Vancouver

[keylargokid]

I think I remember a Vancouver thread. OK so now I have tickets for both nights. Does anybody want to get together for drinks?

[North Vancouver]

Nice show for Friday night.

We were sitting up in the Upper Balcony nose bleed section for opening act Brad Turner. At intermission - somebody came by and asked if anybody would like better seats. My mother answered the call - then found me chatting with friends at the Lower Balcony.

I helped her find our new seats.
Row 17 - Left Centre - on the aisle!!!!
Incredible seats!
And I sat next to two very pretty young ladies who were friends of somebody in the band - and who had just flown in from Hong Kong that day.

Let's hope she changes the set list for Friday night.
I'm sitting in the DK Club section - right side - row 13.

[scielle]

Welcome N.V.! Now, what was the set list?

There's an interesting thread developing on the Vancouver Jazz Forum.

And here's some info about tonight's opening act (title's a bit deceptive...)

'Kralling' Home
Vancouver's Laila Biali opens for Diana Krall at the Vancouver Jazz Festival.
By Caroline Dobuzinskis

BC's twenty-four year old Laila Biali received double honors Tuesday at this year's National Jazz Awards in the categories of keyboardist and composer. And this Saturday, the Laila Biali Trio will perform as Diana Krall's opening act for the kick off Vancouver's International Jazz Festival.

Comparisons to Krall began well before this. "You know, I get excited when people say things to me like you are going to be the next Diana Krall," Biali told The Tyee. But even though Biali sees herself as musically distinct from Krall, she appreciates their shared West Coast roots.

Krall attended school in Nanaimo, and Biali graduated from the renowned jazz program at North Vancouver's Handsworth Secondary School in 1998. Then both benefited from the vibrant Vancouver jazz scene.
...
For Biali, this Saturday's performance will be a welcome homecoming that will give her a chance to showcase the uniqueness of her voice to Vancouver's discriminating audience-and to some familiar critics. "The thought of my piano teacher, whom I haven't seen in seven years, somebody who contributed so significantly to my musical life for over eleven years being in the audience of the Diana Krall concert...it freaks me out a little bit," said Biali.

The Laila Biali Trio, with special guest Phil Dwyer, will open for Diana Krall at the Orpheum Theatre on Saturday June 25. On Sunday, June 26 at noon the Trio will be performing at the CBC Jazz Cafe in the studios at 700 Hamilton Street.

Read the rest here: http://www.thetyee.ca/Entertainment/2005/06/24/KrallingHome/

That's a shame about the Ottawa debacle - she has an angelic voice. I'd much rather see Laila any day over the current opening act arrangement, which I believe is Denzal Sinclaire. Isn't the whole point of opening acts to introduce ppl to new talent that might be of interest to those who came to see the main act? I'd say Laila fits the bill much more so than Denzal...

24-year-old is the jazz composer of the year
Mike Doherty. National Post. Don Mills, Ont.: Jun 23, 2005. pg. AL.3

Look over the list of this year's National Jazz Award recipients, and you'll find quite a few familiar names. Phil Nimmons, Don Thom- pson, Dave Young, Mike Murley ... On the one hand, these are fine musicians deservedly being rewarded for their contributions; on the other, the list, whose nominees were chosen by jazz insiders and winners voted on by the public, brings to mind an old boys' club. Nevertheless, it does contain at least one pleasant surprise: the keyboardist and composer of the year is 24-year-old Laila Biali.

Speaking from her parents' house in North Vancouver, the Toronto- based Biali, who earlier this year released her debut CD, Introducing the Laila Biali Trio, expresses wonder at having won these prestigious awards, as opposed to, say, a secondary prize for "sportsmanship." She's also quick to put her youth in perspective.

"I don't feel young," she says. "It's crazy!" The effusive Biali started playing classical piano by the age of four; by 12, she was playing the Royal Conservatory's ARCT diploma-level repertoire. "I was surrounded by progressively younger prodigies. I had arm problems when I was 15, so those hopes of becoming a concert pianist were dashed. When I entered the jazz world unofficially in my late teens, and more officially in my early twenties, I was like, 'Man, I'm like yesterday's supper. I'm old news.'

