Dallas Morning News
Posted: 09 Oct 2007, 08:39http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 2d901.html
Monday, October 8, 2007
By MICHAEL GRANBERRY
Jazz singers aren't exactly accustomed to being showered with Grammy Awards and making appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Folks who croon the standards of Cole Porter or such steamy classics as "Peel Me a Grape" and " 'S Wonderful" are more likely to perform in quiet, out-of-the-way corners.
But then, none of them go by the name of Diana Krall.
So, why has a shy 42-year-old from a seaport city in British Columbia been able to revel in worldwide recognition?
"Because of my legs," she says without hesitating. "I've got good legs."
Hard to argue with that. Her career certainly has legs. Since her debut with Stepping Out in 1993, Ms. Krall has recorded more than a dozen albums, four of which have gone platinum, selling more than 1 million copies.
When I Look In Your Eyes, her first Verve recording in 1999, won a Grammy for best jazz vocal and became the first jazz disc nominated for album of the year in 25 years.
She's as well known as most rock stars and welcomed in cities around the world, including Dallas, where she will perform at the gala for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the Meyerson on Saturday.
"I think I've been tremendously lucky," she says, stealing a moment before doing a guest spot on Mr. Leno's show. "I was lucky enough to meet Ray Brown, Jeff Hamilton and John Clayton." Mr. Brown is a bassist, Mr. Hamilton a drummer and Mr. Clayton a bassist, arranger and composer, each a major influence in his own right.
"It had been my goal to play with them since I was 16," she says, "and they're sitting in the other room right now. I've been in love with their music for more than 20 years."
She's also in love with rock icon Elvis Costello, whom she married in December 2003. He, too, has had a profound impact on her career, she says, but even more so on her life. She's especially thrilled with being the mother of the couple's twin boys, born nine months ago.
"Elvis has made my life bigger and more inspired," she says in the same dulcet tone that frames her cool, heavy-lidded vocals. "It's just the best thing that's ever happened to me, meeting my husband and marrying him and having two babies. It's a very, very happy and creatively inspired time in my life."
Her work has begun to show it. From This Moment On, released in 2006, about a year before the Sept. 18 release of The Very Best of Diana Krall, showcases her happy life, most evident in the title track, a Cole Porter ode to great expectations. It contains the famous couplet, " "No more blue songs/Only whoop-dee-doo songs."
At the same time, she remains even more capable of delivering a heartbreak ballad. Her cover of "A Case of You," a classic penned by fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell, may be the best ever.
"I feel like I'm getting more inside that song," says Ms. Krall. "It's like a little play. It's a great play. I was talking to somebody about it just last night, and we were breaking it down, asking, 'Why do I find it such a challenge every single night?' "
Incredibly, Ms. Krall is not that content with her recorded version, which appeared on the Live in Paris album five years ago. She's much happier with recent live attempts and looks forward to singing it in Dallas, where a full orchestra will accompany her for the first time in years.
Ms. Krall is nothing if not versatile. Born in Nanaimo, B.C., she was the daughter of a father she adored, a stride-style pianist and serious record collector.
She grew up listening to Dad's vast vinyl collection and fell in love with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett, who is now a close friend. Before recording her first album, Mr. Brown and pianist Jimmy Rowles urged her to focus more on her singing, which she says has only gotten better because of the joy in her personal life.
"I'm happy doing ' 'S Wonderful' or a Tom Waits tune or a Joni Mitchell tune or a Nat King Cole tune and just love to mix it all up," she says. "I do what I feel like doing and don't have a particular agenda. And I feel like that's a really good place to get to.
"I'm not trying to prove anything to anybody. I walked in this morning, and John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton were sitting across from me. I said to them, 'I just love my life. I really love my life.' "
Even so, she isn't getting much sleep, with a pair of babies in the picture.
"Who knows?" she says with a laugh. "Maybe I'm on that psychedelic sleep-deprivation high"
Monday, October 8, 2007
By MICHAEL GRANBERRY
Jazz singers aren't exactly accustomed to being showered with Grammy Awards and making appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Folks who croon the standards of Cole Porter or such steamy classics as "Peel Me a Grape" and " 'S Wonderful" are more likely to perform in quiet, out-of-the-way corners.
But then, none of them go by the name of Diana Krall.
So, why has a shy 42-year-old from a seaport city in British Columbia been able to revel in worldwide recognition?
"Because of my legs," she says without hesitating. "I've got good legs."
Hard to argue with that. Her career certainly has legs. Since her debut with Stepping Out in 1993, Ms. Krall has recorded more than a dozen albums, four of which have gone platinum, selling more than 1 million copies.
When I Look In Your Eyes, her first Verve recording in 1999, won a Grammy for best jazz vocal and became the first jazz disc nominated for album of the year in 25 years.
She's as well known as most rock stars and welcomed in cities around the world, including Dallas, where she will perform at the gala for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the Meyerson on Saturday.
"I think I've been tremendously lucky," she says, stealing a moment before doing a guest spot on Mr. Leno's show. "I was lucky enough to meet Ray Brown, Jeff Hamilton and John Clayton." Mr. Brown is a bassist, Mr. Hamilton a drummer and Mr. Clayton a bassist, arranger and composer, each a major influence in his own right.
"It had been my goal to play with them since I was 16," she says, "and they're sitting in the other room right now. I've been in love with their music for more than 20 years."
She's also in love with rock icon Elvis Costello, whom she married in December 2003. He, too, has had a profound impact on her career, she says, but even more so on her life. She's especially thrilled with being the mother of the couple's twin boys, born nine months ago.
"Elvis has made my life bigger and more inspired," she says in the same dulcet tone that frames her cool, heavy-lidded vocals. "It's just the best thing that's ever happened to me, meeting my husband and marrying him and having two babies. It's a very, very happy and creatively inspired time in my life."
Her work has begun to show it. From This Moment On, released in 2006, about a year before the Sept. 18 release of The Very Best of Diana Krall, showcases her happy life, most evident in the title track, a Cole Porter ode to great expectations. It contains the famous couplet, " "No more blue songs/Only whoop-dee-doo songs."
At the same time, she remains even more capable of delivering a heartbreak ballad. Her cover of "A Case of You," a classic penned by fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell, may be the best ever.
"I feel like I'm getting more inside that song," says Ms. Krall. "It's like a little play. It's a great play. I was talking to somebody about it just last night, and we were breaking it down, asking, 'Why do I find it such a challenge every single night?' "
Incredibly, Ms. Krall is not that content with her recorded version, which appeared on the Live in Paris album five years ago. She's much happier with recent live attempts and looks forward to singing it in Dallas, where a full orchestra will accompany her for the first time in years.
Ms. Krall is nothing if not versatile. Born in Nanaimo, B.C., she was the daughter of a father she adored, a stride-style pianist and serious record collector.
She grew up listening to Dad's vast vinyl collection and fell in love with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett, who is now a close friend. Before recording her first album, Mr. Brown and pianist Jimmy Rowles urged her to focus more on her singing, which she says has only gotten better because of the joy in her personal life.
"I'm happy doing ' 'S Wonderful' or a Tom Waits tune or a Joni Mitchell tune or a Nat King Cole tune and just love to mix it all up," she says. "I do what I feel like doing and don't have a particular agenda. And I feel like that's a really good place to get to.
"I'm not trying to prove anything to anybody. I walked in this morning, and John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton were sitting across from me. I said to them, 'I just love my life. I really love my life.' "
Even so, she isn't getting much sleep, with a pair of babies in the picture.
"Who knows?" she says with a laugh. "Maybe I'm on that psychedelic sleep-deprivation high"
Now I understand completely, thanks again. 