From This Moment On - Diana Krall

...spectrum of reviews and critics from all walks of life is very wide ..There are critics/reviewers who think this album released in 2006 by the Verve Music Group, has pulled her banners down since her momentously great performance in “Live In Paris”. There is no point comparing her to Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughn who are equally hall-of -famers in the jazz world but whose style completely differs from that of Diana Krall. The former two sing in ...
...Diana Krall.

From This Moment On is an album that gives more justice to Diana Krall and should be complementary if not a beefy reinforcement to her previous albums such as “The Look of Love, When I look in Your Eyes”, and others. The less generous reviewer I mentioned in the above, failed to realize that by saying “She is bending her notes like a bad carnival ride at most every turn”, he is merely showing his bias to the lasting impression ... more

If this review puts me in the light as a knight riding in shining armor out to help a damsel in distress, I don’t mind at all. And I don’t mind taking sides for and in behalf of Diana Krall, that sultry-voiced singer and pianist who caught the jazz music arena by storms. But then there are negative reviews. And I can’t help it. The spectrum of reviews and critics from all walks of life is very wide ..There are critics/reviewers who think this album released in 2006 by the Verve Music Group, has pulled her banners down since her momentously great performance in “Live In Paris”. There is no point comparing her to Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughn who are equally hall-of -famers in the jazz world but whose style completely differs from that of Diana Krall. The former two sing in long syllables that end in the melisma( a style which is even more popularly ascribed to Dionne Warwick) and less of the sexy and inviting swoon of Diana Krall.

From This Moment On is an album that gives more justice to Diana Krall and should be complementary if not a beefy reinforcement to her previous albums such as “The Look of Love, When I look in Your Eyes”, and others. The less generous reviewer I mentioned in the above, failed to realize that by saying “She is bending her notes like a bad carnival ride at most every turn”, he is merely showing his bias to the lasting impression he must have guzzled up in his brains in “Live in Paris”. He should have opened his ears and heart to the purpose of the ambiance for which the album “From this Moment On” was created. I admit there are tracks that sound somber and halting but they are meant to express the spirit of the song. Take for instance, “Little Girl Blue”. Blue is “bluey” sad, as DK sings and the guitar punctuates after each syllable. It’s kind of lonely but that’s how a beautiful introspective work is supposed to be appreciated. If you love the blues of Old Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra, you will find it even plunging to the nadir of loneliness as he croons the lyrics of “”Only the Lonely”’. So what is the fuzz in saying Diana Krall’s “From This Moment On is” “stunningly empty”. They had better distinguished blues from standards mixed with popish childishness. Imagine , she can sing “Willow Weep For Me” and still manage to isolate the soulful from the drab. This song is hard to sing without portraying a tearful sympathy for a lost love. The mean reviewer wants it sung in bossa nova. Or in Hip-hop? LOL…Listening to this track,you can’t but agree that while it is a lament for a lost love it is not a dirge but sung in a manner that Diana Krall is loved for— rhythmic husky swoon in every syllable and phrase as the acoustic guitar punctuates them at the end, then starts off again to the next verse, like every moment being savored without forgetting. From this Moment On is a tribute to every person’s quest for love that can be found in every second, every minute, every hour, every day.

This album has 11 tracks, but mine has 12 because it includes exclusive bonus track “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams”. I was lucky to have bought a Special Limited Edition. It’s a first studio recording of standards since 2001’s The Look of Love. It features The Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and the Diana Krall Quarter which also adds depth to her songs. Like many of her albums, this beautifully crafted work of art is produced by Tommy LiPuma and Diana Krall herself. These are the lovable tracks, all rendered honestly the way blues should be done:

1) It Could Happen to You

- Love can come in anytime. Chance or otherwise, no matter how you “hide your heart from sight/ lock your dreams at night/it could Happen to You/ Don’t count stars or you might stumble/ Someone drops a sigh and down you stumble. “
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2) Isn’t This a Lovely Day

- An Irving Berlin composition. It’s seeing sun and a lovely day despite the rain and lightning. No amount of bad weather in life can turn your love away. “Isn’t it a lovely day to be caught in a rain?”. What a happy view of the dark side of life when you’re in love.

3) How Insensitive

- This Antonio Carlos Jobim composition, popularized by Astrud Gilberto, is given a slightly different twist by Diana Krall who now takes the whispering mode, almost
puffing a breath to your ears. The orchestra here is present where it is absent in Gilberto’s piece.

4) Exactly Like You

- Things can be done, or your waiting always can happen, dreams can be dreamt but all these will be for someone who is Exactly Like You.

5) From this Moment On

- No more loneliness, no more sadness because you are here from this moment on

6) I was Doing Alright

- There are times when it seems everything is alright in our lives until someone comes by and suddenly your life is altered because falling in love can do so many things, such as sleepless nights, wondering of things to come..

7) Little Girl Blue

- A lonely girl counting her little fingers, sitting there counting the raindrops falling on her . It’s time that she needs a boy blue to cheer her up

8) Day In Day Out

- It’s always the same feeling every second of the day, Day in Day Out. Rain or shine and the day will always be fine thinking of someone whom you want to see anytime now.

9) Willow Weep For Me

- Heaving sighs under the willow tree and seeking empathy to weep for someone who has left

10) Come Dance With Me

- “What is dancing but making love set to music, playin.”—goes this American Standard. You can’t help but remember also Fred Astaire dancing in this playful track.

11) It Was a Beautiful Day in August/You Can Depend on Me

- A classic, romantic dash(not mush), wishing someone success and he can depend on her after a break-up

12) The Boulevard of Broken Dreams

- Another blue song. I first heard the Italian rendition of this song. Walking alone in a world where dreams are broken .

Don’t worry, Diana. I’m on your side always. Those who wish to compare notes, buy first the album “Live In Paris” which I have previously reviewed and then this album “From This Moment On”.

Also by bertalways at ciao.com 

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