"Hawaii is the only place I can really relax ..."

[johnfoyle]

http://starbulletin.com/2005/05/06/features/story2.html

Krall space

The jazz singer-pianist collaborated with husband Elvis Costello on her latest album

By Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.com

Just before her first performance with the Honolulu Symphony Pops five years ago, Grammy-award-winning jazz singer-pianist Diana Krall was riding out a storm on a cruise ship in Antarctica. Never comfortable with interviews anyway, and feeling nauseous from the mountainous seas, Krall seemed less than enthusiastic, her voice crackling over a bad radio contact.


"Can't hear you, so maybe this isn't a good time," she said. "I'm holding a throw-up bag so I may, you know. Now what is it you want to ask? Let's do this fast."

"That was a long, long time ago," said Krall from Australia. She performs Sunday night for the third time with the Pops. "I'm not a very good interview subject because it really stresses me out. Writers say I'm gruff, an ice queen, but it's just very hard for me to articulate into words what I do in music. I guess it shows."

Like in her music, Krall tries exceptionally hard to capture a feeling, a moment. Her intensity shows in rapid fire responses, pauses, expressions of self doubts, then a reversal of emotion to implausible strength and confidence.

"For a lot of reasons, I really do know who I am and what I want to do, try to do with my music, and I finally, with Elvis, have someone who actually understands that," she said.

Elvis, of course, is her husband and singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, with whom she collaborated on her current album, "The Girl in the Other Room."

Then a barely discernible cry slips over the telephone.

"I am so happy with what I can do in my work, and with Elvis, I've found such incredible happiness in my life," she says.

"The Girl In The Other Room" shows Krall's breadth in the jazz idiom, but now reveals her songwriting talent of which there had been years of pressure to take that step. It was after her mother's death that Krall, who turned 40 last year, began writing songs.

"It was the only thing that I could do to get through the pain," she said. "I didn't seem able to do anything else. That's how the universe works it.

"I'm very thankful that I met Elvis at the time that I did. He helped me to express myself."

The album's title song is a Krall original, a lyrical portrait of a mysterious woman distracted by love. Listeners can't help but be drawn to the effortless accompaniment of Krall's piano and that of long-time partners, drummer Jeff Hamilton and bassist John Clayton. The words were co-written with Costello, who has credit on seven of the album's 12 songs.

A risky collaboration?

"Not at all," Krall says. "We weren't trying to rewrite Cole Porter or George Gershwin. We were just trying to write whatever we felt without an agenda and come from an honest place."

Krall's choice of composers on the CD is also a departure from her other albums, with covers of Mose Allison's "Stop This World" or the joyfully carnal "Love Me Like a Man." She takes a sensual approach to Tom Waits' "Temptation" and does a tender rendition of her husband's "Almost Blue."

A beautifully reflective version of the relatively obscure standard "I'm Pulling Through" recalls the style of her teacher, jazz legend Jimmy Rowles.

"I don't feel less of a creative person by writing lyrics and arrangements and interpreting standards because if you're a jazz musician that's what you do," she said. "It's a canvas and you take it apart and put it back together again and write."

Was there a shade of artistic competition between she and her husband?

"You think I'd try to compete with Elvis Costello?!?" she says. "Are you nuts?"

Then Krall admits collaborations with other men she'd been romantically involved with haven't gone well.

"There have been times before, well, major blocks with other relationships and that's a real personal issue," she says. "But Elvis is a strong, incredible artist and extremely giving. He understands what I'm trying to do better than anyone."

COSTELLO, who is accompanying Krall to Hawaii but not expected to play, suggested she not try to write lyrics per se, but feelings and the things she loved, imagistic phrases like "the perfume still on my mother's counter."

"I write it out and he did the rest, the story," she said.

The sophisticated, mesmerizing blues of the track "Abandoned Masquerade" most expresses the need for Krall to step out from behind the beautiful romantic illusions found in so many songs of the past.

"Anytime you put strings with a song, people automatically think it's romantic," she said. "Listen to 'The Look of Love' and the lyric 'I get along with you very well/Maybe you'll be there.'

"That's pretty heavy stuff. I can find different ways to express myself, even through very literal personal recollections."

The last few months Krall has been transcribing Oscar Peterson tunes. "I've been working on one since I was 16," she said. "I want to bring things into the band so they can be inspired and we're not just doing a bunch of shows that are programs. We try to take risks and that's hard."

The Honolulu stop will allow Krall to relax in "my favorite place in the world."

