13 From This Moment On
Catalog #B000732302
Album Length Compact Disc
release date 9/19/2006
Verve Records
“This album coincides with a happier time in my life. I think it’s veryobvious in the music. It reflects how I’m feeling now, the joy that Ihave in my marriage and family, and hopefully in the future.”
It had only been a few days since singer and pianist Diana Krallpublicly announced that she and husband Elvis Costello were expectingtheir first child. Her remarks may have primarily focused on herupcoming album, but it was easy to discern the rosy glow as shediscussed imminent arrivals, and how she came up with the name for oneof them.
“I already knew before we went into the studio the title of the record.I definitely knew it was going to be From This Moment On.”
Cole Porter’s romantic ode to great expectations (with its hip,heartening couplet, “No more blue songs/Only whoop-dee-doo songs”)could not be more apt a title track for Krall’s tenth album. From ThisMoment On is an eleven-song collection that captures the Canadian-bornsensation in full swing, in great company, and at the top of her game.It could also be called her strongest, most cohesive release to date.
Krall is the first to admit that the album’s marked, upbeat theme wasnot originally her intention (“I never try to link tunes together orfind songs that work together as a whole. It happens organically in therecording process, or not at all.”) But she does assume credit forknowing the songs she would be recording when she, her quartet and theClayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra assembled for two weeks in LosAngeles’s famed Capitol Studios this spring.
“I didn’t really sit down with anybody prior to recording it and say,‘I think I want to do this.’ I knew exactly what I wanted from the getgo. I started writing down song titles last summer, but a lot of thesetunes I’ve had in my back pocket for years. I’ve been working on ‘HowInsensitive’ for about ten years. ‘Day In, Day Out’ I started workingon when I was about 24. I mean these are all tunes that finally havefound their place.
“Every tune has to have some sort of personal connection. But Ididn’t want it all to be too upbeat – like ‘Willow Weep For Me’, whichfor me is more of a social comment, adds a question mark to thatpositive feeling.”
In songs, mood and delivery, From This Moment On reveals Krall’spersonal ardor for that golden era of song-making, when Frank Sinatra,Ella Fitzgerald and (especially) Nat “King” Cole were in their prime.It’s musical territory that Krall has often explored, but this albumwas certainly not a case of simply repeating past formulas: Krall’sA-team of support – producer Tommy LiPuma, engineer Al Schmitt andarranger/bandleader John Clayton – were on hand to ensure thatinspiration was kept on an edge, unhindered by the studio environment.
“I’m not exactly working with people who are going to just say, ‘Ohit’s lovely, Diana.’ We never go an automatic pilot, you know?Sometimes I feel incredibly exposed during the recording process butfortunately I have the safety net of people whom I can listen to, andagree or disagree with. There’s nobody hanging over me and saying youhave to do this or that. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’tsurprises and it can be an extraordinarily intense environment. Theemotions can run high since people care so passionately about the musicand what we are doing.”
Krall – for the few still unknowing – is the sensation whose cool,heavy-lidded vocals and strikingly sensitive piano-playing has helpedher transcend barriers of genre to become a popular artist of the firstorder who has carved herself a permanent position at the top of thejazz charts.
The seeds of Krall’s crossover success are firmly rooted in herupbringing. Born in Nanaimo, Canada, to a musical family – her fatheris a stride-style pianist and serious record collector -- she grew upabsorbing music that laid the foundation for her future growth. Sheattended Berklee College of Music in the early ‘80s, moved to LosAngeles where she continued her studies with the likes of bassist RayBrown and pianist Jimmy Rowles, who convinced the young pianist tofocus on her singing as well. By 1990, Krall relocated to New York Citywhere she began performing on a regular basis with her trio. In 1993,she released her debut album on a small Canadian independent label.
Thirteen years later, she can look back over a stellar career path: in’99, signed to Verve, her career exploded when When I Look in Your Eyeswon a GRAMMY© for best jazz vocal and became the first jazz disc to benominated for Album of the Year in twenty-five years. In 2002, The Lookof Love was a #1 bestseller in the US and a seven-time platinum albumin Canada. 2004’s The Girl in the Other Room, was her first to focus onher own songwriting – featuring six tunes co-written with her husband –and last year’s Christmas Songs proved one of the season’s best-sellers.
From This Moment On delivers Krall closer than ever to her musicalaspirations and, in many ways, serves as a tribute to her heroes andmentors. One can detect her gratitude in a variety of musical moments.
“There’s a couple of pieces that I put Ray Brown into – like hisintroduction to Count Basie’s Little Darlin’ on ‘You Can Depend On Me’-- and a lot of [vocalist/pianist] Shirley Horn was present in ‘ComeDance With Me.’ Our treatment of ‘From This Moment On’ came togetherafter listening to [trumpeter/composer] Kenny Dorham’s version which Ireally love. I hear [arranger] Billy May especially in ‘Day In Day Out.’
“I have to mention Fred Astaire’s influence on ‘I Was Doing All Right’– and in fact, all through the album. I listened to a lot of Fred withOscar Peterson while preparing for this project, as well as watching alot of his early movies, like Swing Time."
“Do you know that great album with Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra,where he sings ‘Poor Butterfly’? ‘ Isn’t This A Lovely Day’ is veryreminiscent of that. John [Clayton] wrote that arrangement at dinnerthe night before we recorded it. We were all sitting at a restaurantand he’s got a pad of paper. He was laughing and having theconversation and you see the wheels turning at the same time. And Iloved playing piano on that. I think that’s my favorite piano work onthe whole record – that, and ‘Exactly Like You.’”
Krall’s piano work and her arrangements – particularly on the album’sfour quartet performances – are all standouts, as are a number ofinstrumental solos that she recalls with a marked fondness.
“That’s Gerald Clayton on piano on the title track -- he’s an amazingpiano player and I think he played the hell out of that tune. I thinkJeff Clayton’s alto sax solo on ‘Isn’t This A Lovely Day’ is amasterpiece -- definitely one of the highlights of the record. AndTerell Stafford played the perfect trumpet solo right after that! Hewalked in, nailed it in front of the whole band, and I said ‘Terell,you sound like an old man.’ He’s only in his 30s! I meant it as thebest compliment.
Krall is quick to point out that she is happy with everything on thealbum for different reasons, especially for the collaborative results.“I’m proud of tunes like ‘Exactly Like You’ specifically for everylittle note that [guitarist] Anthony [Wilson] plays, and simply for howthe subtlety can work when we all play together, and how we all playwhat matters.”
“Playing what matters” could well be the subtitle to From This MomentOn. There’s an economy and confidence that speak to the maturity ofKrall as a performer, and a recording artist. “I really settled inwith this record. I think I’ve let go of trying to prove something, andI wasn’t out to overplay solos. To just settle back into the bench andplay those tough tempos and keep the solos simple and melodic andbeautiful, and not have to pass a poll of some kind? That’s enough.”
From This Moment On is also a recording that cannot help but exposeKrall’s feelings of being a wife and expectant mother. “It’s areflection of who I am and where I am at this time. So I need to getthat album out like now because that’s how I feel now. I don’t know howI’m going to feel six months down the road, so ‘Only whoop-dee-doosongs’? Yeah. Exactly.”
1 It Could Happen To You
2 Isn't This A Lovely Day?
3 How Insensitive
4 Exactly Like You
5 From This Moment On
6 I Was Doing All Right
7 Little Girl Blue (现场的一首video)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjXB69HrvhQ
8 Day In Day Out
9 Willow Weep For Me
10 Come Dance With Me
11 You Can Depend On Me |
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发表于 2008-6-26 15:52
