[meech]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ooheadsoo One thing about her albums, especially Look of Love in my opinion: It's one of the worst CDs to bring with you for auditioning new gear. This cd makes every system sound wonderful. Hard to pick out faults.

I totally agree with you!!!!!!!!! I try to only bring CD's that I know VERY well to audition new equipment (regardless of recording quality). It's the only way that you can really hear any improvements.

 

[elrod-tom]

Just scored some tickets for the Detroit appearance - which is going to be a big part of my 13th anniversary present/evening out with Mrs. Elrod.

 

[markl]

Welllllllll......

OK, it's not really my type of music to begin with. To me, this kind of stuff lacks teeth. It just kinda sits there, I am prejudiced against it by imagining that the type of people who buy this kind of thing are sorta upscale yuppie-wanna-be's who imagine they're "sophisticated" for listening to "jazz" (even though this is totally watered down jazz-lite). It's "jazz" for people who don't know anything about jazz. I say this as someone who can recognize this without having that much "real jazz" in his own collection, I confess. This is sorta "lifestyle" music to me. OK, those are my prejudices/biases.

The only time I've ever heard Krall before is at audio shops where they seem to play her stuff ad nauseum. I know little of her oevre.

Sorry, but this album didn't do anything to change my mind about Krall or this kind of music despite the Tom Waits and Joni Mitchell covers and despite her collaborations with Elvis Costello. It's very limp, by-the-book, color-by-numbers borderline elevator jazz to me. Sorry.

This disc made me antsy and bored. Furthermore, I don't find her to be a particularly good singer either. Seems to me, if you're going to be this kind of pretty-diva-at-the-piano-who-isn't-a-songwriter-but-a-song-stylist, the least you can do is bring some vocal chops to the table.

Sorry, if this came across as a total thread crap, but there you have it.

 

[whistler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl Seems to me, if you're going to be this kind of pretty-diva-at-the-piano-who-isn't-a-songwriter-but-a-song-stylist, the least you can do is bring some vocal chops to the table.

Won't try to disuade you on most of your opinion. However(you knew this was coming)

, of the 12 songs on the newest album 6 of songs have music a written by credit for Diana Krall and 4 of those have her as a co-writer for the lyrics.

 

[mkyy]

I just went to her concert last friday. My short summary of the one and a half hour show: disappointed. It's a simple four man band. No strings, no John Clayton and no Jeff Hamilton. Most of the songs she played are from the new album, not surprisingly. She also played "Devil may care" and "East of the Sun" but I much prefer the arrangement in "live in paris". Krall performance seems drained, disconnected. I definitely cheap out and didn't got the best seat but still didn't deserve the poor sound. I haven't been to a lot of concerts before but I think the organizer opt for a hockey stadium instead of a proper concert hall is the thing to blame.

 

[aos]

I use "When I look in your eyes" as one of my reference CDs. I have to say that I like that one the best; in fact I just got the SACD version yesterday
in order to do some comparison to Redbook which I had for years. The last two albums are not as engaging to me personally and I can see why you could say that it's watered down Jazz. I actually don't think the last one *IS* completely Jazz, at least a portion of it definitely is more pop or even country, at least to my style (I know some of it is actually Bossa Nova but I don't know jack about differences between genres that aren't classical anyway). As for recording, I found this latest one to sound worse than the older ones - too bright and metallic - but it may just be my new Musical Fidelity A3 which is known to be bright and it was still burning in. Anyhow, if you find this watered dow then the album I mentioned above would be more acceptable to you, though it's still "watered down Jazz" devoid of "rough edges" - I guess you would liken this music to a computer case that has finger guards instead of sharp edges; you want your Jazz to make you bleed.

 

[aos]

Oh yeah, Devil May Care performance from Live in Paris, which I have on DVD with DTS, is really fun - very fast pace. I have listened to other stuff on that album only once or twice.

 

[markl]

Quote:

As for recording, I found this latest one to sound worse than the older ones - too bright and metallic

Funny, aos, that's *exactly* how I would describe the SACD, it's a bit on the bright side, maybe a little metallic too, so it's not just you.
Quote:

Anyhow, if you find this watered dow then the album I mentioned above would be more acceptable to you, though it's still "watered down Jazz" devoid of "rough edges" - I guess you would liken this music to a computer case that has finger guards instead of sharp edges; you want your Jazz to make you bleed.

Thanks for the recos, but, based on this, I don't think I'm going to be digging into her back catalog. And it's not that I want to "bleed" necessarily, I just appreciate a *little* soul. A little *feeling*, maybe some grit and reality. With so much classic "real" jazz vocals available for your listening pleasure, I guess I can't much see the point of this, unless you're crushing on Krall...

(which is perfectly understandable, Elvis is a lucky dog.) For me, this sounds like the kind of stuff they'd play over the speakers at upscale little romatic bistros to help you digest your food. Or maybe stuff they'd play at Pottery Barn or some other knick-knack stores to make you feel "cultured" as you buy tacky little trinkets for the house.

Like I said, I'm not the best person to be reviewing this kind of stuff when I just don't have a natural liking for it to start with. I hoped it would be a little more spiky or edgy thanks to Elvis, but oh well.

 

[earful]

gotta check out pottery barn; could use feeling cultured.

 

[aos]

I have three or four Shirley Horn CDs and I found them very sibilant in general. Also, not everything on those CD was interesting but the songs that were are great. Summer (Estate) and Return to Paradise, from Shirley Horn with Strings (yes, I do like additions of strings as they make for a slow, dreamy songs when done right) are my favourites. Most of the stuff on later albums is original (I think) so it's hit and miss just like any other album. Shirley Horn has power and expressive voice but if Krall lacks any roughness then Shirley maybe has it a bit too much as in a lot of her songs there's so much expression that you can barely hear the melodic line; that's gets a bit too much for me as it turns into reading a poem with a band playing in the background.