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Diana Krall – Canada’s award-winning jazz artist achieves international recognition
Diana
Krall will bring her sophisticated and elegant jazz performance style
to Montreal with a full orchestra to perform her hot new recording
“Quiet Nights”
By
Peter Kerr
It’s
a very long way from Nanaimo, British Columbia to New York and the
concert halls of Paris, London, Rome, Rio … and the
world’s largest jazz festival in Montreal. To have made the
transition is an amazing accomplishment that required tremendous
strength of character, drive and above all - talent - lots of talent.
Diana Krall has succeeded in a competitive industry, earning the
respect of her fellow musicians and the confidence of those people who
occupy the business side of the music industry. In early May she will
be performing at Place des Arts with her quartet and a full orchestra.
| André Ménard, co-founder of the
Montreal International Jazz Festival has seen thousands of artists in
his 30 years with the festival, and he has high praise for Diana Krall.
“I remember going to see Lena Horne’s final performance in New York
with Diana and her manager. There was an emotionally powerful moment in
the show when Lena was standing alone in the spotlight, singing
Yesterday When I Was Young, with just the piano for accompaniment. |
Diana Krall has won two Grammy Awards for
best Jazz Vocalist, and has received several
nominations as a jazz musician |
I
turned to look at Diana – she had tears streaming down her cheeks… I
thought to myself - she has a big heart to feel this moment so deeply.
I especially love the spirit of that moment. She has the heart of a
true artist.”
Diana’s musical journey started within a musical
household. Her mother sang in church and her father was an accomplished
stride pianist. “I was immersed in music growing up” notes Diana. “My
father has a vast collection; he collects 78 records, and that’s how I
first heard Fats Waller, Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong. I connected
with music on such an emotional level that it wasn’t ‘This is what I
want to do’, it was ‘This is what I have to do’.
Piano
lessons began at age 4, and Diana played in her high school jazz band.
She was a regular performer in local restaurants and bars when she was
only 15. The Vancouver International Jazz Festival awarded 17 year old
Diana a scholarship to study at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of
Music. She was on her way…
| In 1987 Diana moved to Los Angeles
at the suggestion of the famous bassist Ray Brown, who along with
Rosemary Clooney became a mentor for Diana. In LA Diana studied with
legendary pianist Jimmy Knowles, who encouraged her to begin singing.
After three years in Los Angeles, Diana moved to New York where she
performed with her trio. |
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In 1993 Diana recorded her first
album for the Montreal jazz label Justin Time Records, and followed
with her first appearance at the Montreal International Jazz Festival
in 1994. André has brought Diana to the jazz festival on numerous
occasions since her first appearance in 1994; but he believes that her
appearance in 1995 was a seminal moment in her career. “We had booked
Diana into the Just for Laughs Cabaret for an entire week, and I
believe that engagement really helped her career take off; with over
400 jazz journalists from around the world taking in her performances.”
Diana was performing a Tribute to Nat King Cole that week, and produced
a live album titled; All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole
Trio, which was nominated for a Grammy Award and stayed on the
Billboard Jazz Chart for an incredible 70 weeks!
Another
successful recording called Love Scenes followed in 1997 and became a
hit for Diana and her trio. In 1999 Diana recorded When I Look In Your
Eyes, which featured lush orchestral arrangements. She received another
Grammy nomination and was named Best Jazz Musician of the Year. The
same group of musicians recorded The Look Of Love in 2001, and was an
astounding success. It reached the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 listing
and achieved platinum status in the US. In Canada the album went to
number one on the charts and sold enough copies to achieve quadruple
platinum recognition. The title track reached number 22 on the adult
contemporary charts. These huge sales numbers were virtually unheard of
for a jazz musician. Rather than achieving a crossover success, André
Ménard believes something else happened; “In Diana’s case, the public
came to her. It’s the public that made the crossover to her. It’s an
incredible achievement to attract fans in those large numbers – and
still remain true to her music.”
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Diana married rock ‘n’ roll
performer Elvis Costello in 2003; and Elvis encouraged and collaborated
with Diana with her original compositions. In 2004 she released The
Girl in the Other Room, with half the songs written by Diana and Elvis.
Diana had been deeply affected by the death of her mother Adela, and
the loss of her mentors Ray Brown and Rosemary Clooney. “After I lost
my mother, I wasn’t able to return to a lot of the songs I really
loved, because I just wasn’t feeling them – so I needed another way to
express myself.” |
André Ménard, co-founder of the
Montreal International Jazz Festival
believes Diana Krall is one of
the best jazz performers |
In 2004, André Ménard and the Montreal Jazz
Festival once again played an important role on Diana’s career. She
recorded a concert DVD; Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival, enabling
fans to see as well as listen to her performances. Later that same year
Diana recorded a duet with Ray Charles, You Don’t Know Me for his
bestselling Genius Loves Company recording. Tony Bennett had previously
included Diana as part of a 20 city tour in 2000. This was a long way
for a middle-class kid from Nanaimo to be accepted as a peer by jazz
giants such as Tony Bennett and Ray Charles; plus a host of
accomplished jazz musicians. Diana was doing all this as a singer and
pianist.
In addition to being nominated for and winning both
Grammy and Juno Awards, Diana was also receiving recognition from
non-musical sources to recognize her achievements. In 2000 she was
awarded the Order of British Columbia, inducted into Canada’s Walk of
Fame in 2004, and in 2005 Diana was made an Officer of the Order of
Canada.
Diana has kept her quartet together for many years
with guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff
Hamilton. The musical nucleus enables Diana to build her musical
selections from the four musicians upward to eventually include full
orchestra or big band arrangements, as was the case with her 2006
recording of From This Moment On. This collection of American Songbook
songs was yet another hugely successful recording for Diana.
2006
was a busy year; with Diana also recording a duet with Tony Bennett,
The Best Is Yet To Come. And indeed it was… Diana gave birth to twin
sons shortly before Christmas of that same year.
Diana has
just released a new recording, Quiet Nights; which has a definite bossa
nova style to it. Diana is now in her mid-40s, happily married and a
mother. Tommy LiPuma, her producer since 1994 comments; “She’s
completely matured. She approaches her vocal phrasing much more like an
instrumentalist than a straight singer…much more misty, like Peggy Lee
in her mature period. Motherhood definitely agrees with her – and
marriage. I think she’s really come into her own.”
Of this
recording Diana notes; “I enjoyed making Quiet Nights more than any
other record. I couldn’t wait to go to the studio and see what would
happen.” Continuing; “It’s a sensual, downright erotic record and it’s
intended to be that way…it’s a love letter to my husband.”
Diana
Krall will be performing on May 6th and 7th at Place des Arts with her
quartet and a full orchestra, as part of the Montreal International
Jazz Festival’s Jazz All Year ‘Round concerts. For tickets please
visit: www.pda.qc.ca or call: 514-842-2112. Enjoy!
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