"Sitting here with my little boy"

[scielle]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070502.KRALL02/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Music/
(OK, the link doesn't seem to work, but it's from the Globe and Mail)

Baby, she's back
After a six-month maternity leave, Diana Krall is easing her way into touring again with a benefit for Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, J.D. Considine writes
J.D. CONSIDINE

New York City is a big and busy place, and it's not unusual for there to be a certain amount of background noise on a telephone call. But as jazz star Diana Krall speaks from her Manhattan apartment, the sound in the background isn't cars honking or people talking, but the quiet gurgle of a contented baby.

"I'm feeding my little boy," she explains. "Sitting here with my little boy."

Frank, the little boy in question, is one of the twins Krall and her husband, rock Renaissance man Elvis Costello, had in December, and while being a mother has definitely changed her life, it hasn't affected her attitude toward making music.

"I toured right up until my seventh month," she says. "I promoted an album until I was seven months pregnant. With twins. I kept very active and busy, more than, my doctor said, any other patient with twins that he's ever had."

That's not to say there weren't some anxious moments. At one point during that tour, she experienced some unexpected contractions, and was whisked off to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

Although she's grateful for the care she got -- "The woman there was very kind to me," she says -- that's not why she will be playing a benefit for the Mount Sinai Auxiliary's "Healthy Babies" pledge drive.

"Because it's for such a good cause," she says, as if the answer were self-evident. "I just did a Children's Hospital benefit in Washington, D.C., and I do a lot of work for our hospital in Vancouver. Now that I have children, it's something I can do by playing the piano that is a very wonderful thing. It helps parents, it helps raise awareness, and it also helps the hospital. So it's a lovely way for me to help."

It's also a nice way for her to get back into her old routine of roadwork after taking six months' maternity leave.

"It's not like I've been slacking off, or leaving it because I'm uninspired," she says.

"I've been very busy with my family, and ... it feels good. I'm very much in the moment, and I'm loving my life right now."

Still, six months without playing piano is, she says, "the longest I've ever been away from music," and it has left her both eager to play and a touch anxious about getting back up to speed.

"I'm going to tour June through September and, once I start up in June again, I'm really busy. So I'm getting prepared. I'm doing smaller gigs between now and then, just to get [back in shape]."

Making music is both a physical and mental activity, and Krall admits that she could feel the effects of her time off when she started rehearsing again. "I was in Vancouver, and I called my friend Russ Botten -- I don't know if you know, he's a really good bass player in Vancouver -- and we played for an afternoon," she says. "It felt pretty good, but it didn't feel great, you know? Like my head knew where I wanted to go, but my fingers didn't."

Krall, though, understands that she is her toughest critic.

"People are very kind to me, and I'm very hard on myself," she explains. "Like recently, we played in Washington, and after the gig I just kind of looked at [drummer] Jeff Hamilton, and went, 'Oh, I don't know.' And he said, 'You did really great.' "But it was really fun. It's about feel, and we sounded pretty good. Apparently."

As readily as she jokes about being hard on herself, she's utterly serious about her recordings. It drives her nuts, for instance, that some people think she does her singing from within a vocal booth. "That's so wrong," she says, audibly peeved. "I was not in a booth, and I keep saying this, because I record really organically, I'm right in the room with the band."

It's a sticking point for her because she thinks that recording live with a band is crucial to getting a genuinely improvisational feel. She cites bassist John Clayton, of the Clayton/ Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. "He says the importance of the way I do it, as opposed to a lot of singers who just record the [instrumental] tracks first and then come in and sing, is that I drive the band and the band drives me, or the band drives me and I drive the band. It's not in any particular order. But we all feed off each other."

Then there's the little matter of her success, the fact that she's one of the few jazz artists in the world whose albums make the top 10 on the pop charts. "What do I say?" she asks. "I don't apologize for it, nor do I boast about it. I just feel very fortunate, you know? It's allowed me to play music, and to play with the people who were my mentors."

And while that success, along with her 2003 marriage to Costello, has made her more of a household name than most jazz musicians, she hasn't found celebrity to be much of a burden.

"The only thing I've really had to work hard on in the whole deal was doing interviews," she says. "Because I'm such a shy person, and I prefer to just play music, I found doing the press part more difficult. But I'm more comfortable in myself now, so I'm enjoying it more."

She pauses a moment. "I don't know if I'm enjoying it ..." she corrects, and laughs heartily. "But I'm more at peace with it, I guess."

[Coda]

Hi, Scielle. Thanks for the post. It's nice to get a more extended interview.

[gundy516]

What a nice interview! Thanks!

[char44256]

Oh this was SO delighful. I'm so pleased, along with others, to hear and read of Diana once again. I hope I can travel to Dallas to see her in October-if she doesn't come to Austin.
Thanks for the grand update.

Char

[mapache61]

DK, as gracious and thoughtful as always. Very nice. Thanks, scielle.

[Bud]

As readily as she jokes about being hard on herself, she's utterly serious about her recordings. It drives her nuts, for instance, that some people think she does her singing from within a vocal booth. "That's so wrong," she says, audibly peeved. "I was not in a booth, and I keep saying this, because I record really organically, I'm right in the room with the band."

I wonder who these people are??

Thanks scielle - nice interview!

I think this link works:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... ..wkrall02

[fore15]

thanks for the post!...was an interesting read!

and yes, who are these people that think she records seperately?? I never thought that!

[jazzygal karla]

Many thanks for posting this one, scielle! You're this wonderful whiz at finding all these great articles on Diana.