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Jazziz Q&A
by scielle on 23 Jan 2006, 01:41
Can't find an online version of this, but there's a brief Q&A with Diana in the Dec. issue of Jazziz. It's all quite petty, really - one-line questions with one-line answers - but if you pick it up you'll find out, among other things, that Diana's been listening to Destination Unknown by Sexsmith & Kerr, reading Harry Potter... and wishing she could sew...
- scielle
- Black Crow
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- Joined: 20 May 2004, 07:19
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by scielle on 22 Mar 2006, 06:00
Aha - it's been archived on IIMP!
Q&A: Ms. Krall, to You
Author: Meredith, Bill
Reference: JAZZIZ 22:12 [December 2005] p. 12
Born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, Diana Krall started piano lessons at age 4, and displayed talent prodigious enough to earn her a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston while still in her teens. A move to Los Angeles yielded associations with heavyweight bassists, and future recording partners, like Ray Brown and John Clayton. Krall moved to New York City during the early 1990s (where she resides with her husband of two years, singer and songwriter Elvis Costello) and started a recording career -- including her sultry vocals -- that ascended throughout the decade. Krall earned a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for the 1998 CD When I Look in Your Eyes, and another for Best Jazz Vocal Album for 2002's Live in Paris. Her new Christmas Songs (Verve) is a holiday CD produced by Tommy LiPuma and recorded with the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, co-led by bassist Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton. Three songs feature string arrangements by veteran composer/arranger Johnny Mandel. www.dianakrall.com
Q:What makes you swing?
A: The music and all the people who created it, like Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Louis Armstrong.
Three records worth mentioning?
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, Nat King Cole Sings/George Shearing Plays, and Night Train by the Oscar Peterson Trio.
What's in your CD player right now?
Elvis' new record [The Delivery Man by Elvis Costello & the Imposters], Destination Unknown by Ron Sexsmith and Don Kerr, and The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books.
How is it for two high-profile, well-known musicians living in the same house? Who gets to go to the supermarket?
Oh, we both go. Always.
Do you and Elvis compete for time at your home piano, or is there more than one in your house?
We're pretty good at sharing.
Do you ever play it together?
Yeah, we do.
When and where were you happiest?
There are a lot of answers. All of my life. Wherever and whenever I'm playing music.
Why did you decide to record a Christmas CD?
It was the right time for me to do that. I've been planning it for a long time.
What made you choose the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra for the project?
They're brilliant. I've always wanted to work with them. I've known John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton for 20 years, and I love the band. I wanted to do the record with a working, collective band, like people used to do with the Count Basie or Nelson Riddle orchestras.
How did you get Johnny Mandel to contribute arrangements?
I worked with him before on When I Look in Your Eyes, and I always want the opportunity to work with him. I had it again, and I'm grateful for it.
Do you consider yourself a pianist who sings, or a singer who plays piano?
I believe I'm a hyphenist, so people can switch it around however they like.
The most important lesson you've learned in music?
That it always has to swing -- and to be honest.
What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could sew.
You sang ''Happy Birthday'' to Oscar Peterson at the party for his 80th this year. What does he mean to you?
He's one of the most important reasons why I continually do what I do. I heard him when I was 16 years old, at the Orpheum in Vancouver with Ella Fitzgerald, and my life was never the same.
What singer has had the most influence on you?
Nat King Cole.
What's the best gift you've received recently?
It's always been the gift of getting to play and sing music. Getting to make a Christmas record with the Clay ton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
Anything special you take on tour?
Oh, a pile of books and music. I've been reading everything from the Oscar Peterson autobiography to Harry Potter to cookbooks.
How do you pick the standards you sing? What is the quality you go after?
I just pick songs that I like. It's an intuitive thing. You find the song with a story you want to tell that's interesting from a jazz musician's perspective. It's a big search in life, all the time -- a long research project, but it's good. That's what I do.
You have reached unusual popularity these days for a jazz musician. What does jazz need to do to become more popular?
Have the support of the industry, and have the people come out and support it as well.
