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(tickets of Diana Krall's concert filmed for the "Live in Rio" DVD on November 1st, 2009).jpg)
(pic by Arnaldo DeSouteiro)
I, Arnaldo DeSouteiro, had the honor and the privilege to attended Diana's concerts in Rio.
The sound for the audience was always HORRIBLE. The acoustics of the Vivo Rio Hall (I had never been there before) are HORRIBLE. I couldn't hear the orchestra when the band played loud, the mixing was terrible, I didn't listen to John Clayton's bass either. And I was in the best seat possible... so imagine who was in the worst place..! Diana's seemed nervous and sometimes "acting" (she cried in the same moments in all four nights...) Paulinho da Costa's percussion was too low that sometimes he seemed to be mimicking. Jeff Hamilton's drums sounded like a metal box, a thin box, specially when he was doing his impeccable brushwork.
However, the sound captured for the recording purposes are certainly excellent, thanks to Tommy LiPuma's and engineer Al Schmitt's expertise. The guys who will do the final editing are also the best in the business. So, when anyone watch the DVD, they will say: "what a wonderful concert!" And I will say: "I was there!"
Claus' new arrangements for DK's forthcoming "Quiet Nights" album (now scheduled for February release in the USA on Verve) are superb, as we should expect. Claus's scores alternate dark-tinged, somber moods ("You're My Thrill", "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" on its darker version ever) with light bossa-oriented grooves to "Too Marvelous For Words" and "Where or When", achieving a good balance of both moods on "Walk On By".
But there were many gaffs by DK too.
She only mentioned Claus' name when she returned for the first encore, telling the audience that he was supposed to be there but had to cancel the trip due to a surgery. There were a few claps in the audience and she added: "If you are not familiar with Claus, he worked for many years as an arranger for Jobim and Joao Gilberto. And all arrangements you're listening tonight are by Claus, except this next one, by Johnny Mandel." And then she sang "'S Wonderful", which, as all DK's fans know, was arranged by Claus...
Then she did another mistake, by saying that Joao Gilberto couldn't be there "because he is in Japan right now." However, two days before Joao had cancelled his trip, 'cause his concerts were postponed to December. And she knew about it. Strange... Btw, DK's team did all the efforts possible to have João as special guest star on the DVD. Krall tried to persuade him since their meeting last June, when she attended Gilberto's concert at JVC Festival at Carnegie Hall and managed to hang out with him for over one hour (a miracle, a blessing that hundreds of other artists, from Shirley Horn to Madonna, never received...) However, Joao politely declined the invitation to perform on the DVD, in spite of the millionaire offer.
Oh, and her guest in Sao Paulo will be Toquinho. In Rio, Carlos Lyra acted as the MC, but he didn't take part of the concert.
Two concerts just with her quartet (October 29, only for guests of the tour promoter, the HSBC bank) & 30), two with an added orchestra magnificently conducted by Ruriá Duprat.
The concert on October 31 functioned as a "rehearsal" for the DVD filming of this "Live in Rio" project.
Saturday, November 1st, in her final night, the DVD was filmed, but she had to re-do many songs in the encore. Among them, a second version of "You're My Thrill" that lost all the "thrilling", all the emotion, of the first take.
And I was so busy for the past days, that only now I found time to drop these impressions to you.
The sound for the audience was always HORRIBLE. The acoustics of the Vivo Rio Hall (I had never been there before) are HORRIBLE. I couldn't hear the orchestra when the band played loud, the mixing was terrible, I didn't listen to John Clayton's bass either. And I was in the best seat possible... so imagine who was in the worst place..! Diana's seemed nervous and sometimes "acting" (she cried in the same moments in all four nights...) Paulinho da Costa's percussion was too low that sometimes he seemed to be mimicking. Jeff Hamilton's drums sounded like a metal box, a thin box, specially when he was doing his impeccable brushwork.
But DK and all the musicians guaranteed that the sound from the stage monitors was excellent.
