2. music
  3. 140582-121998

What’s wrong with Diana Krall?

Just wondering if anybody else saw Diana Krall on tour this past summer. I had been a very big fan and had previously seen her live years ago in San Francisco and Tampa/St. Pete. My recollection was that she was amazing in concert...she played flawlessly, she was engaging, and her ensemble was very tight. However, I took my wife to see her this past June in Memphis...man what a disappointment. First, they were 20 minutes late hitting the stage. Diana seemed like she was under some chemical influence...she mumbled her requisite bon mots to no one in particular, forgot lyrics to some songs (!), and basically took most of the night off, letting her bandmates do an extended jam session with lengthy solos on every song! Looking at customer reviews from her performances at other venues, this had apparently been going on for quite some time. Her whole set, including a halfhearted encore, was only about an hour. God, I hope she is ok and pulls herself together...what a terrible waste if she can’t.
jtkmd1
falconquest's avatar
falconquest
1,108 posts
 
I saw Diana live last summer and thought her show was so-so. I do like her style and certainly enjoy her "Live in Paris" CD. Unfortunately her show sounded like all the musicians were just going through their paces. nothing stood out. She did not play a single tune I knew so perhaps it was just all new material. Sounded like practice to me.

As for vocal style, some people say some artists can sing and others can't but the way I look at it is, they put out a sound. If you like the sound great, if not you move on. I sat front row at a Neil Young concert and it was simply amazing that he could command the attention of the entire venue with his voice and an acoustic guitar. How many artists can do that? Can Neil sing? Hell yes he can! Can Diana Krall sing? Sure in her own style, take it or leave it.
jafant's avatar
jafant
20,123 posts
 
Another thought here All;since DK has been around since the early 1990's, perhaps, she has peaked as an artist and performer? If so, I can live with her body of work (catalog).   Happy Listening!
cd318
2,636 posts
 
Diana Krall, along with Michael Buble is amongst the best of our generation. You can take that whichever way you want, but I think at her best she is awesome.

Besides, which Hi-Fi show would be complete without the following classic.

https://youtu.be/97yf3nqb-Fk


french_fries
815 posts
 
speaking of... I could do without some of Ella Fitzgerald's recordings, and she is in a class by herself. She belabors some of her songs in live settings, over-embellishing, scatting endlessly, just getting on my nerves.
Is that/should that be significant? Not really, but when she sings "the American songbook" in the studio, I melt into my chair. Yellow Basket is so silly it's magnificent. Is all of Billy Holliday's material great? When she was stoned and her voice was at 30%? Do I love her? Of course. We tend to judge people out of context to the time, the venue, the amount of energy a performance demands. Were the Beatles always on THEIR game? What about the New England Patriots? They lost to Miami on Sunday?? That made me happy, but it NEVER should have happened, right?  Don't lecture jazz fans about who's perfect and who's not.
Orchestras have time to prepare and time to rehearse. Not everyone has 
that privilege. And even then the soloist comes down with the flu...
cd318
2,636 posts
 
@french_fries, yes it's all a question of taste. I'd rather the smooth sound of Ella or Diana rather than the squeal of Billie or the histrionics of Aretha.

That's not to say both Fitzgerald and Krall don't occasionally stray into territories I find bland, but that's my problem.

As for the Beatles, all other bands must look and wonder how..

More to discover