All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio

by

Diana Krall

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I discovered this album because a friend of mine in the music industry (who doesn't know all that much about jazz vocalists) wanted to know if Diana Krall was as good as all the hype about her said she was. After a quick scan of the song list I replied that it would be easy to tell because she had a version of "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" and that was one of my favorite pieces -- not only one of my favorites, I said, but I have a recording on a mix tape at home by some woman (who's name escaped me) that I considered the definitive version of " Boulevard Of Broken Dreams".

Two seconds into the song I realized that this was the woman. I said, " she's better".

Diana Krall's ability to interpret standards is truly amazing. I have a fairly extensive collection of jazz vocal albums and I place this one right up there at the top with singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Hartman, Nat Cole & Billy Holiday -- not necessarily because they sound alike, but more because all of these artists can sing a song and make you hear it differently than you've ever heard it before.

Now I'm not going to try to convince you that all of her recording are flawless, but this one is a pure winner. There's not a bad track on here. Some of the stand outs are 'You Call It Madness', 'You're Looking At Me', 'A Blossom Fell', and of course my favorite 'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams'.

I can't wait for Diana to outgrow this label. They spend way too much time trying to promote her image. It's not an insult to say that her image is the least of her qualities.

Diana Krall reminds me of Mandy Patinkin. She has a gift, there's no doubt about that. But she tends to abuse it, to overuse it, to turn herself into a one-trick pony. Just as Mandy never passes up an opportunity for the falsetto yell, the wide-vibrato Jolson-on-a-stick, Krall gives us track after track of husky whispers, thick-tongued consonants, and breathy sighs. Sometimes it's just what the doctor ordered for a song, but other times it grates. It seems like every song on this album goes through the Diana Krall wounded woman meat grinder... I've seen her do tunes where she displays a lot more 'tude and spunk, but you won't find it here or on her subsequent albums, where she does everything but purr... I think Krall has the equipment to be a major singer in jazz--I'm eager to hear her new "Live In Paris" Cd, where it sounds like she really expands beyond... The two tracks I heard on the radio were very promising indeed. But if she really wants to fulfill her potential she probably needs to fire her manager.