From This Moment On is an 11-song collection that captures the Canadian-born sensation 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--for the few still unknowing--is the 41-year old sensation whose cool, heavy-lidded vocals and strikingly sensitive piano-playing has helped her transcend barriers of genre to become a popular artist of the first order who has carved herself a permanent position at the top of the jazz charts. In songs, mood, and delivery, From This Moment On reveals Krall's personal 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 album was certainly not a case of simply repeating past formulas: Krall's A-team of support--producer Tommy LiPuma, engineer Al Schmitt, and arranger/bandleader John Clayton--were on hand to ensure that inspiration was kept on an edge, unhindered by the studio environment.
More Diana Krall
All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio
Live in Paris
Love Scenes
The Girl in the Other Room
Christmas Songs
Stepping Out
This album appears in the footsteps of 2004's The Girl in the Other Room but doesn't sound like a follow-up. Whereas The Girl saw the pianist-singer abandon the Great American Songbook for more personal pastures, From This Moment On sees her working out on standards done in traditional arrangements. Although the tracks here are by the likes of Cole Porter, Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn, and the Gershwins, Krall sounds more at ease than ever before; perhaps digging deep inside on The Girl loosened her up. Backed by the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra on seven tracks, Krall sings off the big band with ease. On the title track, she keeps up with a galloping bass and explosive brass arrangements and even ventures into scatting toward the end of the song. Her voice has also acquired a wonderfully worn texture in the past few years, and it works wonders on the ballads (just listen to "Isn't This a Lovely Day" and "Little Girl Blue" for instance). When standards are done like this, there's just nothing like 'em. --Elisabeth Vincentelli
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Good voice, nothing special in music:
It's quite plain vocal jazz. Instruments are so-so for there's no big parts for them. I'd consider this as nice background music.
Somewhat disappointed:
I've always considered Diana Krall a jazz pianist who can sing, not the other way around. She is a musician first.
When she does sing, I consider her an intimate singer. She is at her best alone with her piano, and surrounded with as few others as possible. That's why an orchestra of any kind takes away from her talent. She is special and unique, and the best album she's ever made was "All For You" dated, 1996. There was Diana, and from three to five other musicians, alone. Her voice was in it's... more info
Diana returns to the Great American Songbook:
Most of these songs are likely to be familiar to anybody who has built up a collection of music written by such composers as Irving Berlin, Jimmy Van Heusen, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and their contemporaries. They are all songs of the highest quality that have been covered many times down the years. Until comparatively recently, pop and rock singers raised in the aftermath of rock'n'roll tended to ignore such songs, but even some of them have now realized how great these songs are (or... more info
excellent choice and a wonderful performance. I love it.:
The disc is excellent as always and I highly recommend Dianna Krall to those jazz lovers as I am.
