Providence, RI, Providence Perf Arts Ctr, 14 Jun 2009

[Bud]

Rats -- guess I'm not going to get to this one, since its just two days before I'm scheduled to see her in Baltimore. Providence is where I had the great fortune to meet Diana two years ago!

[Bud]

Diana Krall: The Quiet Nights Tour 2009 Comes to Providence Performing Arts Center June 14: http://bit.ly/119aL

Pretty reasonable ticket prices, all things considered. Its a nice venue.

[Bud]

Diana Krall adds some volume to her soft-and-easy ways

Nice review, and no mention of the cold. Good news!

http://www.projo.com/news/content/Diana ... 44c93.html

Diana Krall adds some volume to her soft-and-easy ways

01:00 AM EDT on Monday, June 15, 2009

BY RICK MASSIMO

Journal Pop Music Writer

PROVIDENCE — Diana Krall may be promoting her recent Quiet Nights album, which mixes sambas, bossa novas and standards in such a gentle way that it verges on the sleepy, but in her concert Sunday night at the Providence Performing Arts Center the jazz singer-pianist brought quite a bit more noise than the album would seem to indicate.

Starting off with her usual opener, a fleet-fingered version of Peggy Lee’s “I Love Being Here With You,” Krall seemed determined to shake off the after-effects of her cold and a day with her twin toddlers (“this is the Don’t Eat the Play-Doh Tour,” she cracked later) through sheer energy.

Of course, this is Diana Krall, so things slowed down a bit, with a version of “Let’s Fall in Love” that still had enough swing to entrance, but even then her grand chords at the opening of her solo were a kick. And the two Quiet Nights songs, “The Boy From Ipanema” and “Quiet Nights” (both by Antonio Carlos Jobim), were sold by the easy-going push of drummer Jeff Hamilton, much more insistent than on the record, even though both ended Sunday night with live fade-outs.

Some of Krall’s pianistic highlights came later, with some truly aggressive chordal passages during the solo on “Baby Ain’t I Good to You” and the stride-piano influenced opening to “’Deed I Do.”

The other members of Krall’s backing trio got plenty of chances to have their say as well, particularly Robert Hurst’s lovely bass solo on “Body and Soul” and his bowed solo on “ ’Deed I Do” (which also included a thunderous statement from Hamilton) and guitarist Anthony Wilson’s long guitar solo on “Baby Ain’t I Good to You.”

Krall kept the crowd entertained with monologues in between songs about her home life with husband Elvis Costello (“he’s very busy and important”) and her off-the-wall comparison of her Vancouver Island home with Ipanema, as well as more tales of life on the road with small children (“I’m traveling with my kids — like, forever”).

While Krall tends to select material that’s less well-known than the usual Great American Songbook top 40 (or 15), and that’s a welcome relief, there’s still a time-capsule feel to her appeal, which allows her to impress but can impede the emotional connection. There’s also a heavy reliance on mid-tempo, bouncy swing (“Exactly Like You,” “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” and a whole lot more).

But at other times she broke things up, such as the affecting ballad “P.S. I Love You,” with its piano-and-vocal-only arrangement, and the mostly piano-less, breakneck version of “Devil May Care,” which was one of several pleasant instances when things really felt like they might go off the rails. Krall and her band are skilled enough players that they can afford even more such moments.

rmassimo@projo.com