Hamer Hall, Melbourne, Feb. 10 + 11 + 12, 2014

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http://www.noise11.com/news/diana-krall ... s-20131202

Diana Krall To Perform With Australian Orchestras

Diana Krall will return to Australia to perform with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Perth Symphony Orchestra in February.
The three-time Grammy winner and eight-time Juno winner has released 10 studio albums and sold more than 15 million records.
Diana will have a 42-piece orchestra when she performs in Sydney and Melbourne lead by her long-time conductor Alan Broadbent.

Diana Krall Australian tour dates are:

February 4 and 5, Sydney, Opera House
February 11, Melbourne, Hamer Hall
February 15 and 16, Margaret River, Leeuwin Estate

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The official website has added two more Melbourne dates: Februari 10 and 12, 2014: http://www.dianakrall.com/tour.aspx

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Tickets: http://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/w ... px?id=3992

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http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/mus ... 32fol.html

Diana Krall exudes polished appeal with Hamer Hall performance

Reviewer rating: 3,5 stars out of 5

There aren't many jazz artists who can fill Hamer Hall over three nights - with ease. But as Diana Krall demonstrated on her last visit here in 2010 (when she played at Rod Laver Arena, no less), she has a following that would make many pop artists envious.

Naturally, Krall's soft-focus approach to jazz makes it easily digestible, and her live performances - especially in the company of a symphony orchestra - are never going to provide the sparks or spontaneity of full-blooded contemporary jazz. But the Canadian singer-pianist still has plenty to offer, and she was in a cheerfully expansive mood on Monday night.

The awkwardness that occasionally surfaces in her between-song banter is rather endearing, and suggests a vulnerability to counter the music's glossy sheen.

Under the direction of Alan Broadbent, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra shimmered and glistened in understated arrangements that kept the focus on Krall and her jazz trio (guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist Paul Keller and drummer Karriem Riggins). The quartet-only numbers were a little looser and more playful, Krall often setting aside her seductive vocals to engage her colleagues in animated instrumental dialogues.

We heard plenty of the dreamy standards fare on which Krall has built her reputation, from The Look of Love to So Nice and Quiet Nights. It's a shame she presented only one number from her beguiling - and deeply personal - 2012 album, Glad Rag Doll. Let It Rain was the night's undoubted highlight, performed with the simplicity of a folk song and stripped of any embellishment that might detract from its tender beauty.

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http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainme ... 6823752346

Music review: Diana Krall in Concert, Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne

DIANA Krall has a voice blissfully suited to the gentler side of jazz.

Her lovely alto — dark and feathery one moment, husky and mellow the next — latches onto lyrics and caresses them. And in the first of three Melbourne concerts, in the company of a 42-piece orchestra, Krall’s distinctive vocal style was plain for all to hear.

Shimmying on stage with a three-piece combo (Anthony Wilson on guitar, Paul Keller on bass and drummer Karriem Riggins), the Canadian songstress set the mood straight away with Do It Again — a dreamy reverie about turning out lights and holding each other close.

So Nice, a summer samba, wafted through the room like a cool breeze before Krall — golden hair dancing in the light — launched into a luscious version of Let’s Fall In Love.

In each case, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra players — under the baton of Krall’s longtime conductor Alan Broadbent — lent warmly resonant support, which was all the more admirable for its restraint.

Strings and woodwinds swelled for an exquisite version of Lerner and Loewe’s I’ve Grown Accustomed To His Face, and later Burt Bacharach’s The Look of Love, but the effect in both cases was so discreet, so nuanced, it was as if the orchestra was almost sneaking up on the singer without her knowing.

Krall and her band were just as tight. In an extended set, where the lights dimmed to create a jazz club vibe, Keller wove playful bass lines around Exactly Like You, while Krall dug into the bass end of her keyboard for I Was Doing Alright.

Challenging perceptions of aloofness, Krall chatted amiably about “my husband” (musician Elvis Costello) and admitted her twin boys — tucked up in bed at home in New York — were “not big fans of my music”.

That’s OK. Krall had plenty of them at Hamer Hall, especially when she dedicated Let It Rain to Melburnians “doin’ it hard in this warm weather”, rustled through Antonio Jobim’s palmy Quiet Nights and put the foot down for a quick-tempo take on Irving Berlin’s Cheek to Cheek. To finish? A sultry S’Wonderful.

Deep emotional expression might not be the mark of a Diana Krall concert, but the mood she creates — one of sadness shading into happiness — stays with you long after the music has stopped playing.

Rating: ★★★★