done, because it was a departure from what I'd done that had given me my initial success,'' Krall says of the darker, more atmospheric tracks she created with Costello.

''But there was certainly honesty and support once we'd delivered the music.''

But longtime fans needn't worry that Krall will veer away from mining the depths of jazz's rich history now that she's shared a few songs of her own with the public. Fans should, however, choose their words carefully when talking to Krall about the songs she chooses.

''I hate the word 'covers' because — not that I'm putting myself in the same category — but I never thought of Ahmed Jamal or Miles Davis 'covering' tunes, you know?'' Krall says.

''I thought they were creative canvases that forced them to stretch and pull and make them different. I've always found it harmonically interesting to re-interpret things and find new meaning in everything I've done.

''But I can't say I'm not satisfied by interpreting standards, because I'm out there playing Let's Face the Music and Dance and I'm finding it more inspiring currently than I did when I recorded it,'' she says.

''It's like a great play that you keep discovering every night if you're acting in it. I'm just fortunate that I've had the opportunity to do both. It's a bit eclectic, but in live performances, it's pretty exciting.''

Getting there

Diana Krall with Ollabelle, 7:30pm Wednesday at Jackson Hall, TPAC, 505 Deaderick St. Tickets: $55.25-$65.25, available through Ticketmaster or the box office. Ticketmaster.com, 255-9600