"I had the opportunity to get my feet sprinkled -- not even wet - - in late high school. These kids who are getting into it already when they're nine, 10 -- we didn't have that exposure. I see these 'jazz moms,' and they're pushing the kids."

Surely pushing one's young children to learn jazz is a labour of love; there are much more lucrative pursuits one could adopt at an early age. It's difficult to earn a good living playing a style of music that had its commercial apogee over 40 years ago, unless, of course, you're Diana Krall.

Unsurprisingly, Biali, who sings as well as plays the piano, has earned more than her share of comparisons to Canada's ubiquitous jazz siren. She's eager to downplay them all, and with good reason - - Biali's music is much more stylistically wide-ranging than that of her remarkably popular compatriot. And while Biali and her trio are opening for Krall at the Vancouver Jazz Festival on Saturday, she plans to veer as far away from Krall's musical territory as possible -- a decision that wasn't entirely hers.

"We were actually supposed to open for her in Ottawa," she recalls, "but her management said, 'We can't have somebody who's female, playing piano and singing.' And I went, 'Oh well that's strange, 'cause I'm opening for her in Vancouver.' I thought I was going to lose both gigs; it ended up being quite the ordeal." Biali sent Krall's management a disc of mainly instrumental material, and they eventually consented, with the proviso that she not sing for the bulk of her gig. Apparently, the stage is big enough for only one jazz diva.

But Biali doesn't have a bad word to say about Krall, who, she contends, "swings her butt off." She's also keen to impart some of the intimacy and accessibility of Krall's music into her next album. Biali often composes pieces that diverge greatly from the mainstream; in fact, the convoluted melody of one of the pieces she wrote for her now-defunct octet was two minutes long. "I have dealt with the tension between wanting to please the musicians' community and the general public," she says. Lately, she's been worrying about "pushing boundaries a little bit too much and start isolating myself. It will alienate the audience to some degree."

Biali remembers one fateful gig not long ago at the Pilot Lounge, in Toronto's Yorkville, with her trio (Brandi Disterheft on bass and Sly Juhas on drums). "We were playing original stuff, and two people who love me dearly gave me a real talking-to. They walked up and said, 'What are you doing?' One even yelled from the audience at one point, 'Play something that swings!' That's where I would say, 'You know what, it ain't a bad thing to listen to what they're asking for.' I wouldn't say that that's untrue to who we are musically. People want that release."

Despite her relatively late start in jazz, swing rhythms come naturally to Biali, and even her most complex tunes tend to have memorable hooks. After a spate of upcoming gigs, including a set for the Montreal Jazz Festival's GM Prize competition in early July with a new sextet and a tour of China with flautist Ron Korb in September and October, she'll turn her attention to "woodshedding," or intense practicing, and writing music both for her next recording and for the new octet she leads with bassist Mike McClennan, Flight of Whimsy. She's eager to justify fans' having voted for her, and to challenge herself as a musician.

"I have the sense that something big is going to happen," she enthuses. "I don't just mean, like, 'Yeah, I'm going to sell a million records.' I mean it in terms of who I am as a musician and a person, and what I long to share with people. It's really a beautiful thing to realize you are at the beginning of your career, and celebrate the fact that things change."

[cb0020]

Hello there all.. I have been visiting your board off and on, but new to posting, but here goes..

last night was really fantastic. The crowd was really up for her and showed much appreciation. I have not seen so few empty seats at a show for quite a while, and since it was the opening night of the 20th anniversary of our jazz festival. It has grown so much in that time, and it is now quite an event.

so, the song order is off, and I did not know one of the songs.. not to suggest it is off the new upcoming album, but????

she was in fine form , funny and relaxed ,even though she mentioned it was tough playing for a home town crowd, as she was quite shy..

love being here with you
girl in the other room
boulevard of broken dreams
deed I do
jockey full of bourbon
little girl blue
face the music and dance
my shining hour
almost blue
devil may care- this she played earlier in the list I think

encore was

dont fence me in
departure bay

I know I have forgotten something. the band was superb, they played for an hour and a half or so, and lots of great solos from all

her introduction " ladies and gentleman, miss diana krall" was Elvis's recorded voice I do believe.. but she mentioned he couldnt be here tonight and when the crowd let out a kind of disapointed groan, she said

