Yoshi's

[Bud]

Nice article in the Chron...

THE SPOT FOR JAZZ
Yoshi's, the Bay Area's jazz oasis, holds a mega-celebration of its 10th anniversary at Jack London Square

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... type=music

[mapache61]

Bud,
Don't know if you're still interested in these shows, but I've seen tickets on ebay lately. Saw one pair go for $300, and another for $400.

[Bud]

Thanks for the tip - I'd heard about them being available on ebay. They exceed my budget for DK concerts for now, especially given my upcoming excursion to Providence.

I'm on Yoshi's list if they release more tickets in June, which they imply they might do. If I get one at a standard price, I'll have to find a way to make it out to the West Coast. It sure is coming up soon!

Thanks again... Bud

[mapache61]

Yeah, $3 to $4 is pretty outrageous. And if I remember correctly, you already have front row for one of your shows.

In other news...the fan club has done it again with the Santa Barbara pre-sale.

Is it really that difficult to send the announcement e-mail the day BEFORE the pre-sale? Is anyone listening???

[gundy516]

So all of you who will be attending the Yoshi concerts are going to report back as soon as you can right????? I can't believe it's tomorrow night; I hope all who are lucky enough to see Diana this weekend have a great time!

[imnoangel1975]

I'll be going to the Saturday night performance and I'll try to take a few notes. You'll be getting a report back from me soon after that.

[mapache61]

I'm going tomorrow (Fri-8pm), but won't be able to report until Tues. However, I'll try to post the setlist before then.

[Andrea]

have fun

[johnfoyle]

http://www.ibabuzz.com/concerts/2007/06 ... ur-opener/

Back from hiatus, Diana Krall wows locals in tour opener

Posted by Jim on June 10th, 2007

The last time jazz superstar Diana Krall played Yoshi’s at Jack London Square was in the spring of 2003. She used the occasion to test out some new material, before venturing into the studio to record what would become 2004’s “The Girl in the Other Room.”

“Instead of rehearsing, we can practice here,” Krall explained to the crowd in Oakland during opening night of that run. “You are all guinea pigs.”

The show indeed felt like a rehearsal and it rarely reached the heights I’d seen Krall routinely hit during previous performances. The audience members, however, didn’t seem to mind _ they were too busy being tickled about seeing the vocalist-pianist in such an intimate venue. Mind you, this jazz great has no problem selling out places 10 times the capacity of Yoshi’s.

On Friday and Saturday, jazz music’s hottest property ventured back to Yoshi’s with a different agenda. She had been off the road for a year _ a near lifetime in jazz terms _ during which she and her husband, rock legend Elvis Costello, celebrated the birth of their twin boys. This time around, Krall was using the small-club setting to dust off the performance cobwebs before embarking on a major North American tour.

The final set of the two-night stand _ the 10 p.m. gig on Saturday _ was absolutely sensational. It was 90 minutes of near-flawless vocal work and musicianship that showed exactly why Krall is the genre’s biggest star. If that was what Krall calls warming up, then crowds are going to be in for real treats when the singer comes back to the Bay Area to perform shows at Wente Vineyards in Livermore (June 19), the Mountain Winery in Saratoga (June 20-21), Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco (Aug. 15) and the Monterey Jazz Festival (Sept. 22).

Backed by a trio of old friends and longtime collaborators _ guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton _ Krall was obviously thrilled to be back onstage and delighting a sold-out crowd that included hubby Costello.

The quartet kicked off the set with a sprint through the standard “I Love Being Here With You” _ a tune that seemed to precisely sum up how the singer felt _ and then proceeded to mine the Great American Songbook and other golden sources in delightfully different ways.

From that fast-paced starter, which also opens 2002’s excellent “Live in Paris” CD, Krall slowed things down and crooned her way through a sexy, breathy version of “You’re Getting to be a Habit With Me” (featured on 1997’s “Love Scenes”).

Her vocal work was superb throughout the evening, especially on tender ballad selections like the bluesy “Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You” (from 1995’s “All For You”). Her piano playing, a bit tentative in spots to start, would cause jaws to drop on such offerings as the “Live in Paris” track “’Deed I Do.”

