Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Krall live tonight @ K-Rock Centre in Kingston

Diana Krall performs tonight at K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ontario
Buy Tickets
Showtime: 8:00pm Doors:7:00 PM
Ticket Prices (incl. GST): $59.50, $79.50 or $99.50
Reserved Seating (plus FMF and service charges)
Directions and Parking:
http://www.k-rockcentre.com/directions/

Here follows the review of her concert @ National Arts Centre (Ottawa) last May 2.
**************
Krall Shows Off Her Many Sides
Singer, pianist also proves to be a joker
by Peter Hum
Ottawa Citizen, May 3, 2009

If that woman wheeling her twin toddlers around downtown Ottawa in a Hummer of a stroller looks a little extra weary, she has a good excuse. She was entertaining a full house at the National Arts Centre's Southam Hall on Saturday night.

Her name's Diana Krall. Perhaps you've heard of her, or like millions of others, have one of her CDs that's helped keep jazz from being elbowed out of mainstream culture?

BC Scene's musical closer presented more than a few sides of herself during the first of her two nights playing in Ottawa. She was the glamorous vocalist, the honey-maned girl in a dark evening gown, singing dreamy bossa novas and classic ballads her way.

She was a jazz nerd too. At the piano, she dropped bits of bebop and Billy Strayhorn melodies for music insiders. At the microphone, she gave shoutouts to her heroes Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson and Bud Powell.

Perhaps most of all, Krall was also a good-time girl with no shortage of jokes.

She amused the audience when she revealed that her two-year-old twins were already fans of Maman, the National Gallery of Canada's giant spider sculpture, and that today she would be strolling with them, her famous hair in a scrunchie, her party dress swapped for Spandex pants.

A musical gag or two was also well-received, especially when Krall slipped the old Hockey Night in Canada theme into one of her piano solos.

The night began with Krall and her three backing musicians in fourth gear, speeding through I Love Being Here With You. She blazed through that song and later, Devil May Care, at a tempo that seemed almost frantic.

The night's second song, the swaying groover Let's Fall in Love, brought the intensity down a notch, but was more impressive and consistent, as Krall settled into a Basie-like groove, playing sparsely as her left foot stomped quarter notes.

But enough about Krall the pianist. What most people most likely came to hear was her voice -- which was in top form. That was most evident on the evening's bossas and ballads such as Where or When, Quiet Nights, Summer Samba, The Look of Love and S'Wonderful -- songs that the crowd greeted with whoops of recognition. Although Krall professes her musical debts to Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, and Cole, she's her own singer, someone who enthralls with marvellous timbre, phrasing that caresses the beat, and little slides and bluesy shifts that adorn her melodies with extra emotion. She was simply as good or better as she sounds on her million-sellers.

Krall's musicians knew exactly how to make her sound good and step out as required. Guitarist Anthony Wilson sparkled with every solo while bassist Robert Hurst and drummer Jeff Hamilton provided some magic-carpet swing and dazzle.

No comments: