Search - Diana Krall :: When I Look in Your Eyes

East of the Sun,but Soaring Higher than the Moon..oh Diana

Lance G. Rigley | Brisbane, Queensland Australia | 08/22/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I first heard this CD ,I had a very limited knowledge and appreciation of Diana Krall.The exposure was limited to a couple of tracks on her tribute to the Nat King Cole trio,and her version of Danny Boy with the Chieftains,on the 1999 offering,Tears of Stone,but even then something attracted my interest...it was well placed.Diana's interpretations of these standards,showcases her rich and husky voice,and seems to marry her jazz vocalist roots with a more mainstream appeal.Lets face it when you have it ,you have it,talent will always stand out. From the opening track,Lets Face the Music and Dance with its bosanova rythms through to the mischievious Do It Again,this is a delight.To see such classics by Cole Porter,Irving Berlin and George Gershwin delivered with such emotion whilst relying upon the jazz tradition is a pure delight to listen to. I have taken the opportunity to listen to previous CDs by Ms Krall,and the performance on this recording really should not come as a surprise. What really caught my attention,and are the strengths of this CD,is the talent and ability of Diana Krall as a jazz pianist,and her ability to meld her trio /quartet to complement her delvery of the songs.In an age when production and studio musicians cover a glaring limitation or lack of talent of many artists,Ms Krall has it all and caresses the keys with a skill and emotion that belies her years.If her talent as a vocalist and pianist werent enough,she has some credits on arrangements as well. My admiration for some excellent guitar work from Russell Malone and the bass credits shared between John Clayton and Ben Wolfe.The atmosphere that is generated on this recording is owed to a large extent to the talent of these gentlemen. The production on this recording is excellent as you would expect from Tommy LiPuma and Johnny Mandel.The overall feel of this recording just simply oozes class that is not a readily available quality these days. The string arrangements beautifully compliment the mood,and I think the purists can forgive me in saying,loosen up live a little,let the jazz be accessible to everybody. A real delight for me was to hear the Michael Franks track Popsicle Toes,delivered with such sensual humour,it offers a new dimension to an artist so unfairly labelled bland,thank you Ms Krall,from an old Michael Franks fan. Whether you listen to this at dinner,when the sun rises or sets,alone or with the one you love you are in for a rare treat.I could not help but think of The Fabulous Baker Boys and wonder what Ms Krall could have delivered in the vocal department!!! Above all this is an adult,smooth and flawless performance...I had no regrets in parting with my money for this one,and I have become a fan of this artist.I give it five stars,and highly recommend that you listen to this with a good red wine,and a sense of adventure."

Stunningly beautiful, a great work of art.

02/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While I'm a new fan of Diana Krall, I have to say that she's such a great talent, and I'm so glad that there's an artist like her out there making music. In this day of "Mainstream Pop", hearing someone who has real musicianship is a much needed change of pace. The first time I saw Diana was when I was watching Jazz Central on BET a few years ago, and I was truly impressed, but I never really tried to find out anything more about her, until this year. I was searching on the Internet and I found her rendition of "Christmas time is here". I was totally blown away, and I had to find more. From the very first song, "Let's face the music and dance", with its steamy bossa nova, smokey delivery from Diana, and smooth string accompaniment, it's really hard to put this album down. All of the arrangements are extremely well done, and Diana brings out all of the emotions of each song like she's lived through them all. Especially the title track. I couldn't stop listening to it. I just hit the replay button, and fell into the lush sounds of the strings, the warm guitar, while I fell in love with Diana's soothing, comforting voice. VERY few albums have ever done that to me before, and I can't wait for her next effort so she can do it to me again. Now I can understand that people are mad that Diana doesn't show off her great piano chops, and those who claim that she's selling out, but I have to totally disagree. Diana doesn't have to go the route of so many artists and use their albums to display how great they are; she just wants the music to show for itself. As for the selling out thing, she is more popular, yes. Being nominated for Album of the year proves that, but can't an artist be allowed to grow, and even expand out of their genre ever so slightly? This album is NOT Pop and ESPECIALLY NOT elevator music. Having strings on a jazz album is also not a sign of selling out either. While the strings were certainly not needed, as she sounds just as great with just her trio, the strings just added a whole other dimension to the songs. I'm glad that she went that route, as it made for a wonderfully splendid album. It couldn't come any more highly recommended. Go get it now. And while you're at it, newcomers should go and get her other albums as well, so you can see that her talent isn't just a one-album affair; it's the real deal."

Even better than Love Scenes

ChefBum | Fremont,, CA United States | 10/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although I just recently found out that Diana Krall is a relatively recent Grammy-nominated jazz-music sensation (the past five years or so) and hailed as a fresh, new talent on the general music scene, I didn't experience her music first-hand until very recently.Even then, I didn't come in entirely unprepared. After hearing about the third random rave-review of her music, and especially her piano-playing, I finally had to sample her music for myself.My first sampling was 'Love Scenes', which certainly didn't disappoint. I could definitely see her husky-voiced, character-laden appeal. Her covers of many traditional hits (Porter, etc.) are certainly very appealing, and unique enough to warrant all the claims of Krall's being one of the biggest, truly new things to happen to contemporary jazz music.But it was after I bought 'When I Look Into Your Eyes' that I really found out what all these claims about Diana Krall's 'specialness' meant. Although I am a huge music fan with a very wide range of tastes based on my mood, it is seldom that a piece of music absolutely takes me away. Well, when I first heard the title track, 'When I Look Into Your Eyes', I actually stopped what I was doing, and just *listened*. What a beautiful, sad song. Funny, a few days later I casually listened to the CD again from the beginning, and the same thing happened AGAIN! I suddenly dropped what I was doing, and just sat and listened because I was almost incapable of doing otherwise. The beauty of that song is indescribable. It makes so much of pop-music seem so utterly trivial in comparison. The depth of feeling, plus the expression in her voice, is so heart-stirring as to be almost painful. I can't say that I come across such emotionally powerful music very often. Only select classical music can even come close to the effect that Diana Krall's voice has on me. She is truly wonderful and we are lucky to be able to listen to her."