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July 13, 2007
Kept in thrall by Krall
Let me start by saying I’m not a jazz fan. I own, at most, three jazz CDs and normally don’t go out of my way to see jazz concerts. I will admit to enjoying some of the free concerts on the New Haven Green, but usually the jazz is just background music to meeting friends or catching up on some reading while the sun is still out.
But while doing some research on Diana Krall in advance of an interview that didn’t pan out, I found myself not only listening to her new album, “From this Moment On,” but liking it. Still, I spent Thursday afternoon at the office thinking up reasons to blow off Krall’s concert at the Chevrolet Theatre in Wallingford.
Since I had already committed through Krall’s PR person and since I couldn’t think of a convincing reason not to attend, I jumped on the Merritt Parkway pointing north and off I went. And, for the most part, I’m glad I did.
Krall stuck mostly to the standards, with an emphasis on songs from Peggy Lee and Nat King Cole. As I’m also shamefully ignorant of the Great American Songbook, I didn’t know too many of the songs in Krall’s set list because she obviously takes great pains not to just rehash the tunes Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra and singers of that ilk turned into hits decades ago.
Sure, I vaguely recall hearing versions of “Let’s Fall in Love” and “S’Wonderful” at some point in my life, but the only songs that I truly recognized were the two she performed from the new album, “Exactly Like You” and “Little Girl Blue.” And yet I still came away very impressed by the show.
Krall’s smoky, smooth vocals and deft piano work were more than complemented by her band, which included guitarist Anthony Wilson, drummer Jeff Hamilton and the extremely gifted bassist John Clayton. You didn’t have to be a jazz buff to know these guys were good.
Krall, on her first tour since giving birth to twin sons in December, also added some dry humor to the concert in her between-song chatter, especially in responding to an audience member’s shout.
She had the funniest line of the night when someone yelled, “How are the twins?” She casually looked down at her chest and said, “They’re OK. They’re finally getting smaller.”
Krall ended the evening with a song that seems to be everywhere these days, The Bee Gees’ “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.” Maybe this was just Krall getting a head start on the Great Australian Songbook.
The opening act Thursday night was Chris Botti, a jazz trumpeter known to many for his time as the bandleader on the short-lived “Caroline Rhea Show.” Botti’s set was fine and his band was top-notch, but his kind of jazz really isn’t for me. It was OK, I guess, but I just get bored listening to jazz instrumentals. (It would have been ideal for an afternoon of reading on the New Haven Green, however.)
He did a nice turn on “Someone to Watch Over Me,” but I really didn’t care for his versions of two songs by Leonard Cohen, “Hallelujah” and “A Thousand Kisses Deep.” Maybe it was because I’m familiar with Cohen’s originals and could feel what was missing. Or maybe, Botti’s interpretations just weren’t that good.
But what do I know? Maybe a jazz aficionado would find them brilliant.
Diana Krall’s set list
I Love Being Here with You
Let’s Fall in Love
’Deed I Do
I’ll String Along with You
Exactly Like You
Let’s Face the Music and Dance
You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me
If I Had You
Devil May Care
Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You
Little Girl Blue
I Don’t Know Enough About You
Encore
S’Wonderful
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
Posted by Sean on July 13, 2007 4:39 AM