Ruriá Duprat (Rogério's nephew), who was brought from Sao Paulo to conduct the "Rio" orchestra, did a fantastic job, despite the fact that the ensemble was formed in the last minute with very short time for rehearsals.
However, the sound captured for the recording purposes are certainly excellent, thanks to Tommy LiPuma's and engineer Al Schmitt's expertise. The guys who will do the final editing are also the best in the business. So, when anyone watch the DVD, they will say: "what a wonderful concert!" And I will say: "I was there!"
Claus' new arrangements for DK's forthcoming "Quiet Nights" album (now scheduled for February release in the USA on Verve) are superb, as we should expect. Claus's scores alternate dark-tinged, somber moods ("You're My Thrill", "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" on its darker version ever) with light bossa-oriented grooves to "Too Marvelous For Words" and "Where or When", achieving a good balance of both moods on "Walk On By".
There was also a sublime "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face", that she changed for "His Face", dedicating it to "my beloved husband, Elvis Costello." People in the audience laughed, like mocking of him. (Brazilians seems to hate Costello...don't ask me why...) She replied: "What?"
But there were many gaffs by DK too.
She only mentioned Claus' name when she returned for the first encore, telling the audience that he was supposed to be there but had to cancel the trip due to a surgery. There were a few claps in the audience and she added: "If you are not familiar with Claus, he worked for many years as an arranger for Jobim and Joao Gilberto. And all arrangements you're listening tonight are by Claus, except this next one, by Johnny Mandel." And then she sang "'S Wonderful", which, as all DK's fans know, was arranged by Claus...
Then she did another mistake, by saying that Joao Gilberto couldn't be there "because he is in Japan right now." However, two days before Joao had cancelled his trip, 'cause his concerts were postponed to December. And she knew about it. Strange... Btw, DK's team did all the efforts possible to have João as special guest star on the DVD. Krall tried to persuade him since their meeting last June, when she attended Gilberto's concert at JVC Festival at Carnegie Hall and managed to hang out with him for over one hour (a miracle, a blessing that hundreds of other artists, from Shirley Horn to Madonna, never received...) However, Joao politely declined the invitation to perform on the DVD, in spite of the millionaire offer.
Oh, and her guest in Sao Paulo will be Toquinho. In Rio, Carlos Lyra acted as the MC, but he didn't take part of the concert.
Lyra's participation on Krall's concert was limited to his work as official host (he introduced the show, speaking only in Portuguese and asking the audience to sing along with her on the Brazilian songs; there were some gaffs on his text too...). He didn't play in the show, but was filmed in the Fasano hotel bar backing DK as a guitarist in a bossa nova version of "Cheek to Cheek" that Tommy LiPuma plans to use in the "extra material" of the DVD. It's a scene imitating a bossa nova reunion... Bizarre...because the "figurants" were all from the sponsors and production teams, ie, all 60-year old plus...
She sang the same tune ("Cheek to Cheek") in the concert, but in a straight-ahead jazz arrangement, without orchestra. It was one of the highlights of the evening.
Interesting note: to my surprise, Paulinho da Costa was the musician who got more applauses. People screamed in the audience everytime DK mentioned his name. And I can guarantee it was not his family!
Now, I can't wait to listen to the final mix of both the studio CD and the DVD, to be able to savour all the nuances and subtleties of Claus' scores.
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(poster of the concert on November 1st which was filmed for the DVD release)
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(Anthony Wilson, Jeff Hamilton, Diana Krall & Carlos Lyra filming the "extras")
Interesting note: to my surprise, Paulinho da Costa was the musician who got more applauses. People screamed in the audience everytime DK mentioned his name. And I can guarantee it was not his family!
Now, I can't wait to listen to the final mix of both the studio CD and the DVD, to be able to savour all the nuances and subtleties of Claus' scores.
.jpg)
(poster of the concert on November 1st which was filmed for the DVD release).jpg)
(Anthony Wilson, Jeff Hamilton, Diana Krall & Carlos Lyra filming the "extras")
SOS MI IDOLO!!!
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