NY Times - Interesting take on Elvis and Diana's relationship

[docinwestchester]

A review of Diana's new album:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/arts/ ... =arts&_r=0

Diana Krall sounds glum and fatigued on “Wallflower,” a collection of songs mostly from the ’70s and ’80s associated with the Eagles, Elton John, the Carpenters and others, that sustains a mood of quiet desperation. The muted, wistful tone is established with the opening cut, “California Dreamin’,” the Mamas and the Papas’ first hit in which Ms. Krall’s somnolent delivery suggests a snowbound New Englander longing for brighter days and happier times on a frigid winter evening. It is deepened by her rendition of “Desperado,” the Eagles’ ballad comparing a rock star’s grueling life on the road to the exhaustion of an aging cowboy reluctant to come in from the range.

The most evocative cut is the Carpenters’ hit “Superstar,” the plea to a rock star by a besotted fan to remember her long after their dalliance. As Ms. Krall murmurs “Loneliness is such a sad affair,” sounding like Peggy Lee in her sultry boudoir mode, those words define an album whose other depictions of unhappy relationships include “I Can’t Tell You Why,” “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” “I’m Not in Love” and “Alone Again (Naturally),” sung with Michael Bublé.

“Wallflower” was produced and arranged by the megahit maker David Foster, whose lush but static string arrangements, written by William Ross, couch each song on a soft feather bed. Where Ms. Krall usually plays vigorous keyboards on her albums, here her pianism is all but absent. Most of the fills, played by Mr. Foster, are strictly routine. It’s all the more mystifying because Ms. Krall, when prodded by a rhythm section, can really swing. But on “Wallflower,” drums are minimal.

The record, whose title song is an obscure, country-inflected Bob Dylan number, has the feel of a sullen concept album by a woman who feels abandoned. It is tempting to imagine that it reflects the frustrations of her marriage to Elvis Costello. These two great musicians, after all, are driven workhorses who are on the road much of the time on separate tours. Loneliness is such a sad affair. STEPHEN HOLDEN

(I agree about the lack of piano on the record. Her playing is sorely missed.)

[johnfoyle]

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/02/ ... ana-krall/


Breakfast, Touring and Gin Rummy: 17 Random Questions With Diana Krall

By WSJ STAFF
Feb. 4 2015



Earlier today, jazz vocalist Diana Krall took over Speakeasy’s Facebook page to answer fan questions about her new album “Wallflower” and upcoming tour. Many of the questions were from fans around the globe, pleading for her to play live in their area. Other questions were much more focused and out-of-the-ordinary. Ever wonder where Diana Krall met Michael Buble? Or what she does in her down time? Read on for 17 random questions with Diana Krall, edited slightly from their original presentation.

Who cooks the best breakfast at your house?

E.C. [Elvis Costello, Krall's husband] for sure, onions, onions, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You look great in a suit. Just saying…

I love Annie Hall!

What will this tour be like? Will you throw in some oldies or are you sticking strictly to ’80s?

This is really important. I will play Bob Dylan, Annette Hanshaw, Irvin Berlin, George Gershwin, Burt Bacharach, Nat Cole and a little Joni Mitchell thrown in for fun.

How was working with Streisand?

She’s a great Gin Rummy player.

What do you like to do in your down time?

Shag, shag and shag!

Is the late, great Vince Guaraldi an influence on your musical style?

Absolutely. Still is.

What is Christmas like in your home? Do you and Elvis sit round a piano?? Do you have special guests over? I can imagine Elton John and Allen Toussaint popping in for drinks and there not being enough space at the keyboard!

All of that is true except for the Elton and Allen part.

Much of your music is reflective in nature, Have you considered creating a song that is based on imagining a future perspective? if so, what would it be about?

I’ll think about that. Good thoughts to ponder.

How was working with Paul McCartney on his album?

The most incredible year of my life.

Have you ever thought to play or record some songs from the great Elvis Presley?

How about a crazy rumba version of “Viva Las Vegas” with me dressed up as Elvis?

What was it like to work with Michael Buble and Bryan Adams?

Working with both was fantastic. We’ve been friends for a long time. After running into Buble at our local grocery store, it was nice to finally do a duet with him.

On “Wallflower,” who is harmonizing with you?

That’s the original writer and singer, Timothy B. Schmit.

What is your favorite classic jazz standard?

Bill Murray singing Star Wars.

Who are some of your favorite artists to sit back and listen to in your down time??

Spain, Louis Armstrong, Renee Fleming, Annette Hanshaw, Jimmy Rowles, Johnny Hartman.

I play pedal steel… can you use a steel player?

Not right now but I know there’s a great one on Bob Dylan’s record.

Do you think your music has lost some of its edge since marrying Costello….just a tad?

Edge of what? By the way, that’s MISTER Costello to you.

What’s the second best thing you are good at after singing?

Skiing in shopping malls.

Diana Krall’s new album “Wallflower” is out this week on Verve.

