Friday, December 04, 2020

Diana Krall | "This Dream Of You"

This Dream Of You, produced in May 2020 by Ms. Krall, was mixed by Al Schmitt, who worked closely with the artist to achieve notable intimacy and immediacy with her voice in the final balance. 

The performances come from sessions in 2016 and 2017, on which Krall worked with her friend and longtime creative partner, Tommy LiPuma.  Mr. LiPuma passed away in 2017 at the age of 80.  

The album features Krall in a quartet with long-time colleagues, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton and Anthony Wilson on “Almost Like Being In Love” and “That’s All”, as well as a trio with Christian McBride and Russell Malone who play on “Autumn in New York” and “There’s No You.”

The duos include a wonderful first-take performance of “I Wished On The Moon” from Krall and bassist, John Clayton and two vocal cuts – “More Than You Know” and “Don’t Smoke In Bed” with accompaniment by pianist, Alan Broadbent, who also provided the string orchestration for “But Beautiful” and string arrangement on “Autumn In New York.”

The final session for this album took place at Capitol Studios with an ensemble featuring guitarist, Marc Ribot, the fiddle of Stuart Duncan and a rhythm section of Tony Garnier on bass and Karriem Riggins on drums. This line-up played “Just You, Just Me,” Irving Berlin’s “How Deep Is The Ocean” and the Bob Dylan song, “This Dream Of You,” on which Randall Krall plays accordion.

This Dream Of You is music for right now but it is also a “long playing record,” one that feels like a movie that you might share with someone because you know they’ll stay with it until the final reel. As Diana says, “If ‘But Beautiful’ is the overture, then ‘Singing In The Rain’ is the end title.”

Diana Krall is the only vocalist, in the jazz category, to have nine albums debut at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. To date, her albums have garnered five Grammy® Awards, ten Juno® Awards and have also earned nine gold, three platinum and seven multi-platinum albums.  

Krall grew up in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. Her grandfather was a coal miner and he along with her grandmother worked in a small diner in their later years. Her mother taught library and music and her father was a chartered accountant who collected 78 rpm records and also played the piano. Her Uncle, Randall Krall is also a musician. She was surrounded by a deep love and respect for music and art. Diana grew up listening to music played on 78 records. “West End Blues”, a song composed by Louis Armstrong was a song she listened to over and over. She learned to play 78 records on a windup gramophone and discovered many artists through playing those recordings at a very young age. Diana’s first job was playing piano in a local bar in her hometown when she was 15 years old. She learned from so many great musicians who generously gave their time experience and kindness. Many musicians she had the opportunity to learn from and play with were the very artists who created the art form she honors in her playing.

Diana has worked as a piano player, who also sings, all over the world. She is blessed to have a loving husband and two beautiful children. They live in New York City and Vancouver, Canada.


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