Diana Krall
has a good voice and plays decent piano, but this somewhat ridiculously packaged
Verve
CD seems like an obvious attempt to turn her into a
pop
icon, and sex symbol to boot. The bland arrangements by
Claus Ogerman
(who conducts
the London Symphony Orchestra
or
the Los Angeles Session Orchestra
on each track) border on
easy listening
, while
Krall
and her various supporting musicians, including
John Pisano
,
Russell Malone
Christian McBride
, and
Peter Erskine
(among others), clearly seem stifled by their respective roles. There are plenty of strong compositions here, including
standards
like
"I Remember You,"
"The Night We Called It a Day,"
and
"I Get Along Without You Very Well,"
but the unimaginative and often syrupy charts take their toll on the performances. What is even sillier is the label's insistence on attempting to photograph the artist in various sultry poses, which she evidently wants to discourage by refusing to provide much of a smile (the rumor is that she's not happy with this part of the business at all). If you are looking for unchallenging background music, this will fit the bill, but
jazz
fans are advised to check out
's earlier releases instead. ~ Ken Dryden