DK in Sydney - Charm and Beauty in Fine Company

[wush]

From the Sydney Morning Herald (and what a title!):

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Review/Charm-and-beauty-in-fine-company/2005/04/19/1113854199227.html

Diana Krall, Concert Hall, April 18
review by John Shand
Apr 20, 2005

This was a much more involving concert than Diana Krall offered three years ago. She seemed more at ease, both in her own skin and on the stage. She has improved as a singer, has some fine new songs and a band of the highest calibre.

Most of Krall's fans probably went to hear her sing. What they were presented with was a jazz quartet: her voice and piano, the guitar of Anthony Wilson, the bass of Robert Hurst and the drums of Karriem Riggins being all featured more or less equally.

This was smart on Krall's part. She may be the main attraction, but her collaborators are musical stars in their own right. Crucially, however, while her own work may sometimes be flattered by their brilliance, it is never out of place in their company. As a pianist she can draw out the drama of a song and help to propel it, or she can distil a fragile beauty with her solo accompaniment.

Her singing glows more than it used to. Krall can now nail a song such as Boulevard of Broken Dreams so much more convincingly than when she recorded it a decade ago, aided by an evocative arrangement in which the guitar curled around sparse bass and drums with a slight aura of echo.

She tore across Devil May Care at a dangerous tempo (against fiery lighting on the curtains framing the mountainous landscape backdrop), and slumped into tenderness for You Call It Madness.

Much of her best singing came on the songs written with her husband, Elvis Costello, where her emotional commitment seemed intrinsically heightened. The Girl in the Other Room, Abandoned Masquerade and the solo encore, Departure Bay, are beautifully crafted pieces replete with musical surprise, and they all pulsed with intensity.

If being tied to the piano - even when not playing - was still Krall's security blanket, she was chattier, more charming and more relaxed than before, swivelling her endless legs around to face Riggins whenever he took one of his startling solos. Hurst, too, was routinely extraordinary, although his sound was not quite as warm in the Concert Hall as it may be elsewhere (just as the piano was a little shrill on occasion).

Wilson produced many telling solos, including biting deep into Tom Waits's Temptation, another song that Krall made her own.

Diana Krall plays at the Concert Hall tonight.

[wush]

Ahhh.. Didn't realize that Scielle has beaten me to it and posted this article in the "DK Down Under" thread!

You seem to be always one step ahead, Scielle!

[verena]

Anyway that won't do Wush. You got to give your own impressions man, for the latest concert (when you feel up to that is of course, understood).
So what was the list of songs? And which one(s) did you like best?

Good article above (let us encourage the press here, it's important to keep them writing).
One point wrong though, it would appear. Most fans don't go to hear her sing, no, this is only on the side. They go for the straps and heels, that is, in addition to the hairtoss obviously.

Oh, and have a good time tomorrow night...

[Coda]

And maybe some go for the "endless legs" as well! Besides the hair toss and the strappy heels. And the piano and the voice. And the swingin' jazz.

[Bubbles]

Hi, I'm new
Maybe it's because I was in a seat near the back, but I didn't quite enjoy the Sydney concert (last week) as much as I did when she came last year. I felt it was more commercialized and less personal. She played in a much smaller concert hall last year and a 4 piece band was just right... but in the main auditorium of the Opera House that was packed full... I think maybe she should have considered hiring a small quartet or more musicians so the sound would have been more proportionate to the space. Of course she could then revert to solo acts, 4-piece band etc in certain songs.
Also she really should have added in a few of her old hits like Cry me a river or look of love. Even in medley form would have been sufficient. I had friends that went that were disappointed that she didn't play some of her old stuff... and too much of that new stuff written by her hubby! I mean some of them are great, (girl in the other room etc...classics) but i think there should have been a balance. Other than that, the musicianship was generally fantastic, as always and it was just a pleasure seing her perform.

Hope this doesn't offend anyone, it's just one opinion!!

[Coda]

Welcome, Bubbles!

[TheViolinSkirt]

Your opinions are always welcome here Bubbles.

[wush]

Hi, I'm new
Maybe it's because I was in a seat near the back, but I didn't quite enjoy the Sydney concert (last week) as much as I did when she came last year. I felt it was more commercialized and less personal. She played in a much smaller concert hall last year and a 4 piece band was just right... but in the main auditorium of the Opera House that was packed full... I think maybe she should have considered hiring a small quartet or more musicians so the sound would have been more proportionate to the space. Of course she could then revert to solo acts, 4-piece band etc in certain songs.
Also she really should have added in a few of her old hits like Cry me a river or look of love. Even in medley form would have been sufficient. I had friends that went that were disappointed that she didn't play some of her old stuff... and too much of that new stuff written by her hubby! I mean some of them are great, (girl in the other room etc...classics) but i think there should have been a balance. Other than that, the musicianship was generally fantastic, as always and it was just a pleasure seing her perform.

Hope this doesn't offend anyone, it's just one opinion!!

Actually, you are right. Come to think of it, Diana did not play a single number from the Look of Love Album. It was either the new stuff or the much older songs such as Boulvard of Broken Dreams and even Straighten Up and Fly Right.

I suppose without a full orchestra backing, it would be difficult to do songs from LOL..