"Hawaii is the only place I can really relax ..." she says.

She and Costello will vacation "someplace (here) where no one knows us." Krall is even considering surfing lessons. Then she gets an idea for her next album.

"The cover will have me on a surfboard and I'll sing a couple of Brian Wilson songs," she said. "Boy, will they really be scratching their heads at Downbeat magazine. 'What's she doing now?' "




Article URL: http://starbulletin.com/2005/05/06/features/story2.html
© Honolulu Star-Bulletin -- http://starbulletin.com

[Andrea]

Thanks for the post!

[Coda]

Finally! A unique headline! And interesting new stuff, too.

[imnoangel1975]

"The cover will have me on a surfboard and I'll sing a couple of Brian Wilson songs," she said. "Boy, will they really be scratching their heads at Downbeat magazine. 'What's she doing now?' "

I love that! She doesn't get enough credit for her sharp, dry humor.

[Dwight]

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/artic ... en01a.html

[Dwight]

Check it out....

Diana and Elvis will be back in Hawaii in March 2006. This time Elvis will perform and Diana will watch.

[char44256]

This is fabulous! Thanks so much.

Char

[TRX-C]

"The cover will have me on a surfboard and I'll sing a couple of Brian Wilson songs," she said. "Boy, will they really be scratching their heads at Downbeat magazine. 'What's she doing now?' "

It's funny that she'd say that. I've always thought that she should do a cover of either "God Only Knows" or "The Warmth Of the Sun". Go for it, DK!!!

[wush]

"Can't hear you, so maybe this isn't a good time," she said. "I'm holding a throw-up bag so I may, you know. Now what is it you want to ask? Let's do this fast."

[Eric in Long Beach]

Was there a shade of artistic competition between she and her husband?

"You think I'd try to compete with Elvis Costello?!?" she says. "Are you nuts?"

[johnfoyle]

Thanks for the link , Dwight.

In case it goes to payment-for-access I'll paste the supplement cover and text -



Posted on: Friday, May 6, 2005

Diana Krall meets right guy for 'Girl'



By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer


Diana Krall departs from the jazz and pop standards of 1999's Grammy-winning "When I Look in Your Eyes" and 2001's "The Look of Love" on her now year-old CD release, "The Girl in the Other Room."


The girl in the other room was alone in a hotel room in Adelaide. The afternoon tea she'd ordered shortly after waking up had arrived. And after the second break in our chat to tend to two separate tea-related interruptions, Diana Krall was back on the line from Australia.
There was some audible adjustment of a tea tray and seating as Krall made herself comfortable. She jumped back into conversation soon enough.

"OK, I'm back! Apologies!"

Krall's desire to create as much of a comfort zone as possible for our chat was understandable. Interviews have never been a joy for her. (She told one journalist earlier this year, "I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than do press over and over again.")

But there we were, early last month, chatting about everything from Krall's Sunday evening concert with the Honolulu Symphony Pops to her year-old, most recent CD, "The Girl in the Other Room," and her disdain for doing precisely what we were currently doing.

ROOM TO MOVE

Released a year ago, "Girl" found Krall departing from the jazz and pop standards of 1999's Grammy-winning "When I Look in Your Eyes" and 2001's "The Look of Love," which sold millions.

Krall's emotionally understated and intimate jazz stylings are unmistakably all over "Girl." But this time they grace coolly refined reimaginings of contemporary compositions by Tom Waits ("Temptation"), Joni Mitchell ("Black Crow") and Elvis Costello ("Almost Blue").

"Girl" also is Krall's first disc to feature her own compositions, all co-written with Costello, her husband since December 2003.

Krall had considered writing her own material for years.

"But I didn't really meet the right person to collaborate with," Krall said. Pause. Shy laughter. "I feel like I've met the right guy."

Ah, understatement. Krall's "guy" is only one of the last quarter-century's most consistently interesting and impressively genre-defying songwriters.

Krall has credited Costello with helping her through a difficult period in her life. Her mother died in 2002, as did two of her longtime musical mentors, vocalist Rosemary Clooney and jazz bassist Ray Brown.

Writing did not come easy to Krall, even with Costello's guidance. But she welcomed its catharsis.

"It was all I could do," Krall said quietly. "I wasn't into playing standards at all. I just wanted to write from a personal place with Elvis. For me, that was absolutely the right thing and the most creative thing ... at the time."

GETTING PERSONAL

On "Girl," Krall's intriguing selection of covers combines with her own work to create an intensely personal record, steeped in the sadness of loss and the joy of new beginnings.

