Diana Krall Survey

07-04-12: Pat70
Here's the first song available from her new album:

http://smarturl.it/NewDianaKrall

I listened to this track - 1 minute out of 4:08. That's all I could stand of this song! :( It was quite horrible honestly.
And, I do like DK but I think that she's done for a long time now. IMO her best album was her debut album "Steppin' Out" & then I also like her "When I look in your Eyes". I have a few more albums of her incl. The Girl in the other ROom but those are quite average music-wise.
I think the music industry discovered that they could make her a "babe" & sell her looks & average music. It's working so far! But I think that she's capable of much more but it might not be fare that sells well hence the music industry will not 'allow' her to make/create that sort of music. Yeah, I have to agree that her later albums have no soul - she's a cold beauty, aloof.
Of course this is just my opinion. FWIW, YMMV.

Just listened, and my first impression is "whatever." I am sure it will sound pretty good as other posters above have addressed. One thing no one mentioned is that she is working with T Bone Burnett on this one (instead of Tommy LiPuma), as he is the "producer de jour." I'd expect it to sound a bit more plodding and atmospheric. I like some of what he does, but he tends to slow down the pace, and muddy the bass. Hey, that rhymes! See the Gregg Allman blues release recently to see what I mean.

From the Verve site:

Working for the first time with renowned producer T Bone Burnett and engineer Mike Piersante, Krall revels in a fresh sonic playground captured in the vivid grain and deep resonant focus of analog tape. Burnett has assembled a distinguished cast of remarkable men to complement Krall's piano contribution at an 1890s Steinway upright.

I confess to owning most of Diana’s CD’s… I confess to wondering what possessed me to buy all that elevator music... I confess to not playing them very often… I hope that T-Bone doesn’t muddy this up too bad… and I’ll probable pre-order the new CD ASAP.

I like DK very much. I think she is talented and greatly appreciate artists such as she who produce superbly recorded material. I have heard most of her material and own three of her releases: "Live in Paris" and "All for You", which are my favorites and have been in regular rotation for a long time; and "Girl in the Other Room", which I enjoy on occassion. As much as I do enjoy her, I doubt I'll purchase any more from her. With those three I feel like I've covered her entire range. I would love to see her live though, especially with a large band such as on Paris.

Contraltos in general are a relatively hard sell for female vocals I think. Contralto is the lowest normal range for a female singer I believe, making it the least distinguished from male vocals. A contralto has to up the ante in other complimentary ways more so usually to score with the masses I think. I have seen Lady Gaga and Katy Perry categorized as contraltos, though contralto is a classical music voice designation technically. I think Diana Krall is no different. Sometimes she does and succeeds, sometimes she just relies on her vocal chops alone which is a tougher sell, at least for me.