Krall gets personal, seduces with jazz stylings - Aug 10

[johnfoyle]

http://www.jsonline.com/onwisconsin/mus ... 250293.asp

Krall gets personal, seduces with jazz stylings
By DAVE TIANEN

dtianen@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 10, 2004

After "The Look of Love" went platinum in 2001, one might have expected Diana Krall to take up residence in the Boomer Pop Songbook that fueled much of that outing.



Instead, her music kept its platinum status but took a distinctly personal turn. Tuesday night at the Milwaukee Theatre, Krall returned to town touring behind "The Girl in the Other Room," her first album to feature original material.

This was a different performer from the pop-leaning songstress who last visited the Marcus Center. The cocktail dress glamour gave way to jeans and a loose blouse, and the jazz side of Krall reasserted itself with the able support of her trio of Anthony Wilson on guitar, Peter Erskine on drums and Robert Hurst on bass. In keeping with the change of direction, Krall was able to take more time as a soloist herself, roaming freely over "Sometimes I Just Freak Out" and "All or Nothing At All." As a pianist, Krall tends to be more adventurous than she is as a singer, improvising freely at the keyboard but staying relatively close to home vocally.

As one might expect, there was a generous serving of "The Girl in the Other Room," but somewhat surprisingly, most of it came from the album's covers: Joni Mitchell's "Black Crow," Tom Waits' "Temptation" and Mose Allison's "Stop This World." Neither of the songs about her marriage to Elvis Costello and the loss of her mother made the cut.

As a vocalist, Krall still is reminiscent of Peggy Lee. There's a cool sensuality and slight detachment that turns a piece such as "Temptation" into a slow seductive meltdown. There's also at least a hint that her husband may be nudging her ever so slightly toward rock 'n' roll. The regular set closed with Fats Domino's old chestnut "I'm Walkin', " and the last encore was Elton John's "Border Song."

Unfortunately, Krall's set was marked by one of those violations of basic concert etiquette that stretch everyone's patience. The Milwaukee Theatre posts a warning to turn off cell phones on its two projection screens before shows, but right in the middle of "Let's Face the Music and Dance," some goober's phone started chirping. To her credit, Krall didn't stop to allow the ushers to publicly flog the offender, but immediately afterward she broke into a little impromptu Chris Montez rewrite: "If you're feeling sad and lonely, don't call me."