Diana Krall - Quiet Nights [Album]

Universal Classics

July 19, 2009, 01:38 PM

Views: 482   Comments: 2

Buy Diana Krall - Quiet Nights [Album] From Amazon.com

Famous for covering jazz standards, on 'Quiet Nights' Diana Krall covers the golden era of musical & nightclub singers, and time travels to the sixties for a re-run of famous bossa-nova classics including a Dionne Warwick song. Most surprisingly of all on "Quiet Nights" was her cover of a Bee Gees classic. Named after the English translation of a bossa-nova standard (Corcovado), the album sounds like a "quiet night" indeed; while covering many styles, the production of Krall and Tommy LiPuma successfully blend the songs into one smooth sound that is reminiscent of the sound you might hear in a bluesy, deserted nightclub with a complete orchestra thrown in to boot!

With four bossa-nova songs, seven songbook standards, made between the thirties and the fifties, plus a bonus in the form of Bee Gees classic ‘How can you mend a Broken Heart?’, you can’t say Kralls choices are unadventurous. But it’s her rendition of ‘Walk on By’ that typifies the general sound of the album best. The song, originally written for and made famous by Dionne Warwick, is stripped of its soulfulness and spiciness. Instead, Krall’s voice is drenched in sadness and despair and gives it a bluesy, smoky downtown nightclub feeling.

For most of the songs this style seem to work out for her. A good example of this is album opener 'Where or When', the Rodgers and Hart classic that has been covered by basically every jazz singer since it was firstly performed in the musical 'Babes in Arms' in 1937. Rhythmically it is typical jazz, the song relies heavily on the classical orchestra which gives the seventy-two year old song a modern and very un-jazzy glow. In contrast, ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed to his Face’, the famous 'My Fair Lady' song works best completely stripped down, thanks to Krall’s perfect feeling of the dramatic sense.

Diana Krall's downside is that she also treats the few uplifting songs in the same way. Especially ‘Too Marvellous for Words’, which comes out a bit strange and it sounds like she compliments her lover with a heavy sigh. The same happens with 'You're my Thrill'. It doesn't sounds like sharing love, but instead draws a picture of a sad, deserted, broken-hearted lady, draped in curtains and all alone in a dirty, sinister, castle singing the blues away.

Four bossa-nova songs have made it to the album, two of the best known among them, 'So Nice' and ‘The Boy from Ipanema’ (originally ‘The Girl from Ipanema’), which she also performed with Rosemary Clooney on Clooney's 2000 album ‘Brazil’. Krall, obviously admiring the work of the late Antonio Carlos Jobim as she also covers his ‘Este Seu Olhar’ and ‘Quiet Nights’, all typified by a subtle use of violins, a leading role for percussion and Krall’s piano playing.

The album closes with three tearful songs, 'Guess I'll Hang my Tears out to Dry', the 1945 song previously performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan and Linda Ronstadt. 'Quiet Nights' shows that even modern songs can sound like old-time jazz standards, or even become their own standard as long as it is treated correctly. The orchestra and subtle piano makes this version definitely sound timeless and Krall really does do a good job here.

#1 | Subscribe | Send to Friend | Print | Discipline | Report