Krall’s backing band came across like the best in the business. Hamilton, Clayton and, especially, Wilson produced many swift leads that were the equal (or better) than what the star turned out.

Of course, the music is just one part of Krall’s attractive equation. She’s also gone to great lengths to capitalize on her sex appeal, appearing in promotional material and in CD booklets wearing skimpy little dresses and, even, a swimsuit. So, playing the game by her rules, we address the issue of how Krall looked at Yoshi’s.

In a word, va-va-voom!

Krall’s sex appeal, however, has changed since we last saw her. She’s less of a blonde bombshell and more like a mature, worldly _ though equally seductive _ woman. Combine that with a sexy song like “Gee Baby” and you have an even more potent package than what was found in the swimsuit pinup days.

Motherhood, it appears, suits Krall very well. Notably, she comes across more personable than ever as she tells stories and jokes with the crowd about raising two kids. For example, she had fans rolling with laughter when she explained how being a mom has altered her musical repertoire.

“I’ve been singing songs like `Nellie the Elephant’ and `Donald, Where’s Your Trousers?”’ she remarked.

Leaving the kiddie tunes in the toy box _ at least for the moment, since Krall did bring up the idea of making a children’s album _ the vocalist delved back into her vault of standards for glorious versions of “Exactly Like You” and “Willow Weep For Me” (both from Krall’s most recent disc, 2006’s “From This Moment On”).

The quartet returned for an encore that perfectly summed up the experience of seeing Diana Krall at Yoshi’s: “S’Wonderful.”

If you go . . .

Diana Krall in concert

INFO: June 19 at Wente Vineyards, 5050 Arroyo Road, Livermore, $89-$249, (925) 456-2424, www.wentevineyards.com; June 20-21 at the Mountain Winery, 14831 Pierce Road, Saratoga, $55-$97, (408) 741-2822, www.mountainwinery.com; Aug. 15 at Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, $75-$125, Ticketmaster; Sept. 22 at the Monterey Jazz Festival, (925) 275-9255, www.montereyjazzfestival.org

[jazzanddianafan]

Sounds like it was a great show !!..... I can't wait for this weekend in Las Vegas..... and then again in August when she gets here to Eugene.... !!

[imnoangel1975]

Yoshi's - 6/9/07

She was amaaaaaaazing at Yoshi's! We were at the 10 o'clock Saturday performance this past weekend. Diana was wonderful! Her piano work and vocals were spot-on all night. She was loose and fun with the crowd, often joking about "post-pregnancy brain" when she lost her train of thought in mid-sentence. Elvis was in the crowd supporting the Missus but slipped in after the lights went down and slipped back out before they came back up.

After reading the article above, one thing I should note is that Diana did not perform Willow Weep For Me or Exactly Like You at the 10pm show. She did, however, perform A Blossom Fell - a song I've never heard performed live. For me, it was was the highlight of the set - shivers made their way up and down my spine. In the entire set, the only tune she played from the new album was Come Dance With Me. Most of her set included oldies and quite a few came from the All For You album. She even joked that she wishes she could get away from Nat Cole's songs, but can't help being drawn to them.

Anthony Wilson and Jeff Hamilton were in brilliant form - they both amazed the crowd. John Clayton was, as always, very good.

We had wonderful seats. We sat in a booth close to the stage and looked straight at Diana's face all night (who looked gorgeous, btw). The intimate setting offered a rare chance to feel connected to the mega-star who, otherwise, sells out sports arenas. She responded to questions and requests from the crowd, refusing to sing a request for "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" by saying, "ARE YOU CRAZY?" And explained that she needs to teach her children "The Wheels On The Bus" before moving onto "Ten Cents a Dance" in their preschool years, imagining her boys explaining to the teacher, "but Mummy taught me."

It was a wonderful and memorable night. What a FANTASTIC show.

[Andrea]

thanks imnoangel1975...wonderful report

[imnoangel1975]

This sums up the show better than I could. He attended the same performance we did.

From: www.sfgate.com

Gauzy publicity photos and fashion-shoot album covers aside, Diana Krall arrived onstage Saturday at Yoshi's in Oakland ready for business.

