Customer Reviews

Diana Krall - Live in Paris

5 star:		(184)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Who says you can't have it both ways? Imagine hearing the best Diana Krall cd she has made thus far and being able to watch it at the same time. Imagine no more. Your dream has come true.

This dvd is actually better than being there because the superb camera work keeps you intimate with everything going on. I have sat mezmerized before my big screen tv and sound system throughout the 130 minutes of heaven.

The dvd is a work of art with wonderful creative scenes of Paris intermingled occasionally with the music. While the 5.1 sound is excellent for the most part, higher pitched sounds such as cymbals, bells and other percussion sounds are often inaudible.

Still, I don't know how you can realistically ask for more. The music is beautifully varied with plenty of up-tempo swingers mixed in with the slower ballads. One of my favorites is I GET ALONG WITHOUT YOU VERY WELL. It's obviously one of Diana's too. Just look at her at the conclusion of the song. That says it all.

I take exception to the comments from some who have stated Ms. Krall seems too laid back or disconnected from her audience. I certainly didn't see that. What I saw was a young woman just being herself and clearly into the music and the fans as well. She cast lots of approving glances and smiles at her fellow musicians as they played.

Diana took several breaks throughout the night to acknowledge her players and conductors efforts as well as talk to the enthusiastic audience. In fact, at the conclusion of the concert, after all the other musicians had left the stage, Diana came back out to the piano, by herself, to sing and play A CASE OF YOU. Clearly, she intended this to be an intimate moment with just her and her audience.

I must admit, I am totally enthralled seeing this beautiful young woman wailing passionately on that Steinway and Sons piano in the best traditions of modern mainstream jazz. It's a very rare experience these days, and Diana proves she can hold her own with anyone in that genre.

I have seen this dvd several times, most recently with my 14 year old son, who is primarily into hard rock. The day after he said, "Hey, dad, that Diana Krall dvd of yours is really great. I think I'm becoming a Diana Krall fan."

Can there be a greater endorsement than this?

Simply one of the most emotionally moving concerts I've ever seen... excellent video direction & production to sync with music recording of this concert...

the camera positioning (angles, shots, composition) in conjunction with music performance are the most brilliant that I've ever seen ... the shots of Diana singing with either the drummer , or the bass player, framed in the same shot, with perfect clarity and depth of field ..these are the shots that demonstrate cinematic excellence ...

I hate to say it, but it's DVD's like this one that make you realize that the truly inspired live video music recordings are clearly superior to paying for a bad seat at a live concert ... of course, the DVD would not replace having an excellent seat at the concert!

Just when you think that it couldn't get any better than the song she just finished singing in the show, Diana comes thru with a another heart stopper ... personal favs include:

- the look of love

- under my skin (Diana has arguably put forth the best version of the classic Cole Porter song that anyone ever has , which is saying a lot)

- east of the sun, west of the moon

she also performs killer intepretations of "maybe you'll be there" , and "cry me a river"...

this woman is blessed with incredible talent, beauty, and presence ...

this concert is made very special by the musicians in her jazz group and the European Symphony Orchestra , and of course Claus Ogerman in a guest role ..

Brava! Diana, Brava!

Where do i begin?
Anyone even remotely interested in jazz, or just great music, MUST own this dvd, period.
I just got finished watching this wonderful concert on dvd, and the experience was breathtaking. Her jazz band is so tight and perfect, they are so passsionate about their music, and it shows during this show in Paris, the love, the joy of making great music, great art. I have never heard a concert sound this awesome on dvd, simply put, the dts 5.1 surround sound is perfection, its as if you are in Paris with diana, front row and center, amazing!
Of course i love her jazz selections most of all, her slower ballads are not as awesome, with the one exception being, "cry me a river", that is awesome, and when she closes with her second encore, joni mitchell's, " a case of you", you will be spellbound! But its on the jazz numbers where your jaw will drop, this lady is already a legend, and when she plays jazz, you close your eyes, and the music washes over you, and you get swept up in pure ecstacy, she is that good, no wait, when her career is finished, they will speak of this lady in the same reverential tones as they speak of ella fitzgerald, and that is speaking volumes about Diana Krall,
All i can say is this, I know music, anyone who doesnt own "diana krall, live in paris", is cheating themselves out of one of life's great pleasures, this dvd is a must own.
Thank you, goodnight.

