Tuesday, April 20, 2004
She's an errand girl for rhythm...
Jazz purists criticize her for being too pretty. Other piano players don't think of her so highly. Well, lemme tell you somethin' - I saw Diana Krall live at Kennedy Center, and she swings harder than you ever did in your cradle. She never purports to be Ella Fitzgerald or Oscar Peterson. Rather, her style is reminiscent of the late great Nat Cole who led a cozy trio in the 40's and 50's. In fact, Ms. Krall dedicated his second album All For You to the mighty trio. While many self-proclaimed jazz musicians are shamelessly ruining or marginalizing the genre (e.g. Keith Jarrett), at least she's paying homage to the great American songbook. In live concerts (Live In Paris), all she does is swing her ass off and make people have a good time.
The new Diana Krall album (see above) arrives next Tuesday. It contains covers by Mose Allison, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits & Joni Mitchell. The rest is a few Costello/Krall collaborations and a Costello original "Almost Blue" made famous by Chet Baker. I can't wait to give it a first listen; you should too.
|
