Search - Diana Krall :: From This Moment on

Not quite what I had hoped for

D. Jacobs | Los Angeles, CA USA | 09/26/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm with the reviewers who have expressed a longing for Diana's smaller band days. Only Trust Your Heart and Love Scenes are my favorites, as well as Live From Paris. Even on When I Look In Your Eyes, in the midst of all of those orchestral arrangements, there was still a sense of soulfulness to her songs. The Big Band sound on this CD really undercut what I love most about Diana's voice-- the sultry intimacy of it.



I pre-ordered this CD because Diana's name alone is good enough for me to invest in her projects, but this one felt stunningly empty, like a shell without a core. But I understand that artists must try any and all things to grow. Some things will resonate with a lot a people, while others won't. It's all a matter of personal taste. I will continue to buy Diana's music, but this one was lukewarm for me."

Not What She Does Best

A. Ballentine | Williamsburg, VA USA | 10/07/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Darn, it, Diana Krall has made another lushly-produced orchestral-backed vocal record, along the lines of "The Look of Love" (2001). My guess is that she feels the need, or is receiving the advice that it is not enough to be a jazz star; but that the next step for her career is to become a diva. But she simply does not have the voice to be effective when surrounded by lush arrangements. She is at her best when her sultry voice is one of the instruments in a small jazz ensemble.



That's why I actually liked "The Girl in the Other Room" (2004), as a departure from "The Look of Love." I saw it as an attempt to return to the small ensemble, but with some inventiveness, approaching jazz singing from an unexpected edge. I'm sorry that she did not continue in that direction with this new release.



To my ears, the five-star Diana Krall recording is "When I Look In Your Eyes" (1999). That recording does feature some orchestral arrangements, but, even on those tracks, the influence of her small ensemble still sets the tone. There's fine interplay between Diana's voice and the other instruments. Her recordings that will be most in my CD player are those from the 1990s, and "The Girl In The Other Room" when I want to hear something inventive. The lushly-arranged albums will just be sitting on the shelf."

Warm, cheery and classy.

hal st soul | between London and Los Angeles | 02/27/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

""No more blue songs/ only whoop-de-doo songs". In the words of the Cole Porter title track, Diana Krall is in upbeat mode on her 10th album. Domestic bliss with her husband Elvis Costello has contributed to her cheery state.

While she has recently covered contemporary artists such as Tom Waits and Joni Mitchell and co-written with Costello, she has reverted here to the previous era of American songwriters such as the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart and Sammy Cahn.

This might seem a retrograde step, especially as thousands of jazz singers everywhere think they can sing songs like "Day In, Day Out" or "Come Dance With Me".

But, apart from her distinctive, low, sultry voice, what they haven't got is Diana's big band of first-rate musicians, who are here impeccably recorded in the totemic Capitol studios in Hollywood, where Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole recorded, and whose ghosts seem to haunt this record.

Diana Krall has a rare awareness of her capabilities and uses her voice like an instrument, which she blends perfectly with inventive arrangements from long-time collaborator John Clayton.

She does a superb job of co-producing -- from a delicate brush on the drums to the stabs of the brass, you can hear every precise detail in living stereo. If at times a little knowing, this is a truly sophisticated (before that word was diluted through over-use) record of tenderness, intelligence and humour."