Q&A: Ms. Krall, to You
Author: Meredith, Bill
Reference: JAZZIZ 22:12 [December 2005] p. 12
Born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, Diana Krall started piano lessons at age 4, and displayed talent prodigious enough to earn her a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston while still in her teens. A move to Los Angeles yielded associations with heavyweight bassists, and future recording partners, like Ray Brown and John Clayton. Krall moved to New York City during the early 1990s (where she resides with her husband of two years, singer and songwriter Elvis Costello) and started a recording career -- including her sultry vocals -- that ascended throughout the decade. Krall earned a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for the 1998 CD When I Look in Your Eyes, and another for Best Jazz Vocal Album for 2002's Live in Paris. Her new Christmas Songs (Verve) is a holiday CD produced by Tommy LiPuma and recorded with the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, co-led by bassist Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton. Three songs feature string arrangements by veteran composer/arranger Johnny Mandel. www.dianakrall.com
Q:What makes you swing?
A: The music and all the people who created it, like Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Louis Armstrong.
Three records worth mentioning?
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, Nat King Cole Sings/George Shearing Plays, and Night Train by the Oscar Peterson Trio.
What's in your CD player right now?
Elvis' new record [The Delivery Man by Elvis Costello & the Imposters], Destination Unknown by Ron Sexsmith and Don Kerr, and The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books.
How is it for two high-profile, well-known musicians living in the same house? Who gets to go to the supermarket?
Oh, we both go. Always.
Do you and Elvis compete for time at your home piano, or is there more than one in your house?
We're pretty good at sharing.
Do you ever play it together?
Yeah, we do.
When and where were you happiest?
There are a lot of answers. All of my life. Wherever and whenever I'm playing music.
Why did you decide to record a Christmas CD?
It was the right time for me to do that. I've been planning it for a long time.
What made you choose the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra for the project?
They're brilliant. I've always wanted to work with them. I've known John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton for 20 years, and I love the band. I wanted to do the record with a working, collective band, like people used to do with the Count Basie or Nelson Riddle orchestras.
How did you get Johnny Mandel to contribute arrangements?
I worked with him before on When I Look in Your Eyes, and I always want the opportunity to work with him. I had it again, and I'm grateful for it.
Do you consider yourself a pianist who sings, or a singer who plays piano?
I believe I'm a hyphenist, so people can switch it around however they like.
The most important lesson you've learned in music?
That it always has to swing -- and to be honest.
What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could sew.
You sang ''Happy Birthday'' to Oscar Peterson at the party for his 80th this year. What does he mean to you?
He's one of the most important reasons why I continually do what I do. I heard him when I was 16 years old, at the Orpheum in Vancouver with Ella Fitzgerald, and my life was never the same.
What singer has had the most influence on you?
Nat King Cole.
What's the best gift you've received recently?
It's always been the gift of getting to play and sing music. Getting to make a Christmas record with the Clay ton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
Anything special you take on tour?
Oh, a pile of books and music. I've been reading everything from the Oscar Peterson autobiography to Harry Potter to cookbooks.
How do you pick the standards you sing? What is the quality you go after?
I just pick songs that I like. It's an intuitive thing. You find the song with a story you want to tell that's interesting from a jazz musician's perspective. It's a big search in life, all the time -- a long research project, but it's good. That's what I do.
You have reached unusual popularity these days for a jazz musician. What does jazz need to do to become more popular?
Have the support of the industry, and have the people come out and support it as well.
- scielle
- Black Crow
- Posts: 1131
- Joined: 20 May 2004, 07:19
- Location: Berkeley, CA
by Victoria on 22 Mar 2006, 18:33
How is it for two high-profile, well-known musicians living in the same house? Who gets to go to the supermarket?
Oh, we both go. Always.
Somehow I can't imagine Diana or Elvis doing worldly things like going to the supermarket. They seem so untouchable.
-
Victoria - Big Foot
- Posts: 259
- Joined: 06 Feb 2005, 06:04
- Location: Argentina
by johnfoyle on 26 Mar 2006, 12:13
http://www.improvresourcecenter.com/mb/ ... post503592
Lisa Jolley posts -
Feb. 27 '06
Why I love New York
Because Elvis Costello can be 5 cash registers down from me at Whole Foods and it's no big deal.
(except to me of course, but I waited to freak out until we both left the store)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.wholefoods.com/stores/list_NY.html
Lisa Jolley posts -
Feb. 27 '06
Why I love New York
Because Elvis Costello can be 5 cash registers down from me at Whole Foods and it's no big deal.
(except to me of course, but I waited to freak out until we both left the store)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.wholefoods.com/stores/list_NY.html
- johnfoyle
- Big Foot
- Posts: 334
- Joined: 19 May 2004, 14:11
- Location: Dublin , Ireland
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