She's a creator now, not just an interpreter - June 26
Posted: 28 Jun 2004, 13:38http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/ ... l#continue
She's now a creator, not just an interpreter
Monday, June 28, 2004
Carlo Wolff
Special to The Plain Dealer
Diana Krall delivered a complex, authoritative concert Saturday, captivating about 3,500 fans at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls.
The tall, stylish Canadian stressed material from "The Girl in the Other Room," her collaboration with husband, Elvis Costello, showcasing a newly supple vocal style, imposing pianistics and patter spanning the arch and the loopy.
Her hour-and-45-minute set also affirmed her band: guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist Robert Hurst, and the remarkable drummer, Weather Report alumnus Peter Erskine.
The concert, launched by a dense, gear-shifting instrumental with the working title of "Sometimes I Just Freak Out," sparked from the start, sagging only in a perfunctory "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." A little less patter would have been nice, but it was charming to hear how happy Krall is with her marriage.
After that aggressive instrumental, Krall swung into "All or Nothing at All," her approach as vengeful as it was playful. Her voice flexed with the lyrics' demands and her piano filled in all the right spaces.
The acoustics were crystalline, warming the evening. But Krall also provided heat, even passion. No longer the snow queen of jazz, and comfortable with her increasingly eclectic repertoire, Krall has become a creator, not merely an interpreter.
She performed six tunes from "Girl," her ambitious new album. Among the most striking: "Narrow Daylight," a gorgeous ballad and the first of two encores; the ambiguous, noirish title track; Costello's languid, romantic "Almost Blue"; and "Temptation," a slinky, sexy tune by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, another, similarly uncategorizable musical couple.
Krall no longer seems constrained by the standards that once made her reputation. Her rangy interpretation of Joni Mitchell's eerie, unmoored "Black Crow" was another liberating highlight.
Opening act Ollabelle was impressive, too, blending bluegrass, blues, gospel and rock. Sparked by the vocals of Fiona McBain and Amy Helm, fortified by Glenn Patscha's baritone and Wurlitzer, the New York City sextet shone on "John the Revelator" and soared on "Get Back Temptation."
Wolff is a free-lance writer in South Euclid.
© 2004 The Plain Dealer.
She's now a creator, not just an interpreter
Monday, June 28, 2004
Carlo Wolff
Special to The Plain Dealer
Diana Krall delivered a complex, authoritative concert Saturday, captivating about 3,500 fans at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls.
The tall, stylish Canadian stressed material from "The Girl in the Other Room," her collaboration with husband, Elvis Costello, showcasing a newly supple vocal style, imposing pianistics and patter spanning the arch and the loopy.
Her hour-and-45-minute set also affirmed her band: guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist Robert Hurst, and the remarkable drummer, Weather Report alumnus Peter Erskine.
The concert, launched by a dense, gear-shifting instrumental with the working title of "Sometimes I Just Freak Out," sparked from the start, sagging only in a perfunctory "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." A little less patter would have been nice, but it was charming to hear how happy Krall is with her marriage.
After that aggressive instrumental, Krall swung into "All or Nothing at All," her approach as vengeful as it was playful. Her voice flexed with the lyrics' demands and her piano filled in all the right spaces.
The acoustics were crystalline, warming the evening. But Krall also provided heat, even passion. No longer the snow queen of jazz, and comfortable with her increasingly eclectic repertoire, Krall has become a creator, not merely an interpreter.
She performed six tunes from "Girl," her ambitious new album. Among the most striking: "Narrow Daylight," a gorgeous ballad and the first of two encores; the ambiguous, noirish title track; Costello's languid, romantic "Almost Blue"; and "Temptation," a slinky, sexy tune by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, another, similarly uncategorizable musical couple.
Krall no longer seems constrained by the standards that once made her reputation. Her rangy interpretation of Joni Mitchell's eerie, unmoored "Black Crow" was another liberating highlight.
Opening act Ollabelle was impressive, too, blending bluegrass, blues, gospel and rock. Sparked by the vocals of Fiona McBain and Amy Helm, fortified by Glenn Patscha's baritone and Wurlitzer, the New York City sextet shone on "John the Revelator" and soared on "Get Back Temptation."
Wolff is a free-lance writer in South Euclid.
© 2004 The Plain Dealer.
