With her breathy, languid vocals melded to Brazil's signature rhythms, Diana Krall's 12th disc recalls the singer-pianist's Look of Love (2001), her biggest selling recording.
Not surprising, since both albums were arranged by veteran German conductor Claus Ogerman, noted for his work with bossa nova master Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Accompanying herself on piano – in concert with strings and long-time collaborators guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton – Nanaimo's finest turns in a classic albeit safe collection of music.
The retooled American pop and jazz faves are more rewarding than the actual Brazilian standards "Boy From Ipanema," "Este Seu Olhar" and "Quiet Nights," where reinvention is trickier to accomplish.
The highlights include "Too Marvelous For Words," which becomes a seductive praise-song rather than the campy romp it can sometimes be, and I love the way she bends and stretches out the words to Burt Bacharach's "Walk On By."
Ogerman has left lots of room for Krall's superb improvisations. "So Nice," for example, runs 90 seconds before vocals are introduced.
In interviews, the 44-year-old wife and mother has described these 10 tracks (with two bonus songs) as erotic, womanly, sensual. She's right.
The easy listening vibe doesn't surpass the riskily creative The Girl in the Other Room (2004) or straightforwardly swinging From This Moment On (2006), but it will go over well after hours and most certainly at her April 30/May 1 Massey Hall gigs.
Top Track: On one of the two bonus tracks – the other is "Every Time We Say Goodbye" – Krall is exposed and deeply intimate on this collection's one out-of-the-box offering: Al Green's "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart."
No comments:
Post a Comment