Oct

30

D KrallThe delightfully breathy Diana Krall is currently performing on her "Quiet Nights" album tour. We saw her perform last night at the Royal Albert Hall here in London.

En route to the venue, as we slid through the sparkling, fall evening lights of London, it occurred to me that jazz is a perfect musical accompaniment to speculate to — rich in subtleties, full of improvisation, balancing the emotional within the logical, frequently changing rhythms, timbre and metre — all those familiar elements are there. Last night, Ms. Krall repeatedly demonstrated her mastery of the form in a thoroughly authentic and slick two hour set.

I've seen a lot of artists and genres perform at the Royal Albert — everything from choristers, to the Proms to hip-hop star Jay Z. From those experiences, I've found the Royal Albert really shines when there is an impressive wall of noise emanating from the stage, so, in this case, I wasn't sure how the subtleties of jazz would work out. Would those little nuances be engulfed by the high ceilings? Would those critical rasps be lost to any others but those in the front row? As it turned out, I had nothing to fear.

Ms. Krall used the venue to great advantage, taking the audience from up-beat tracks like "I Love Being Here With You" and "Let's Fall in Love" to the deeply heartfelt "A Case of You" with equal facility. Indeed, in the case of the latter track, it was sung with such soulfulness I was left wondering how many tears Ms. Krall must have cried when she first heard it, or sat at the keys to make her own interpretation of it.

All this was complemented by the fact that she played with a small, intimate trio, rather than bringing along her usual Clayton/Hamilton backing orchestra. Each of the supporting artists was given ample opportunity to showcase his talent, and each made the most of the opportunity in front of an appreciative crowd.

The "Quiet Nights" album is meant as a love letter to Krall's husband, Elvis Costello, and her performance really reflected that intention. It was soulful at times, joyful at others and always intimate. This was heightened with lively anecdotes about her family, her influences, her children and her life, appropriately interspersed with each track. She is now touring throughout Europe and Australia and I would highly recommend attending to anyone who is a fan of the genre.

Y BrownWhile Diana Krall was outstanding, the highlight of the evening for me was YolanDa Brown, a young UK saxophonist. Ms. Brown played the warm up act, but really stole the show. Though a little bit nervous at first, her stage presence was brilliant and interactive — both with her supporting trio and the stiff UK audience. She launched into a performance of great virtuosity and individuality that was frequently mixed with vivid, scene-setting stories and personal comments on her interpretation and influences. Combined with our bottle of champagne, excellent stage mood-lighting and an intimate set list, we found ourselves very much under the spell of her efforts. Ms. Brown's performance was deliciously "off the shoulder", and I am sure her music inspired many in the audience to purchase her work for future romantic assignations.

The greatest compliment I might pay to Ms. Brown is that she made my wife and me feel like we were the only people in the room. In a packed Royal Albert Hall. She was that good. Get along if you can, but buy one of the albums irrespective. I certainly will enjoy listening to it during those late night, red-eye trading sessions where I needs to keep my cool.


Comments

Name

Email

Website

Speak your mind

1 Comment so far

  1. Anonymous on September 30, 2014 5:08 pm

    g

Archives

Resources & Links

Search