" yeah, i know how you feel... bummer!!"
or something along those lines...

another little annecdote is that she did start to talk about her Christmas album and that she was in the process of working on it and that she thought she might play us something from it. When the audience started clapping for that she said.. "well it aint going to happen, if I start up then all hell will break loose, and we cant have that " and then played something else... but snuck in a few bars of a christmas song anyway( for the love of god, I cant remember which!!)

so, there we are, great show, going again tonight and have a killer front row seat this eve...

hope to see a bit of a variation to add to my Diana Krall concert going memories..

take care everyone

[smooth_jazz_]

Jockey Full of Bourbon! That's great song! And Diana sang it wonderful (in Warsaw)! I hope in Vancouver too

[johnfoyle]

her introduction " ladies and gentleman, miss diana krall" was Elvis's recorded voice I do believe.. but she mentioned he couldnt be here tonight and when the crowd let out a kind of disapointed groan, she said

" yeah, i know how you feel... bummer!!"
or something along those lines...

Give or take a few time zones , Elvis was on stage at the rain 'n mud sodden Glastonbury festival in England.



see

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB2 ... php?t=3534

[cb0020]

Yes, John Foyle, she mentioned he was there.... " in the mud"

pretty ghastly photo!!

[keylargokid]

Having been to both nights I must say that I admire Diana for her continued evolvement in style and grace. I first saw her live in San Francisco back in '98. Will at the time she was a beautiful artist during her concert she would stick more faithfully to the sound of the recorded songs that were out. Over the years she has become more comfortable and relaxed on stage. These last two nights have made a nice completion to the years I have been listening (I have had the chance to attend 15 concerts.) The very first concert I attended in '98 she played a moving rendition of BOBD. Since then I have been hoping that she she would touch on that song again. Well now she has. Though both nights were beautiful I think Saturday night both she and the band were both more on. They seemed more into what they were doing more heartfelt in the songs they were playing. As always these nights I will carry among my fondest memories as it is always such a joy to be in the presence of such a great artist.

P.S. I would love to here Diana's take on more Tom Waits songs.

[scielle]

A nice blog review here:
http://www.blog.ca/main/index.php/taofmetta_thisismylife/2005/06/26/a_night_with_diana_krall

When she got to me the first thing that she said was "Nice shirt...,nice to meet you." I'm going to wear that shirt everyday, or at least everytime I do wear it I'll be sure to tell everyone that Diana Krall liked it.

[North Vancouver]

I Love Being Here With You
Girl in the other room
boulevard of broken dreams
deed I do
jockey full of bourbon
little girl blue
face the music and dance
my shining hour
almost blue
devil may care- this she played earlier in the list I think

encore was

dont fence me in
departure bay

Add to Friday nights show that she did:
"Stop This World"
"I Like It"?

Saturday Night's Show also added to the beginning of her encore:
"Frim Fram Sauce" to which she added a Christmas Song chorus (I forget which one now...) Saturday night also dropped Tom Waits' Jockey Full of Bourbon and I think added something else...
Saturday night was also almost 2 hours long I think. WOW! She started at 9:20pm, and it was 11:15 when she finally finished.

I attended both shows... Friday & Saturday.
sitting in Row 17 Left Centre the first night, then Row 13 Right on the second night.

Both shows were excellent but the 2nd show really seemed to be much better. I almost cried at the end of Boulevard of Broken Dreams - it was so achingly beautiful. This was very nice, because the last shows I saw her do in Vancouver 2002, and Woodinville 2004 - paled in comparison to the previous years. This weekend was incredible. I worried that two nights in a row would make the show seem stale. But the the 2nd show seemed fresh and immediate. Similar topics, but the delivery was different each time. Bravo Diana! Next time, I'm going to two shows in Vancouver again!

[Coda]

Thanks for the new posts, people!

About the guy who blogged about getting to meet Diana: I want to know how he got to do that! Lucky dude!

I so wish I could attend one of Diana's upcoming concerts in Toronto, but, alas, the timing doesn't work for me.

[jazzanddianafan]

Just got in from Vancouver this afternoon....... two GREAT shows !!!!!..... (if pressed, I would say that Saturday they were more relaxed and playful - and the sound system was functioning better)..... But the highlight of the trip for me had to be Friday night when I again got to talk a bit with Diana after the show !!!!!.....

