Diana Krall

I have "Live in Paris", "The Look of Love", and "Love Scenes". I'd rank them in that order, with "Paris" far, far surpassing the other two, and "Scenes" being a bit of a snooze. I mean, it sounds nice, there's just not much challenge to it. The live one genuinely surprised me with its energy. If it's a sultry swing thing you want, go with "Look" (of these three).

Then again, I generally like my sultry piano divas a little more, well, Patricia Barber-esque.

jay

A bit extreme, isn't she?

Herman

It appears that JayD and I are at opposite ends of the spectrum, wrt DK. I think Love Scenes is one of her best, with a real sense of focus, and not too much smarminess. After that, she become a parody of herself. Her pre-Love Scenes work is also good (and definitely better than her later work), but doesn't gel as well as Love Scenes.

BTW, I also like Patricia Barber. Another favourite is Cassandra Wilson. Dianne Reeves is also wonderful.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Andy,

I'm with Mike on this one. Look of Love is after the marketing men got hold of her and it's simply awful. Love Scenes is good. Mike's recommendations of Casandra Wilson and Dianne Reeves are spot on.

Calum

Mike and Calum,

I can see where you guys are coming from regarding the studio discs... matter of preference there. But no votes for Live in Paris?

jay

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Originally posted by jayd:
But no votes for Live in Paris?

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I gave up on her about 1-1/2 albums before that came out, so I never bothered to purchase it. However, I have heard the occasional good comment about it, and a friend of mine me played Krall's rendition of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You" on his Naim system. It actually brought tears to my eyes. Unfortunately, it was followed by Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are", which promptly broke the spell.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

I'd go for Love Scenes, although it is IMHO rather strangely recorded. The instruments have hardly any space around them and sound pure and artificial at the same time.I'd like to hear her in a less produced environment. Do you know that she's now Mrs Elvis Costello? ( I love Heat magazine). I'd love to hear her doing Almost Blue. What else would you put on her Costello covers album? Maybe Nick Lowe could produce??

Diana McManus? hmm.

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Originally posted by Mike Hanson:

I also like Patricia Barber. Another favourite is Cassandra Wilson. Dianne Reeves is also wonderful.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

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I like PB on record ... a lot, Cassandra Wilson leaves me cold, I just don't get her, although I can understand why people admire her. Dianne Reeves is dynamite live, but I've not yet heard a record of hers I could stand. Wierd innit!

Peter

User34 at Laposte dot net

I am surprised that no one mentioned her first album "Stepping Out". I absolutely wore that CD out. It was Diana Krall fresh from Nanaimo BC singing and playing standard Jazz. And I emphazize the word "Jazz", she was at her Jazziest and most sincere. In my humble opinion, all her albums after this one sounds like top 40 pop by comparison.

Despite being from small town Canada, she had Ray brown writing her liner notes and backed by bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton.

To me her piano in this album sounds a little like Gene Harris.

I highly recommend this album.

Hi,
Just saying thanx for the replies - have located 3 of the above titles either nearly new or new at good prices so have taken the plunge...

Thanks again,
andy c

Took delivery of the cd 'a night in paris'. For a live recording this really swings. the musicians are awesome, and the drumming has real zest to it.
recommended.

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Mike's recommendations of Casandra Wilson and Dianne Reeves are spot on.

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Can anyone elaborate on these two artists for me? any particular cd's as a starting point??

ta once again for any help...
andy c!

Most of the recent Cassandra Wilson's are usually in the sale bins at HMV. I picked up Blue Light Til Dawn for £4.99. This is pretty good - a very rural, percussive take on the blues with some good moments. I, personally, would suggest avoiding "Travelling Miles" - putting lyrics to Miles DAvis tunes - which I didn't care for at all but others may disagree.

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Originally posted by andy c:

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Mike's recommendations of Casandra Wilson and Dianne Reeves are spot on.

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Can anyone elaborate on these two artists for me? any particular cd's as a starting point??

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I really like Wilson's "New Moon Daughter". "Belly of the Sun" is also good, although you'll enjoy it more once you get to know her other stuff.

For Diane Reeves, as some mentioned above, nothing beats her live performance. I saw her last year at the Jazz festival here in Toronto, and she was phenomenal. (Sadly, the seats at the venue were crammed in sardine-style, which spoiled much of the pleasure for me. This is yet another example of the typical disappointment of the "live music" experience.)

As to Reeves recordings, I really enjoyed "The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan", although it didn't receive great reviews. The unfortunate thing there is that they screwed up the album during the mastering phase; the extreme compression virtually killed the rhythmic drive of the music.

I originally got to know Reeves for her guest appearances with other artists. For example, her rendition of a vocal version of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" on Renee Rosnes' "Art and Soul" is fantastic.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-