The most deeply personal of her compositions for "Girl" is also one of the disc's best. Rich with evocative detail of place and time, the moody "Departure Bay" juxtaposes Krall's memories of her mother with a return visit to her Canadian hometown, Nanaimo.

"That's the best song on the record," she agreed. "I feel closest to that piece of all the pieces we wrote together."

Because it addressed home and family?

"Mmm hmm. Yeah. It was a very big realization, coming from a small town on Vancouver Island that you strive to go to the big city — New York — and learn how to be a jazz musician," Krall said. "Then you come home and realize that things that were so exotic to you are not exotic at all, frankly.

"(Home was) a little more interesting and beautiful. You see it through different eyes than you did before. ... It was really cathartic to write about that which was so dear to me."

Krall was asked whether it was difficult to share something so personal with the public.

"I'll tell you where it's hard sharing it ... is in the press," she said, her voice weary and a tad annoyed. "The most difficult part of everything that I do is always doing press about it ... because I prefer when I'm in it."

Krall understands the necessity to "get what you're doing across to people." She just wishes her music and performances could speak for themselves sometimes.

"I'm a really shy person and don't always articulate," she said. "That's why I express myself through words and music, because it's easier to do that than talk about it. That's where I find ... the challenging bit."

Krall giggled disarmingly. All was calm again.

WRITING AND ELVIS

Krall is still writing but not, she warns, "with an agenda."

"I wrote something a couple of weeks ago I really like and I've given it to Elvis to see what he can do with it ... write some lyrics," she said.

There's a long pause after Krall is asked what she's learned from Costello about songwriting.

"Well ... that you should just go for it. Trust yourself. Just write. Don't try to judge it too hard," she said.

Reminded of her husband's 2006 concert dates with the Honolulu Symphony Pops (March 31, April 1), Krall was crossing her fingers she could attend.

"If I could ever follow Elvis around, I would. You know that! If I'm not working, I'll be there," she said.

Asked about the possibility of watching Costello's performance from the sideline as an adoring wife and longtime fan, Krall laughed hard.

"That'd be lovely. ... I'll be in the audience cheering away."

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8005.

[SUN]

"Hawaii is the only place I can really relax ..." she says.

Le lointoin rapport d'une piscine sur le toit. .....I'm content la plupart de vos rêves s'est réalisé. Wonderful.

[Victoria]

Le lointoin rapport d'une piscine sur le toit. .....I'm content la plupart de vos rêves s'est réalisé.

UUHHH, WHAT WAS THAT?.

FYI: THERE'S A SECTION IN THE FORUM WHERE YOU CAN FULLY SPEAK IN FRENCH, JUST IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED. DON'T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY. IT'S NOT THAT WE DON'T LIKE FRENCH, IT'S JUST BECAUSE PROBABLY AROUND 80 % OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS FORUM DOESN'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.

[SUN]

That's the idea....

Please don't get me wrong. It's a more personal remark and properly put. I should have read this long ago...surfboard? DK???

I don't know about that one(TM)....my little surfer girl..mmm. Ya think?

[scielle]

Well - she skiis, she boxes - surfing is not so far-fetched!

And speaking of Hawaii, I don't think this has been previously posted, has it?


Caption iana Krall was joined by her husband, Elvis Costello, left, and Honolulu Symphony Pops conductor Matt Catingub as she greeted well-wishers backstage after her concert at the Waikiki Shell on Sunday

[Coda]

I agree with Victoria.

I don't see the purpose in posting on a message board with the idea that most people reading it won't understand. The French Forum on this board would seem ideal for your postings in French.

[Coda]

Nice picture. Diana looks nicely tanned.

[SUN]

Appreciate the feed back.

Be well. Still awaiting an answer.

[SUN]

"Where was the "Hallway" shot made. It looks like the Inn at Reading for heaven's sake. The beautiful young lady under the CD...is not Diana. Any answers on this one??? Anyone know?"

Nicely and properly put, in English.

[SUN]

Love the pictures. They are a good-looking couple. Lucky man. Personally, I think Diana is more talented. He cannot play a guitar as well as she can a piano nor can he sing as well...LOL. I'm predjudice.

You can tell the few verse's he wrote in some of the songs.... they don't 'flow'. Even the nomenclature is varied...........Nice to put her relationship first. That is a LOT of woman to do so. She doesn't belittle him nor does she compete with him. Who could ask for more?

Where's my damn Stoli and Heini?