A very gracious new friend of mine was kind enough to arrange for me and my guest to have backstage passes for the first night...... because Diana was in her home turf, there was lots of family arround, but Friday was deeemed the best night to allow me access...... The show started off shakey when the sound system sputtered and cluncked to life for Anthony Wilson during the first song.... and personally, the sound on the bass was never loud enough throughout the entire night for my taste.... Diana's piano, however, sounded great and I enjoyed that she played quite a lot on her own..... A great show all arround, but one of the highlights for me was an amazing version of Boulevard of Broken Dreams !!!.... this version HAS GOT to be recorded..... it was fantastic !!!!.....

I think I noticed that Anthony changed his style just a bit this time arround..... while he had several solo bits - and did them in his usual incredibly talented way - I thought he 'scaled back' to a much more understated and supportive style than I have heard before..... I think it worked very well and I very much enjoyed it.....

Well, on to the 'after show'...... after most of the crowd filed out, about 15-18 or so of us were led to a room under the stage and we waited a few minutes for Diana to arrive.... I met Michelle and we chatted for a bit and I said 'hello' to one or two of the members of Diana's staff I had met after the UCLA show..... then Diana came in.... it looked to me like quite a few of the people must have been family or close friends because as she worked her way around the room she took a good while with each and exchanged hugs with many.... I had given my guest my camera and the job of getting a picture of Diana and I, if possible. It was beginning to look like pictures were just not the thing to do, until I saw a flash !!...... then I knew I had to just be a 'fan' and ask..... when Diana got to us, we introduced ourselves, talked a short bit about the UCLA gig and a few other quick things and then I asked if she would mind if I just became a 'big fan' and got a picture.... she said ok, and I found myself with my arm around Diana Krall, her arm around my waist and saw the flash of my camera !!!!....... What a night !!!...... after she moved on to others in the room, we slipped out, riding up the elevator with Michelle to the stage door exit.....

As of this writing, I have not seen the picture yet..... it is currently at the 1 hour developer and will be put in an urgent email to Remi ASAP - if he would be so kind as to 'host' it and put it at the end of this message.....

Vancouver is a beautiful city and I will post elsewhere about our exploring of the sights while there.....

I still can't believe it !!!........an unforgettable vacation..... and an unforgettable 2 nights of great music !!!

[scielle]

Well, well, I see you're keeping pretty nice company there...
Must be quite special for Diana to do these Canadian jazz fests, I bet the audience is full of family and friends, former mentors, jam buddies... yuppies who shook hands on deals right through her corporate gigs back in the day, now paying $100 a pop to see her live... Ah, ain't life funny
Hope you managed to sneak in a word of thanks to Michelle for being such a good sport!

[scielle]

Encore makes the point: KRALL ENTHRALLS: Pianist's song choice a personal plea
Tom Harrison. The Province. Vancouver, B.C.: Jun 26, 2005. pg. C.7

Maybe Diana Krall was making a point by encoring with "Don't Fence Me In."

Seemingly a spontaneous choice, "Don't Fence Me In" nevertheless illustrated how she'd arrived at a crossroads in her career.

Krall was the headiner for the 20th anniversary of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, which runs until July 3 and kicked off in winning form with her two sold-out shows at the Orpheum, Friday and last night.

If you only know Krall from car ads or contributions to soundtracks, or from her reputation as someone who interprets pop standards, or as the jazz singer that married songwriter Elvis Costello, then you don't have an accurate picture.

"It's about the playing," said Shaw Saltzberg before the performances. He's one of the higher-ups at S.L. Feldman, the prominent booking agency, and the company that manages Krall. He was right.

Appearing in heels, tight fitting jeans, and a camisole topped by a short jacket on Friday, Krall went straight to her piano, followed by Anthony Wilson (guitar), Robert Hurst (bass) and Karrium Riggins (drums).

From the beginning, she established her territory. The pianist exuded authority but pointedly interacted generously with her band. The first number, "I Love Being Here," had room for the first of many solos for each member of the band. Sometimes, Krall would just sit cross-legged and sing, or she would turn on her stool and listen to them play.

Her concert wasn't filled with obvious choices of standards. One of the few was "Sunny Side Of The Street," which she performed alone.