She wore a no-nonsense black frock, minimal makeup and no hair products in the ash blond mane that she continually wiped out her face. She played to the bandstand, not the crowd, in her first appearance anywhere in nine months, since giving birth to twin sons in December with her husband, Elvis Costello, who led the standing ovation from a booth in the center of the room.

Krall is an anomaly -- a successful jazz musician who sells millions of records and plays to sold-out crowds at Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl. Her Yoshi's warm-up weekend presages not only her Las Vegas debut this coming weekend -- "I've got my sequins ready to go," she told the Yoshi's crowd -- but dates the following week at wineries in Saratoga, Livermore and Santa Rosa. She returns to Davies Symphony Hall on Aug. 15 and headlines the 50th Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

While she is neither a flashy pianist nor a showy vocalist, Krall is taking jazz places it has never been before.

She is a throwback to a different age, when pianist-singers like Barbara Carroll or Blossom Dearie held forth at Manhattan cabarets. She could be just another jazz singer sitting in a corner of a restaurant were it not for the sum of her parts. But the complete package -- the looks, the expressive piano playing, the dry, carefully etched vocals -- has made her a phenomenon, able to take her music places other, more accomplished jazz musicians can't go.

In the perverse world of jazz -- which, with a number of important exceptions, nevertheless remains largely a male bastion -- Krall's popular success and her record company's marketing efforts on her behalf have led to her frequently being dismissed as a lightweight entertainer, a show-business version of an authentic jazz musician, not the real deal. But Krall is all jazz.

She admits to being a disciple of Nat King Cole and Oscar Peterson, but strains of Erroll Garner and Ray Charles can also be detected in her broad, swinging style. She does not make jazz difficult to understand, never goes far outside. She pumps lots of chords into her playing, a strong melodic approach to keyboard, sturdier than acrobatic, although she is not averse to an occasional, discreet thumb slide down the keyboard.

Her vocals are similarly unvarnished, deceptively simple. She brought a breathy vibrato to "A Blossom Fell" that lit up the interior of the lyric. She could hit the swinging stride of "Come Dance With Me," one of the few pieces from her latest album, "From This Moment On," that she performed during the late show Saturday, comfortably fitting into the song's rapid clip without ever recalling the Sinatra version. She laughed at an audience request for "Over the Rainbow" -- "I don't have the range," she said -- then tucked little quotes from the "Wizard of Oz" soundtrack into her piano solos on the next song.

Her accompanists, guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton, gave Krall the hard-driving, rapturous support of the world class sidemen they are. Hamilton played for many years with the great bassist Ray Brown, who discovered teenage Krall playing in her native British Columbia and convinced her to move to Los Angeles. Guitarist Wilson offered extraordinarily fast, singing solos that punched home the songs.

Fresh off her maternity leave, Krall joked about teaching her kids "Wheels on the Bus" before they learned show tunes but quickly got back to business at hand. "We're playing music for you," she said. "That's what Mommy does."

There may be dozens of crabby old guys who can play circles around her on piano and handfuls of grande dames who can trill away in an upper register Krall has only heard about. Her popularity may outdistance her originality or innate talent. But she is the rarest of jazz species -- a good-looking dame with chops -- and she is going to earn the respect of every audience she faces.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diana Krall: Bay Area tour dates. June 19, Wente Vineyards, Livermore; June 20-21, Mountain Winery, Saratoga; June 24, Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa; Aug. 15, Davies Symphony Hall. ticketmaster.com.
E-mail Joel Selvin at jselvin@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle

[Bud]

Sounds like a great kickoff to the tour. Thanks for your post and the article Ang! And johnfoyle! Sure wish I could have been there. I'll admit that I actually did have a chance at some tickets Yoshi's released early this week, but it was just too late to make travel arrangements

I've been thinking recently about my all time favorite DK song, and A Blossom Fell was right there. I've gone through periods when East of the Sun was pretty high on the list, and also I've Got You Under My Skin. But ABF is the one that still grabs me every time.

I sure hope she does it at one the concerts I'm at. Diana if you're lurking, either Providence or Wolf Trap would do fine!

[mapache61]

Just got home from a fantastic weekend in San Francisco. In a word...WOW! We sat at a front row table for Friday night's show and were literally 4-feet away from DK. I'll dig up my notes and post the setlist before hitting the sack. Review coming tomorrow.

