New Diana Krall CD 3-31-2009 - Page 2

I have joined this thread so very late because I just bought the Blu-ray disc of Live in Rio.  I enjoyed the performance very much.

This Blu-ray disc is not a reference source for either audio or video quality. Neither factor is among the best available. Nevertheless, for sheer entertainment, it is hard to find a performer with such dazzling talent.

Diana Krall's Live in Rio voice performance shows that she has completed the transition from club singer to a mature Peggy Lee like style of unique breathiness and phrasing. Her piano gymnastics and caresses are magnificent artistry and bring new life to beautiful compositions.

As Mike noted it is obvious that the Rio performance lacks the same type of dynamic energy of earlier times. However, this is simply because Diana's laid-back bosa nova arrangements lulls rather than excites. This is not a fault but instead an explanation of fact.

Observing just how captivated and bonded her audience reacted, shows that Diana Krall knows her audience and fits her performance to them. This being so, she achieved complete adulation from those in Rio.

I might add that while viewing and listening to this Blu-ray in my entertainment room, I felt the same way as her live audience, mesmerized.

Mike, I am one of the fortunate to have been in contact, worked with or have known some of the great entertainers of the Golden Age of the 1940's - 1990's.  The compositions and performers of that period rank in my mind as the best there have ever been.

Diana Krall surely belongs with them not only because of her native talent but for the progressive music maturity she has developed over the years.

Her touch on the keyboard is stunning.  Every note, delicate or vigorous makes "music" as it should be heard.  Her stylistic vocals have a way of growing on a person.  The actual timber or her voice becomes more than just pleasant as her manner of phrasing more and more delights the senses.

I also commend those artists who backup her.  They are excellent musicians in their own rights and as such, provide her with a musical ambiance that best displays her virtuosity.

I am grateful to be able at this time of my life to buy, play and enjoy her audio and video recordings.  I am sure that my departed associates would heartedly agree.

Thank you for the welcome.

Diana could not have picked a finer artist than Nat Cole.  He was a giant in his time.

I first saw him during the early years of WWII when his trio entertained between movies at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angles.   Later during the Korean War, while I stationed at NAS Alameda, my wife and I saw him at the Fairmount Hotel in San Francisco.  Later when he had his short-lived NBC show in Hollywood, I had the pleasure of watching him perform his shows from backstage.

One of the things I most remember about his effect on an audience is that when he was singing, the audience was completely hushed in a deep silence.  No one wanted to miss a single glorious note.

Nat Cole had a huge fan base; those who bought his records and also a cadre of other musicians and singers who knew the quality of his talent.

I believe that Diana has many of Nat Cole's qualities.  She also has a great advantage in that she has been tutored by a number of super mentors and is able to reach huge audiences not only by concert appearances but also by way of CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs.

Mike, I enjoy reading your comments.  I find this forum is a marvelous way to keep abreast of the times and also to learn from members who participate with questions as well as answers.

While I don't share your views on The Girl in the Other Room (I'm quite found of my SACD of it and I enjoy her wandering off her usual track), I do enjoy her other work immensely.  Gotta run, though, so more on her music from me later.

I don't think Krall has had a really good studio album since The Look Of Love (2001) so that's coming up on ten years of rather disappointing results. 

I'm not one mired to Krall doing the tried and true Cole Porter stuff and the like.  If someone thinks she can't handle Brazilian music - take a listen to "Besame Mucho" off of the Look of Love album and then tell me what the heck happened to her with this train wreck of bossa nova that is her latest effort.  I also think she can handle more contemporary songs so, again, it's not simply a niche thing.  For example, I love listening to "A Case of You" on her Live in Paris effort (the Joni Mitchell song).  That's a very tough song to pull off and she does it amazingly well while giving it her own spin.  

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying some Melody Gardot as I'm writing this.