Appearing self-conscious before a "hometown" audience (she's actually from Nanaimo), Krall also performed the title track from her recent album, The Girl In The Next Room. This also illustrates how she won't be fenced in. The song is self-written, and among her first attempts.

It marks another move away from what people might think about Diana Krall. Perhaps those standards don't speak to her as before and now she has something more specific to say.

Perhaps, too, that her choice of songs was to put attention back on what's important to her: the playing.

In that regard, the concert(s) at the Orpheum were Krall winning back what she values.

She won't be fenced in.

[scielle]

Krall enthralls all in B.C. homecoming
By Paul de Barros
Seattle Times jazz critic


VANCOUVER, B.C. — Diana Krall pulled the starter cord on the 20th anniversary of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival on Friday night amid the glamour of the Orpheum Theatre.

It was hard to imagine a more fitting opener.

It's not just that Krall, the most famous living jazz singer in the world, happens to be a hometown girl (from Nanaimo, B.C.) or that she was nurtured as a young talent by Vancouver's farsighted festival directors.

All that's important, but Krall also symbolizes Vancouver's brilliant — and rare — blend of uncompromising musicality with marketplace success.

Neither snobbishly avant-garde nor crassly commercial, the festival puts it all out there — from divas to dadaists to dervishes — and lets the public decide. With its new title sponsor, TD Canada Trust, firmly in place after a tentative transition period, the festival is back to its old ambitious self.

Krall didn't disappoint the locals. Dressed in high heels and jeans and a bejeweled white toreador jacket, the dazzling blond singer/pianist strode purposefully to the piano, as she always does, diving into "I Love Being Here With You."

This was originally a signature song of Ernestine Anderson, whom Krall later acknowledged after scatting a lick she also borrowed from Anderson, on "The Sunny Side of the Street."

Though it took Krall a few songs to loosen up, once she did, she and her quartet — Anthony Wilson, guitar; Robert Hurst, bass; and Karriem Riggins, drums — spun out a joyful, swinging set, chock full of instrumental solos, lick-trading and vivacious vocals.

She made no secret about being madly infatuated with her famous husband, Elvis Costello, punching lyrics like "I love to kiss you and kiss you and kiss you ... " with telling enthusiasm.

Krall recently has incorporated contemporary tunes as well as her own compositions into her repertoire. As an encore, sitting alone at the piano, she offered the confessional and appropriate ballad, "Departure Bay," a sweetly ambiguous song about leaving home to come home.

The crowded embraced it — and her — with the warmth and affection of an extended family.

[Coda]

Hi, jazzanddianafan: Nice pic with Diana! Congrats, you lucky guy!

Scielle: Thanks for posting the reviews. I think the reviewers liked the show.

[scielle]

I think the reviewers liked the show.

Don't they always? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall a single overtly negative review during this tour. Some had their low points, but overall, I think the press was pleasantly impressed.

[verena]

JDF : Are you pleased with yourselve ! But I shall not deprive you from the reward you may expect.

Ok, all right, you win.

(Doesn't mean I love you, you don't deserve it. You don't want me anyway, can you ? No, no answer expected, are you not a little married ? Plus I am hard to get, really, no playing !)

Yes, I saw your Vancouver picture. Did I like it ? I do. Awfully cute ! And so telling. For that look, in your eyes, so many stories of you reveal. Sparkling, enlightening... Fireworking ?

V

[verena]

JDF, I am sorry about the above post. I wanted to be nice, and let you know that I liked this picture of you.
But I was in a bad mood, I hate what I wrote. I should have known better than forcing myself, and do what I thought was the right thing at the wrong time. Isn’t that terrible ? You mean well, and you do wrong (or worse, you mean well, and you act mean).

What can I say ? I am not the only one (to whom this happens). Hey Noangel, here I am, to keep you company !

Except I don’t believe in my dreams, I don’t expect them to come true. This is not what dreams are for, don’t you agree ? Projects are real, also love (if one is lucky). But dreams ?

LOL to all !

[jazzanddianafan]

verena - don't worry about it.... i took no offense from your remarks..... there was indeed a gleem in my eye that night due to my meeting Diana !!!...

I enjoy your posts on this forum...... keep it up !!...