Diana Krall

Diana Krall
Diana Krall at a CD signing in Toronto, Ontario (Sept 2007)
Background information
Born	November 16, 1964 (1964-11-16) (age 46) Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Jazz, traditional pop
Occupations	Singer Pianist Songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Piano
Years active	1990 — present
Labels	Justin Time (1993) GRP (1995) Impulse (1995—2001) Verve (2002—present)
Associated acts	Elvis Costello
Website	DianaKrall.com
Notable instruments
Steinway[1] piano

Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC (born November 16, 1964) is a Grammy and Juno Award-winning Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals.^[2] She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she's sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s. On December 11, 2009, Billboard magazine named her the second Jazz artist of the 2000–2009 decade, establishing herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time. She's the only jazz singer to have eight albums debuting at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums.^[3] To date, she's won three Grammy Awards and eight Juno Awards.

Professional career

In 1993, Krall released her first album, Stepping Out, which she recorded with John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton. It caught the attention of producer Tommy LiPuma, who produced her second album, Only Trust Your Heart (1995).

Her third album, All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio (1996), was nominated for a Grammy and continued for 70 weeks in the Billboard jazz charts. Love Scenes (1997) quickly became a hit record with the trio of Krall, Russell Malone (guitar) and Christian McBride (bass).

In August 2000, Krall was paired on a 20-city tour with Tony Bennett. They were paired again for a song on the TV series Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...

Orchestral arrangements by Johnny Mandel provided the background on When I Look In Your Eyes (1999); more Grammy nominations came along, and she was rewarded as Best Jazz Musician of the Year. The band mix was kept, following arrangements on The Look of Love (2001) created by Claus Ogerman; this record achieved platinum status and reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200. The Look of Love went to number one on the Canadian album charts and went quadruple platinum in that country. The title track from the album, a cover of the Casino Royale standard popularized in the late 1960s by Dusty Springfield and Sergio Mendes, reached number 22 on the adult contemporary chart.

In September 2001, Krall began a world tour. Her concert at the Paris Olympia was recorded and released as her first live record. Diana Krall - Live in Paris topped the Billboard jazz charts, went top 20 on the Billboard 200 and went top five in Canada. It garnered her second Grammy (Best Vocal Jazz Record) and a Juno Award. The album included covers of Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" (a hit on U.S. smooth jazz radio) and Joni Mitchell's "A Case Of You."

After marrying Elvis Costello, she worked with him as a lyricist and started to compose her own songs, resulting in the album The Girl in the Other Room. The album, released in April 2004, quickly rose to the top five in the United Kingdom and made the Australian top 40 album charts.

She also joined Ray Charles on his Genius Loves Company album in 2004 on the song, "You Don't Know Me".

In late May 2007, Krall was featured in a Lexus ad campaign.^[4] She also sang, "Dream a Little Dream of Me" with piano accompaniment by pianist Hank Jones.

Quiet Nights, her latest album, was released on 31 March 2009.

Krall also produced Barbra Streisand's album Love Is the Answer, released on 29 Sep 2009.

To protest the blockade of Gaza and in the aftermath of the Israeli assault on the vessel MV Mavi Marmara on 31 May 2010, many artists scheduled to perform in Israel in the summer of 2010 joined the ongoing boycott against these reported actions. Among them was Krall's husband, Elvis Costello. Krall, by contrast, performed in Ra'anana, Israel's outdoor ampitheater before a large and appreciative crowd on 4 August 2010.

Personal life

Krall was born on November 16th, 1964 in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. Her father played piano around the house and her mother sang in a community choir. She was playing piano herself at the age of four and playing jazz in a local restaurant at 15. She went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston on a scholarship before heading out to L.A. to play jazz. She returned to Canada to release her first album in 1993.^[5]

Krall lost her mother Adella to multiple myeloma in 2002, within months of also losing her mentors Ray Brown and Rosemary Clooney. Diana's only sibling, Michelle, a former member of the RCMP, actively supports her older sister's career.

Krall and British musician (of Irish heritage) Elvis Costello were married on December 6, 2003 at Elton John's estate outside London. Their twin sons Dexter Henry Lorcan and Frank Harlan James, were born December 6, 2006 in New York City.

Honours

In 2000, she was awarded the Order of British Columbia. In 2003 she was given an honorary Ph.D. (Fine Arts) from the University of Victoria. In 2004, she was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. In 2005, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

She is an honorary board member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Adella Krall, mother of Diana Krall, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1996 and died May 2002 at the age of 61.

Discography

Studio albums

• 1993: Stepping Out
• 1995: Only Trust Your Heart
• 1995: All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio
• 1997: Love Scenes
• 1998: When I Look in Your Eyes
• 2001: The Look of Love
• 2004: The Girl in the Other Room
• 2006: From This Moment On
• 2009: Quiet Nights

DVDs

• 2002: Live in Paris
• 2004: Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival
• 2009: Live in Rio

Filmography

• 2009 - Public Enemies .... Torch Singer
• 2004 - De-Lovely .... Musical Performer
• 1999 - At First Sight .... Singer

Awards

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Krall has won three awards from six nominations.

References

External links

• Diana Krall's website
• "The State of Jazz Vocals Today" by Ted Gioia, Jazz.com.