[Dixielandjazz] Diana Krall: Glad Rag Doll (Legacy)

[Robert Ringwald]

FWIW- I heard one sample cut from this new album a couple months ago and was not pleased with it at all. As I remember, it was way too heavy on guitars. But, I haven’t heard any more cuts.
-Bob Ringwald

  

Diana Krall: Glad Rag Doll (Legacy)
by Rich Kienzle
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 11, 2012
Long before she was among the most acclaimed singer-pianists in jazz, Diana Krall
was a teenager in British Columbia who absorbed her dad's 78 rpm recordings, CDs
and downloads. Ms. Krall's sense of history has long been one of her strengths, an
asset she shares with husband Elvis Costello.
Ten of "Glad Rag Doll's" 13 tracks center around Ms. Krall's fascination with vintage
American pop tunes of the 1920s and '30s. She runs a gamut of material, originally
recorded by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, Bing Crosby (long before "White Christmas"),
Annette Hanshaw, singer-bandleader Ted Lewis, pioneer crooner Gene Austin, country
fountainhead Jimmie Rodgers, Buddy and Julie Miller and Ray Charles.
Her passion for the older material burns through on sultry, zestful interpretations
of "We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye," "You Know I Know Everything's Made for Love" and
the moody, bleak "Here Lies Love." The eloquent title song and Western ballad "Prairie
Lullaby" each get folk-flavored treatments. "I'm a Little Mixed Up," showcasing Ms.
Krall's sharp vocals and roadhouse piano, revives an obscure 1961 record by Baltimore
blues singer Betty James. Charles' "Lonely Avenue" retains the 1956 original's bleak
edge. Her moving spin on the Millers' pensive ballad "Wide River to Cross," recorded
by the late Levon Helm, is made all the more poignant by Helm's passing in April.
Grammy-winning producer T-Bone Burnett created an effective, funky framework for
Ms. Krall, avoiding his often pretentious, mannered approach that squeezes the life
out of a project (case in point: Jeff Bridges' turgid 2011 album). The small, versatile
and edgy studio band, centered around guitarist Marc Ribot, frames each song superbly.
The album closes with "When the Curtain Comes Down," a melodramatic end-of-life number
recorded in 1929 by actor-singer George Jessel, later famous as America's "Toastmaster
General." Like Ms. Krall's other work, "Glad Rag Doll" is entertaining and thoroughly
musical. Consider its educational qualities a fringe benefit.
___________________________________
by Graham Reid
New Zealand Herald, October 11, 2012
Canadian jazz singer/pianist Diana Krall had an assured if undramatic career until
her 2004 album "Girl in the Other Room", mostly co-written with new husband Elvis
Costello, which included more interesting songs (Tom Waits' "Temptation" among them).
This album -- in a cover where she's draped like a sultry dominatrix -- pushes further.
Long-time producer Tommy LiPuma is dropped in favour of Costello's old mate T-Bone
Burnett, the band includes Costello/Waits guitarist Marc Ribot and Colin Linden on
dobro, and the songbook is comprised of lesser-known but timeless songs from the
20s and 30s, along with Doc Pomus' "Lonely Avenue" (turned into Waits-spooky by the
gloomy arrangement) and "Wide River to Cross" by Nashville's Julie and Buddy Miller.
The jazz (improvisation) has also been reined in, so this persuasive song collection
favours country-flavours (the jaunty "I'm a Little Mixed Up", a stately "Prairie
Lullaby", the desertscape "Let It Rain"), classy ballads ("Here Lies Love", "Just
Like a Butterfly") and old style swing-into-funkiness ("There Ain't No Sweet Man").
Most are coloured by Ribot's slightly off-kilter guitar. Her old fans seem to hate
this because she's changed, but she'd been there, done that. She'll probably retreat
again, but this is kinda cool.
-30



-Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Amateur (ham) Radio Operator K6YBV
916/ 806-9551

Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street 
with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.