Diana Krall: Live in Paris

I enjoyed the earlier recordings of Diana Krall, especially "All for You" and my favorite "Steppin' Out". Ms. Krall can swing. I saw her live in a small venue in St. Louis a few years ago and really enjoyed the intimate setting. I have been disappointed in the lush orchestral recordings she has made recently and have passed on buying the last few albums.

Quite frankly, I rented this because I was having "Jeff Hamilton withdrawl". I am a great fan of Jeff Hamilton and consider him to be the finest jazz drummer that ever lived. In addition to Jeff's wonderful presence, we also are treated to the artistry of John Clayton on bass. Since the sad passing of Ray Brown this past July, it is quite likely that John is the finest living jazz bassist.

In short, this video is a treat. There is a nice mix of small group jazz and orchestral big band jazz. The orchestral music is nicely arranged, and swings more than the last couple of CDs. There is not a bad song in the entire concert.

I got my fix. It was great to see Jeff and John again. Oh, and the piano player was pretty good, too. <grin>. This is a must-see for jazz fans.

Last week I watched Shine A Light, a Rolling Stones concert film conceived and directed by Martin Scorsese. It was such a disappointment and its shortcomings are best addressed by referring to the extraordinary Diana Krall Live in Paris that I watched for the first time today.

For one this film captures the dynamics of some great musicians at the top of their game - playing individually in solos and collectively as a band. The looks between these musos conveying understanding and appreciation of the awesome talents on display are compelling. These virtues are sadly missing in Shine a Light.

Secondly, the cameras don't appear to intrude on the intimacy these musicians share as they do in Scorsese's film.

Thirdly, the inclusion of grainy footage of classic Parisian footage is arty and complimentary to the film unlike Scorsese's use of old Stones press conferences which are a distraction and annoyance.

Finally, Scorsese might have has 18 cameras that captured some good shots but this film features nothing but perfectly framed shots either of individuals or the whole band. I'm pretty sure there are way fewer cameras used in this film.

Strange as I am a much bigger fan of the Stones than Diana Krall but she wins the chocolates hands down.

Diana Krall has it all. She's beautiful, plays great and has voice that gives me goosebumps. This is her at her finest. Her band flat out smokes! To top it off she has an orchestra. That's all that needs to be said.

This is one of my all time favorite concerts, which I have on Blu-ray. Just watched it here and was disappointed that it was cut short, leaving out even her moving solo encore of Joni Mitchell's "I Could Drink A Case of You"

The Canadian jazz singer and pianist gives about a two-hour concert in Paris and all two hours are very worthwhile to watch and hear. This is good stuff - and I'm not really a jazz fan. Krall is accompanied by five other jazz musicians and a European symphony orchestra, conducted by Alan Broadbent.

This is simply good music by real pros in the jazz business and led, of course, by Krall, who has a wonderful voice and is a terrific pianist. It doesn't hurt that she looks great, too! (Actually, the whole concert is filmed beautifully.) To Krall's credit, she lets her band get a lot of solo time and she's generous with the compliments. I found guitarist Anthony Wilson a particular standout. However, you can see Krall is partial to longtime musicians John Clayton (bass) and Jeff Hamilton (drums.) She speaks of them like old buddies, which they probably are.

The first selection is the most upbeat of the concert and gets things rolling. All of it is first- class and gets better and better with each viewing.