[mapache61]

Yoshi's - Oakland, CA
Friday, June 8
8pm Show

1. I Love Being Here With You
2. Let's Fall In Love
3. You Call It Madness
4. Exactly Like You
5. Deed I Do
6. Let's Face The Music And Dance
7. I Was Doing Alright
8. But Not For Me
9. Devil May Care
10. I'm Walking
ENCORE
11. Little Girl Blue

Review coming soon...

[Coda]

Thanks, everyone, for all the reviews so far. Sounds as if motherhood agrees with Diana, both on and off stage.

[mapache61]

Yoshi’s – Oakland, CA
Friday, 6/8/07
8pm Show

(Apologies in advance for any mistakes. Feel free to correct me.)

At the crack of dawn, we jump in the Mustang and hit the road. Nearly 7 hours after leaving LA, I pull into a parking spot near Yoshi’s. First stop, the box office. It’s 1pm and there’s not a soul in line for the 8pm show’s first-come-first-serve seating. “You guys big Diana Krall fans?” asks the box office girl. “Yeah, this is our 14th show,” I answer, head still humming from the road. “When are you getting in line?” she asks. “Um, right after we check into the luxurious Best Western around the corner,” I say, wondering why she cares.

The Yoshi’s staff has a pool going, betting on the exact time the first DK lunatic lines up. Box office girl has her money on 1:48pm. We decide to line up as soon as possible. When we return at 2:20, to my horror, 3 people have queued up in our absence. Spread out on the chilly, windswept sidewalk in front of the club, they’ve come prepared. Lawn chairs, books, coffee, snacks, warm jackets, you name it. We’re sporting shorts and sipping gin-n-tonic and beer from soda cups, procured from the local fast-food joint.

Yoshi’s doors open at 6pm. We take a reluctant seat on the ground and settle in for the 3-1/2 hour wait. Will it be worth it? The box office assures us that when the doors open, we’ll be given name tags to place on the seats of our choosing. The hours pass surprisingly quickly. We chat with our neighbors (Bay Area locals, didn’t meet any DK Board members), take turns going back to the hotel to change into our stylish concert threads, and make periodic trips across the street to Bev-Mo, the Oakland alcoholic’s superstore.

6pm. We’re in! Two of the first three groups in front of us immediately snag the best tables in the house. Table #5 is directly in front of DK and offers a perfect, dead-on view of her and the keyboard action. Second best table is 6-feet further back. A quick decision to make. And it’s a tough one. Do we sit at #4 with the best-in-house view of Diana’s face, missing the keyboard action? Or do we opt for #6? At this close range (we’re talking 4-feet, 5-feet, max), we’ll catch the tickling of the ivories, but DK’s back will be turned to us during vocals. We go for the former, #4.

The 2-hr wait ‘til 8pm seems to go on forever. Drinks are flowing, but unfortunately, Yoshi’s overpriced sushi leaves much to be desired. We spot John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton wandering through the room, checking out the place. They’re wearing toothy Cheshire Cat smiles. And so are we.

Just after 8pm, the lights dim. Here we go. Huge applause as the band strides on stage. DK, wearing the loose-fitting black dress/frock mentioned in the SF Chron article. Looking radiant as ever, she pulls up a seat at the Steinway grand. Applause dies, and in the momentary silence I say, “Welcome back,” loud enough for her to hear. “Thank you,” she says and launches into I Love Being Here With You. We’re right back in the groove. Like she never left. Piano riffs, cookin’. Jeff Hamilton, a man possessed. But something’s wrong. Vocals are WAY DOWN in the mix. Tough to hear. Because we’re right at DK’s feet, I can hear her un-amplified voice better than anything coming through the speakers. The sound problem is corrected half-way through the tune, and from here on out, the mix is money.

Let’s Fall In Love. Beautiful piano work here. Fantastic keyboard flourishes. DK’s spike-high-heels pumping the Steinway pedals. We’re so close, I can make out the moles and freckles (forgive me, dear lady) on DK’s legs.

Diana takes her first break and talks to the crowd about how “wonderful it is to be back at Yoshi’s, a place that’s very near and dear to my heart.” She goes on. “We’re gonna go back to Nat King Cole for this one,” she says while introducing You Call It Madness. In fact, she’d go on to praise Nat throughout the night. And can you blame her?

