Diana Krall - When I Look In Your Eyes (1999)

Note: the album was issued in several formats, including DVD Audio (2003), Super Audio Compact Disc (2002), and 2xLP (2009), but my copy is just the plain ol' CD in a Digipak.

It seems I've developed a love/hate relationship with Diana Krall. When she uses her full voice and the song's arrangement is just right, I love it. When she breathily whispers lyrics sotto voce heavy on the vocal fry and the arrangement plods, it sends me straight to the skip button. This album of standards contains a mix of both. However, the album has two distinct advantages: the production skills of Tommy LiPuma and the orchestral arrangements of Johnny Mandel. I also enjoy Krall's piano playing on this album more than on other albums; her soloing is simple, tasteful, and melody-based. At times, I find myself listening to guitarist Russell Malone more than Krall. Not an album that stands up to much active listening, it might be an appropriate mood-setter for your next candlelight dinner with your significant other.

The album won Grammy awards in the categories of Best Jazz Vocal Performance and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. The album was also nominated for Album Of The Year, eventually losing to Supernatural by Santana.

Press of the time:

• Downbeat (★★★½): "There is pure artistry here, and there is a work in progress."
• Entertainment Weekly (A): "The thrills of startling artistry may be absent, but whispered reassurances have their rewards."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #56
• Billboard Jazz: #1
• Billboard Internet Sales: #5

Tracks: My top picks are Let's Face The Music And Dance (Irving Berlin, 1936), Popsicle Toes (Michael Franks, 1976),  I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields, 1928), and Pick Yourself Up (Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields, 1936).

Bonus track: Why Should I Care, from the movie True Crime. Written by Clint Eastwood, Carole Bayer Sager, & Linda Thompson, and produced by David Foster. Amazingly, it fits in perfectly with these standards and has a heck of a sax solo.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In 2022, I worked as an Experience Guide (read: usher) at a couple of downtown performance venues. The pay was $10.50/hour, but I got to see the shows. I enjoyed it for the most part, but there were two major drawbacks: 1) for evening performances, I was leaving our house about the same time my wife was getting home from work, and 2) the ushers were responsible for policing cell phone recording during performances. As for the first, I enjoy spending time with my wife, so I'd have to say that's the main reason I quit said ushering job. As for the cell phone monitoring, I taught middle school for too many years and had retired from all that - so why on earth would I want to keep an eye on drunk, entitled adults acting worse than tweens? Also, I think popular musicals like Hamilton and Hadestown are great, but seeing the show 8 times in 6 days is more than enough.

One of the final shows I ushered was a Diana Krall performance. I don't think any one would consider her to be a dynamic performer - her softly mumbling into the microphone is better suited to a small night club than a 1500 seat theater. And the alcohol must have been flowing freely that evening because the number of intoxicated patrons at that show seemed exceptionally high. Sadly, the Krall show was one of the worst I worked (and consider that I once worked a Sunday matinee of "Disney Junior Live On Tour: Costume Palooza featuring Spidey and His Amazing Friends"). One woman on the front row was so inebriated we finally had to get the police involved to remove her. I will give Krall credit for handling the situation like a consummate professional, but that incident was the final straw for me. I worked one more show, a benefit auction for the American Cancer Society, and unceremoniously left that position. That memory really doesn't have anything to do with this CD other other than Krall being involved, so never mind. As you were.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Look of Love (2001)
Love Scenes (1997)