[MOJO]

Diana seems like a bit of a wisenheimer, eh? Overload of old school comedy ala Stooges style... Let's hope! Skiing in shopping malls... Good one. Must be hanging in Dubai, I guess.

[docinwestchester]

Diana seems like a bit of a wisenheimer, eh? Overload of old school comedy ala Stooges style... Let's hope! Skiing in shopping malls... Good one. Must be hanging in Dubai, I guess.

Quirky Canadian sense of humor perhaps?

[MOJO]

Cool stuff. Have been a long time fan of old school SCTV and Kids In the Hall. A node to Canada is in order here.

[verbal gymnastics]

If she's doing all this shagging, and skiing in the shopping mall is the 2nd best thing she does after singing, then that suggests to me that something is going wrong somewhere...

[Poor Deportee]

First of all, while Diana Krall has undeniable charisma and presence, and can certainly tickle the ivories, it's not as though she was ever much of a singer; the whole idea that her work has 'declined' relative to some high point of past excellence sounds more like a standard fan cliché (has there EVER been a performer about whom this has not been said??) than anything rooted in reality. More to the point, attributing the state of an artist's work to the state of her marriage is crudely reductive. It might even be worth asking whether similar assumptions would be made about a male artist: 'oh, that album was sad-sounding, must be because he's missing his wife.' And even if this is the case, why assume the lachrymose tones are rooted in missing a spouse rather than, say, missing the kids, or a deceased parent, or (God forbid) just wanting to mine and explore a particular creative vein? In short, I can do without this sort of gossipy inference passing as criticism.

[A rope leash]

One would think that Elvis could find the time to write a few songs for her so she doesn't have to rehash the oldies.

[cwr]

It is tempting to imagine that it reflects the frustrations of her marriage to Elvis Costello.

This is a weird comment, and especially glaring in comparison to the way the Times reviews Dylan's album. I mean, it might be TEMPTING to speculate on a lot of things but it seems pretty idiotic to express that kind of thing in print as a professional music critic. For one thing, is there any evidence, anywhere, that Diana Krall is frustrated in her marriage to EC? I haven't seen any. So this is just the writer confessing to some sort of weird speculative fantasy that Diana Krall recorded sad songs that sound sad because she must be sad in real life, and making up reasons why she could be sad.

Did Dylan record so many sad standards because he secretly got divorced again? Oh, it's so tempting to imagine! But the critic writing that review instead just reviews the album, and refrains from expressing whatever lurid fantasies might have passed through his mind as he was writing his review...

[scielle]

A really great CBC Radio interview here: http://www.cbc.ca/q/popupaudio.html?clipIds=2652145290

[Goon Squad]

A really great CBC Radio interview here: http://www.cbc.ca/q/popupaudio.html?clipIds=2652145290

Thanks for posting that scielle. Very interesting interview.

[Poor Deportee]

That was a great interview - Diana Krall and the Son of Mordecai.

I must say, her singing sounds tremendous on the clips they played. She gets into trouble when she makes weird timing/phrasing decisions - but it sounds like she's staying out of her own way on this.

[johnfoyle]

Ms Krall has yet another rather fraught encounter with UK media, with a Costello related sting in the tail.

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015 ... m=facebook

[jardine]

I'm finding these interviews w. diana very, well, skewed and slightly disturbing. Not her. the questions and their pitch. reminds me of one of the roots of joni mitchell's anger w. the media. very odd. anyone else find these strange and a bit off-putting? Sexist, even?

[johnfoyle]

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/m ... ia-decades

Story referred to, so clumsily, in the Guardian interview with Ms Krall.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... ce=twitter

14 March 2015

How Verve Records Got Gutted

The record label of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald just got swallowed by a hip-hop business… and no one even noticed!

Ted Gioia

(extract)

The announcement could hardly have been hidden any better. Slipping the news into the second paragraph of a press release about a management change, Universal Music disclosed last week that most of the day-to-day responsibility for the once great Verve label has been absorbed by its hip-hop and pop operations. Interscope Geffen A&M, the home of Eminem and Lady Gaga, “is now responsible for Verve’s sales, marketing and film and TV licensing.”

As I look back at Verve’s output in recent years, the most striking aspect is the lack of any consistent guiding principles. Some albums are better than others, but too many decisions seem driven by marketing concepts rather than a commitment to artistry. Even Diana Krall, one of the few high caliber jazz artists still affiliated with Verve, is presented in the crassest way. Her 2012 release, Glad Rag Doll, looked more like an excuse for a lingerie photo shoot than a jazz album. Her latest recording, Wallflower, has a few inspired musical moments, but the focus on tired top 40 pop material from a second-rate oldies playlist—“Alone Again (Naturally),” “Desperado,” “I’m Not in Love”—is cheesy in the extreme. Krall succeeds here despite the song choices; a lesser artist might have lost all credibility in jazz circles with an album of this sort.