A gorgeous, soulful performance of the song from All For You is followed by Exactly Like You, the first number we’d hear from the new record. Jeff takes the early spotlight, drumming with his hands and showing off some subtle brush work. John, channeling the bass gods, works the band into a mellow groove. Everyone smiling. We revisit King Cole with Deed I Do. Another superb Clayton solo here, complemented by Jeff “The Hammer” Hamilton’s ultimate solo of the evening. Wow. Diana ushers everyone back into the main groove and cracks a big smile, clearly pleased with her band, one of the best, if not THE BEST jazz combos on the planet.

Next up, Let’s Face The Music and Dance. My personal highlight. Diana’s vocals, spot-on, “Sooooon, we’ll be with out the moon, humming a different tune, and then…” Smooth, sultry…oh, what the hell, let’s go ahead and say it…sexy!

The proud new mama spends the next break talking about how busy she’s been with her new boys. “I’ve got a blackberry hidden in my piano…I’m getting messages about poops and spit-ups.” Big laughs from the crowd. A woman behind us shouts, “What are your babies’ names?” DK ignores this (doesn’t hear?) and tells a funny story about she and Elvis going through airport security. “They wouldn’t let us check our strollers,” she says, giggling. (By the way, I know the SF Chron reported EC in attendance on Saturday, but I never saw him Friday. Truth be told, I wouldn’t have noticed if he sat down right beside me. Being so damn close, I didn’t want to take my eyes off DK. And jotting down notes proved tough. Afterward, I spent hours deciphering pages of blind scrawl.)

Anthony finally got his chance to shine on I Was Doing Alright. Fingers flying across the fretboard. Eyes shut tight. Feeling every note. Can this cat play, or what?! More stunning piano and vocals from DK here. The second number in the late-set new album combo reveals itself as But Not For Me. Another big highlight. Diana plays this solo on the piano. Vocals, crystal clear. You can hear a pin a drop. The band watches in awe. Words fail me on this one, friends.

We’re sailing familiar waters again with Devil May Care. Lyrics, a bit more rushed than usual. But not at all out of synch with the band. Anthony wows us again. Hamilton drives home another dazzling drum solo. The main set ends with a holdover from the GITOR tour, I’m Walking. No one ever talks about DK’s cover of this, but I love it. Sure, I can name dozens of songs I’d rather hear, but it’s always nice to see the band cut loose on this. Wild applause follows. DK and the boys duck behind the curtain.

In this moment of Krall-euphoria, my waitress suddenly appears with our dinner/bar tab, asking me questions I can’t hear over the crowd noise. Unbelievable. I stand up, pull out my wallet. As I peel out bills, the lights come back up. DK and band are standing front and center, soaking up the loud audience love. The waitress and I stick out like sore thumbs. The band is looking right at us. Embarrassed, and a bit drunk, I turn to them and explain, pathetically, “I’m trying to pay my bill.” Hamilton laughs. I feel like a complete a-hole.

A haunting Little Girl Blue wraps things up. Interesting encore choice, performed beautifully. “Why won’t somebody send a tender blue boy…To cheer up little girl blue.” Elvis? The new babies? I hope so. But whatever the case, WE can be sure DK will always by cheered by her first love. Music.

So where does this show rank in my personal DK concert list? I’d put it at #2, right behind our very first DK concert, New Years Eve 1998-99 at Yoshi’s. Don’t know what it is about this venue. But I love the intimacy of the place. And clearly, DK does, too. My next show is the Hollywood Bowl in August. And it’ll be great, no doubt. Especially with the CHJO and LA Phil. I’m gonna try for the summer-tour-trifecta with either Santa Barbara, Temecula, San Diego or another night at the Bowl. But I doubt any of them will be as special as this. We’ll see…

Enjoy the tour, krallfans. Gonna be a good one. Looking forward to your reviews…
--mapache61

[cutes22]

Thank you for such a wonderful description of the evening. Im sure it surpassed anything I can even imagine. I am so glad she's doing a variety, instead of all from her latest cd. It must have been heaven.

[Andrea]

here are some pics http://www.yoshis.com/backstage/photos