Turn Up the Quiet (Verve)
Diana Krall
Released May 2017
Juno Award Winner Vocal Jazz Album of the Year 2018
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mMJtOMXun2EDmRLgZg3kP6G35PU3sJlDQ
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5MSulOhAWko8b4VbReKjYv?si=GZEh7XYZRUqZ2PGn24OIyQ
About:
You only need to hear a few bars of Diana Krall’s new album Turn Up The Quiet to sense the joy the artist took in making this recording. The first words Diana sings are, “Lately, I find myself out gazing at stars”. Minutes later, the same voice asks, “Isn’t It Romantic?”, with such tenderness that it is hard to disagree. Krall shares, “I have thought about these songs for a long time. Being in the company of some of my greatest friends in music allowed me to tell these stories just as I’d intended. Sometimes you just have to turn up the quiet to be heard a little better”. Diana Krall is first and always a jazz pianist. This time out she is most determinedly the bandleader, as she has chosen the repertoire, conceived the ensemble arrangements and gathered three distinct bands for these sessions. Turn Up The Quiet is a co-production with Tommy LiPuma, producer of many of Krall’s most acclaimed albums, including All For You, The Look Of Love and Live In Paris. The record was once again peerlessly engineered and mixed by Al Schmitt at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, California. Turn Up The Quiet begins with the trio of Diana, bassist Christian McBride and guitarist Russell Malone, who take a marvelous ride through “Blue Skies”. This line-up returns near the close of the record to be at the very heart of Johnny Mercer’s “Dream” which is also graced by one of the album’s most beautifully chosen orchestrations by Alan Broadbent. A quintet with Karriem Riggins on drums and Tony Garnier on bass features the fiddle of Stuart Duncan on “I’ll See You In My Dreams”, while Marc Ribot provides some of his most lyrical guitar playing with the band’s exquisite version of “Moonglow”. The third ensemble on the album with guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist John Clayton Jr. and drummer Jeff Hamilton provides some of the most hushed and cinematic performances of the record; “Sway” suggesting the story that continues after other movies have faded to black. Krall has always reached back into the riches of the past to animate and inhabit songs in the present moment but here on Turn Up The Quiet, she shakes any remaining dust from some of the finest leaves in that greatest of songbooks. Themes of love and hope are to be found in her choices but this is no mere escapism. Turn Up The Quiet is the work and play of a woman in the best days and nights of her life.
Track Listing:
1. Like Someone in Love (Johnny Burke / James Van Heusen) 03:16
2. Isn’t It Romantic (Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers) 04:28
3. L-O-V-E (Milt Gabler / Bert Kaempfert) 04:21
4. Night and Day (Cole Porter) 04:38
5. I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You) (Ralph Edward Daugherty / Al J. Neiburg / Ellis Reynolds) 03:24
6. Moonglo (Edgar Delange / Will Hudson / Irving Mills) 05:15
7. Blue Skies (Irving Berlin9 04:38
8. Sway (Norman Gimbel / Luis Demetrio Traconis Molina / Pablo Rosas Rodriguez) 06:12
9. No Moon at All (Redd Evans / David A. Mann) 04:06
10. Dream (Johnny Mercer) 04:04
11. I’ll See You in My Dreams (Isham Jones / Gus Kahn) 03:53
Personnel:
Diana Krall: piano, vocals, ensemble arrangements
Christian McBride: bass (1, 7, 10)
Russell Malone: guitar (1, 7, 10)
John Clayton Jr.: bass (2-4, 8, 9)
Jeff Hamilton: drums (2-4, 8)
Anthony Wilson: guitar (2-4, 8)
Stefon Harris: vibraphone (2)
Joel Derouin: concertmaster (2, 4, 8, 10)
Charlie Bisharat, Mario DeLeon, Kevin Connolly, Neel Hammond, Tamara Hatwan, Natalie Leggett, Songa Lee, Katia Popov, Michele Richards, Kathleen Sloan, Marcy Vaj, Ina Veli, John Wittenberg: violins (2, 4, 8, 10)
Andrew Duckles, Kathryn Reddish, Colleen Sugata, Michael Whitson: violas (2, 4, 8, 10)
Jodi Burnett, Alisha Bauer, Jeniffer Kuhn: celli (2, 4, 8, 10)
Vanessa Freebairn-Smith: cello (2, 4, 8, 10); cello solo (10)
Alan Broadbent: orchestration, orchestral arrangements, conducting (2, 4, 8, 10)
Tony Garnier: bass (5, 6, 11)
Karriem Riggins: drums (5, 6, 11)
Marc Ribot: guitar (5, 6, 11)
Stuart Duncan: fiddle (5, 6, 11)
Recorded Fall 2016, at Capitol Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
Produced by Tommy LiPuma and Diana Krall
Recorded and Mixed by Al Schmitt
Additional Engineering (track 2): Brian Montgomery
Mastering: Eric Boulanger
Creative Direction: Josh Cheuse
Design: Coco Shinomiya
Label Illustration: Edwin Fotheringham
Photography: Mary McCartney
Review:
The liner notes of pianist/vocalist Diana Krall’s new album of jazz standards, Turn Up The Quiet, include a dedication: “For Tommy.” DownBeat used that phrase as the title of the cover story on Krall in our June issue. The dedication is particularly poignant because Krall and her longtime collaborator, Tommy LiPuma, completed the album prior to the famed producer’s death on March 13. The liner notes also include a photo that Krall took, which captures LiPuma engaged in a conversation with recording engineer Al Schmitt, a 20-time Grammy winner. In the photo, Schmitt appears to be listening intently—something that all great musicians and all great recording engineers do. One of the album highlights is an interpretation of Rodgers & Hart’s “Isn’t It Romantic?” that begins with about 75 seconds of just Krall’s voice and Anthony Wilson’s guitar. As the track unfolds, more instruments join the mix—Krall’s piano, as well as John Clayton (bass), Jeff Hamilton (drums) and Stefon Harris (vibraphone)—and then at the 2:47 mark, a string section eases in, with exquisitely tasteful orchestration by Alan Broadbent. The track, which clocks in at 4:29, is a master class on how to use strings on a jazz standard while still maintaining a remarkable intimacy. Krall, who plays piano and sings on all 11 tracks here, teamed with LiPuma and Schmitt to foster a “less is more” approach on spellbinding versions of “L-O-V-E,” “No Moon At All” and “Like Someone In Love.” Stuart Duncan’s fiddle work adds a vintage vibe to “Moonglow,” and his percussive playing on “I’ll See You In My Dreams” is followed by Marc Ribot’s romantic, emotionally hefty guitar solo, and then Duncan jumps back in with sumptuous, nostalgic lines. Among the other incredible musicians who played on the sessions are bassist Christian McBride, guitarist Russell Malone, drummer Karriem Riggins and the versatile bassist Tony Garnier, a longtime member of Bob Dylan’s band. For this album, Krall selected the songs, wrote the ensemble arrangements and oversaw three different ensemble lineups. At this point in her career, Krall knows how to put her own distinctive stamp on decades-old standards, making them sound fresh and vibrant, while still honoring the melodies that Great American Songbook fans know so well.
Bobbt Reed (DownBeat)
