 |
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
 |
|||||||
       |
|||||||
 |
|||||||
|
Search our site:
          |
|
 DIANA KRALL © 1999 Mike Metheny JAM talks with the talented singer-pianist about touring, recording and new-found fame.
DK: It's opened up a whole new world for me and a lot of new opportunities for me as an artist. I got to work with the John Clayton-Jeff Hamilton Orchestra last night, for example. I worked with the big band, I played a piano piece John wrote for me, I played with my own band, I sang out front... Then I had some meetings about doing some more soundtrack work. It's enabled me to play the music that I love. And on a very intense level. JAM: You spend a great deal of time on tour. What are the plusses and minuses of life on the road? DK: The plusses are that I get to play music every night. And that's my passion. I don't like to look at the negatives. I'd rather look at it as a challenge; a challenge to find a good balance, especially when it comes to having a personal life and time with my family. I'm now able financially to have my parents come out (on the road) pretty frequently. So, if I can't go home, I'll bring them to me. My parents, my sister, my friends. So, the road is fine. I know what the deal is with that. JAM: How about the process of making an album. Same question. DK: All plusses. ...I really don't want to look at any kind of negativity! (laughs) Making a record is all positives to me. I get to surround myself with people who love, support and inspire me. People like John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton and Tommy LiPuma, Al Schmitt, Russell Malone and Lewis Nash. You just can't go wrong with people like that. JAM: Your latest album, "When I Look In Your Eyes," features orchestral arrangements by the great Johnny Mandel. What was it like working with him? DK: Amazing. Totally amazing. (pause) That's all I can say. He's a genius. He knows exactly the right thing to do. And it's an incredible honor for me to be a part of that sound I've listened to for so many years -- from Frank Sinatra to... Michael Jackson, even! He's had such a career; from Count Basie to Barbra Streisand. I'm honored to be part of that. JAM: There are some pleasant similarities between this album and Shirley Horn's "Here's To Life." How much of an influence has she been on your music? DK: A tremendous influence. I'd be an idiot if she hadn't been. I don't know how she couldn't influence me, being a piano player and a singer. When I heard Shirley Horn for the first time, it was, like: "oh, okay!..." Shirley's amazing. Same with Freddy Cole, Nat Cole's brother. When they sing, they tell stories as they interpret a lyric. JAM: Many of your performances have been without a drummer; just yourself on piano and vocals, plus bass and guitar. Any particular reason for that? DK: I like the intimacy of that setting. And I'm really comfortable with it. I've always liked the Ahmad Jamal Trio; I have all of Nat Cole's records on Mosaic. Right now, though, I'm working with a quartet again. JAM: There's also a minimal amount of scat singing in your work. Is that something you just don't like to do? DK: No, I really don't. My scat singing is my piano playing. JAM: If we could get into a time machine and go back to when you were growing up in Nanaimo, British Columbia, what would we see? Someone totally into music? Or just a regular kid with many interests? DK: Both. I was a regular kid; I hung out with my friends, we listened to Peter Frampton... I listened to pretty much everything that my peers were listening to. And then I'd listen to 78 records with my dad and hang out with my grandmother, listening to Fats Waller. I guess by certain terms now, I probably wasn't your "regular kid." But I don't think anybody looked at it that way. JAM: What were your other interests besides music? DK: I was in the swim club, I was into skiing, horseback riding... science. I was really into science, because I wanted to be an astronaut. JAM: Really? DK: I built rockets! And now I'm friends with an astronaut, which is really cool. "Be honest and passionate about what you do, whatever that is. That will carry you farther than you'd ever imagine." -- Diana Krall JAM: You attended the Berklee College of Music for a while. Do you think jazz can be taught? DK: (pause) Sure. It's the way it's taught... (pause) Everything can be taught, can't it? JAM: Maybe the question could have been asked in a better way. There's the old debate about whether or not jazz can be taught in a formal educational setting as opposed to learning the ropes on the bandstand... You know, "there wasn't a Berklee for Charlie Parker," that kind of thing. DK: That's silly. First of all, Charlie Parker didn't have that opportunity. When I went to Berklee, all of the sudden I was surrounded by other students who were into the same kind of music that I was. In Nanaimo, British Columbia, there were only a few of us; like (trumpeter) Ingrid Jensen -- we both grew up in the same wonderful band program. So when I went to Berklee, it wasn't about going to classes and taking down notes, it was about going to the museums (in Boston), the pizza was different, it was a big city, I saw my first van Gogh... and I met students who inspired me. I wasn't the big fish in the small pond anymore, I was a small fish in a big pond! And I moved on from there. And I still have friends from Berklee. But (about Charlie Parker), I don't think you can compare things like that. It was a different time, and a different place. Talk to Ray Brown about that. Every day they were doing something that was completely new! So, I can't speak for that, or make that comparison. I just know that I was taught and inspired (at Berklee), I was, and still am, curious about this music, and I've always wanted to play it and learn more about it. And I'm still being taught! I was with John Clayton just this morning -- learning. It's a constant learning process. JAM: Have you ever done any teaching? DK: Sure. JAM: What kind of advice do you give your students in a lesson? DK: Be honest and passionate about what you do, whatever that is. That will carry you farther than you'd ever imagine. Play music for music's sake, not to be famous... (pause) I never thought any of this would ever happen to me. And I didn't get into it because of this. I got into it from transcribing Bill Evans records all day. And listening to Monty Alexander and John Clayton and Ray Brown, and playing along with their records. JAM: What kind of music -- jazz or otherwise -- really inspires you now? DK: Everything. Everything inspires me. People inspire me... films, classical music... Willie Nelson, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto, Jobim, Frank Sinatra. Everything. I surround myself constantly with people and things that inspire me. And I also keep looking for new inspiration. JAM: So, it's possible to find inspiration in just about anything? DK: Hmmm... JAM: In other words, it sounds like you're a "glass-half-full" kind of person. DK: Yeah, somebody once told me that I was "an idealist." And I said, "Well, what's wrong with that?!" (laughs) JAM: What's in store for the future? Any exciting projects you can tell us about? DK: I've got a couple of new film projects going, which is really good. And I'm basically just staying inspired. Everything's exciting these days; I never know what's going to happen tomorrow. JAM: So, like you say, these really are exciting times... DK: Yes, they are. And, again, I've had a lot of help from my friends, and a lot of support from some loving, kind, protective people with good wishes for me; musicians who make me as comfortable as possible and who feel that the music has to have honesty and integrity. That's how I got here, and that's what I will always try to remember. RETURN TO AUGUST 1999 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved. |
|
           |
|
|
 |
|||||||
