Birmingham review

[scielle]

STEVE JOHNSON
10 November 2004
Evening Mail


DIANA KRALL NIA Academy, Birmingham THERE is no denying that Canadian Diana Krall has come an awful long way in the past few years.

She has staked her claim as one of today"s finest jazz performers and her shining talent as a pianist and singer is beyond question.

But whether the cavernous NIA Academy is the right sort of venue for her laid-back, languid style is open to debate.

It would be churlish though to be too critical. The venue might not have suited her ideally, but Krall remains a top-rate jazz artist.

Her fellow musicians, guitarist Anthony Wilson in particular, complemented her superbly as she worked her way through tracks from her latest album, The Girl In The Other Room. She threw in a great version of Tom Waits" Frank"s Wild Years and put her own distinctive stamp on Black Crow, by Joni Mitchell.