As part of
Verve Records' ongoing 60th anniversary celebration, Verve/UMe is proud to
announce the July 15 release of eight essential Diana Krall albums in 180-gram,
2-LP vinyl reissues. The renowned pianist and vocalist has called Verve home
for the vast majority of her illustrious career, and these new versions of her
recordings originally released between 1996 and 2009 showcase many of her
finest moments in lustrous vinyl format.
These
reissues, which each feature the original album in its entirety on two LPs,
range from intimate trio sessions to celebratory big band outings, songbook
standards to modern pop favorites and memorable original songs. All feature
Krall's expressive voice and deft piano playing, along with production by
three-time GRAMMY® Award-winner Tommy LiPuma.
The series
begins with All For You, Krall's reverent tribute to the Nat King Cole Trio,
originally released by impulse! in 1996. The album features Krall leading a
trio with guitarist Russell Malone and bassist Paul Keller through some of the
legendary pianist/singer's most beloved tunes, with guest appearances by
pianist Benny Green and percussionist Steve Kroon. Its follow-up, 1997's Love
Scenes, includes 13 of Krall's favorite love songs, performed by her trio with
Malone and Christian McBride on bass.
A distinctly
orchestral sound comes to the forefront on Krall's official Verve debut, When I
Look in Your Eyes, released in 1999. Eight of the album's 13 tracks feature
strings conducted by veteran composer/arranger Johnny Mandel along with an
all-star jazz ensemble. The symphonic approach was expanded even further for
The Look of Love (2001), which spotlights Krall's vocals backed by the London
Symphony Orchestra.
Recorded
live during Krall's sold-out run at the legendary Olympia Music Hall in Paris
in late 2001, Live in Paris captures the energy and spark of Krall's concert
performances. The album's dozen songs feature several of Krall's regular
collaborators, including guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist Christian McBride,
and drummer Jeff Hamilton, as well as Orchestre Symphonique Européen, conducted
by pianist/arranger Alan Broadbent.
The Girl in
the Other Room (2004) was Krall's first release to prominently feature her own
original songs, many of them written in collaboration with her husband, Elvis
Costello. She returned to the Great American Songbook for 2006's From This
Moment On, which garnered a Best Jazz Vocal Album nomination at the 2007
GRAMMY® Awards. The series concludes with Krall's 2009 album, Quiet Nights--her
tenth release--highlighted by GRAMMY® Award-nominated arrangements from
frequent collaborator Claus Ogerman.
Diana Krall
is a star in a long line of revered and influential artists who have been
featured on Verve throughout the label's 60 years. Verve was founded in 1956 by
Norman Granz, the forward-thinking impresario responsible for the hugely
popular Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts, which brought the music to new
audiences and garnered jazz an unprecedented level of respect in popular
culture. Granz also managed Ella Fitzgerald and launched the label in large
part to create new opportunities worthy of the singer's immense talent,
including her landmark series of "Songbook" recordings.
Under the
visionary leadership of Granz and, after MGM purchased the imprint in 1961,
Creed Taylor, Verve continued to set new trends. The label sparked the Bossa
Nova craze with the 1964 release of the GRAMMY® Award-winning Getz/Gilberto and
brought a lush, elegant new sound to jazz with the arrangements of Claus
Ogerman and Oliver Nelson. Its focus eventually widened to encompass
groundbreaking comedy, folk and rock recordings, including now-iconic releases
by The Velvet Underground, Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, Janis
Ian and Laura Nyro.
It was its
jazz legacy that cemented Verve's place in the popular imagination, however,
and after a fallow period in the '70s and '80s Verve was revived in the
mid-1990s, again signing many of the biggest names in music: Herbie Hancock,
Wayne Shorter, John Scofield, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln and Shirley Horn, all
of whom recorded for Verve during this period.
Over the
course of its six-decade history, Verve has become synonymous with the very
best in jazz, venerating the music while charting its course and helping to
break down racial and stylistic barriers. There's no better way to celebrate
that legacy than with the music itself, and 2016's 60th anniversary releases
invite listeners to revisit the breathtaking sounds of Verve in new and
exhilarating ways.
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