Diana Krall - Turn Up the Quiet, review: ‘Elegance and understated flair’

Blue Skies. Night and Day. I’ll See You In My Dreams. According to the press notes, Diana Krall has had these tunes on her mind for a while.

And indeed, the Canadian singer-pianist and multiple Grammy-winner seems to have poured considerable thought into 11 loved-up standards, conceiving the ensemble arrangements and leading three distinct but similarly star-studded backing groups with elegance and understated flair.

Buoyed by Christian McBride on agile double bass, and long-time collaborator Russell Malone on guitar, Krall is all warm, frayed intimacy on opener Like Someone in Love, her joy on returning to jazz after several so-so crossovers palpable.

Her piano accompaniment, never flashy, always controlled, shines on a beautifully delicate version of I’m Confessin’; Sway, with its brushed percussion, slow-picked strings and that sultry alto voice, is as gorgeous as it gets.