I'll admit that at first, I wasn't very impressed with Diana Krall. Then again, I only heard one or two of her songs played on a local smooth jazz radio station. However, after buying her "Look of Love" CD, and then borrowing a friend's copy of her "When I Look In Your Eyes" CD, I came to realize, like so many others, just how special she is. "Live in Paris" is truly an outstanding musical video and I highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates the old show tune standards. What sets her apart from other vocalists is her exceptional skill on the piano. Comparisons to Nat King Cole's style aren't too exaggerated. The video production is outstanding with creative camera angles and occasional cut-ins of scenes around Paris (not the typical tourist shots, but rather interesting scenes that compliment the particular song). There are 2 "MTV-like" bonus videos and both are nicely done, as well. Definitely a worthwhile purchase, and not just for Krall fans.

I bought this DVD after hearing one or two cuts from one of Diana Krall's CDs at a friend's apartment. I loved her smokey, hollow reed voice and jazzy phrasings. The DVD is really my first serious exposure to her work. And it's marvelous. It's like a little time travel trip back to the early and mid-60s when jazz was at its most sophisticated. Her interpretations (both vocal and on the piano) are cool and exciting without being clever or abstract. And the mid-60s was a great era for female vocalists. Krall seems to channel and blend the best of them--such as Dusty Springfield (compare their versions of Bacharach's "The Look of Love"), Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughn, and Astrid Gilberto--all without sacrificing her own astonishing originality. Interestingly, in her final encore number Krall reveals another one of her mucical personae when she gives a solo performance at the piano of a song by fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell ("A Case of You"). On top of giving a dynamite performance of some really great standards, she shows herself to be a generous performer, frequently and sincerely acknowledging her fellow musicians and the arrangers of the various numbers (she even brings the legendary Claus Ogerman out on stage).

Besides the full concert (with some interesting footage of the streets of Paris intercut at various points), there are two bonus videos and three numbers from her rehearsal with the Orchestre Symphonique Europeen. This is one DVD that will give you many hours of pleasure. There's a lot here to enjoy...over and over again.

If you are a fan of Diana Krall you would get this DVD to see her perform. If you don't know Diana Krall this would be an excellent introduction to her music-making. But let me elaborate on the production.

The video seems to have been shot in DV. It is soft, with an overall dark hue and very good colors. The video compression must be rather high (it is a single layer disc), but there is no motion scenes, so this is no problem.

The real high of the DVD is the excellent DTS sound. You feel as if you are somewhere in rows 5-10 in Olympia, which by the way is were the central camera pointing at the stage is. Krall's voice is dead center, the piano extends perfectly from her to the right speaker, and the imaging of the rest of the band is spot on. The strings are on the far left. The audience is spread nicely around you. Occasionally a high note spills over to the rear channels, but otherwise it is just the reverbation and the audience that apperas on the rear -exactly as it should be. All instruments are recorded with life-like accuracy. This is an excellent demonstration DVD for high quality systems.

The Dolby Digital version is not as good, but it comes pretty close. The apparent difference is that the subwoofer channel is too strong, causing a smearing of the midrange and thickening the voice.

The Stereo version is very poor in comparison, as if phase problems were introduced in the downmix. Switching to Dolby Prologic, all the instruments are gathered around the center speaker with minimal soundstage and reduced bass. ...

Wow! Did she bring the house down!!!

Watching this exhilarating piece of jazz performance was an ecstatic experience. For the second half of the concert, especially when she gets to the song "I Don't Know Enough About you", Diana Krall clearly loses herself and melts completely into the music. The music flows like a river. There is no thinking, no skills, no space, no time, just pure joy of music. The whole band are right there with her.

Every once in a while, a performer will totally lose control of him/herself and achieve amazing feat. For example, Michael Jordan's winning shot in the final game against Utah (1998), Martha Argerich's Rachmaninoff piano concerto live recording in Berlin (1982), Sarah Hughes' golden performance in the Olympic figure skating final (2002) and Jodie Foster's ecstacy upon hearing the greetings from the outer space in Contact (1997). I love watching live music or sports performances because I feel that the performers communicate with me with more passion and less instrumentality.

By the way, the first song of this DVD is called "I Love Being Here With You", which may explain her exuberant performance of the night!

I've been a Diana Krall fan for about two years, since I belatedly heard All For You, still her best CD in my opinion. I was disappointed in her last two releases, The Look of Love and When I Look Into Your Eyes. They were fine records, but Krall's piano was missing in action. It was used more as filler than as the foundation for the songs, that role being taken over by lush orchestral arrangements. So I bought this DVD with some apprehension, but I needn't have worried. In this concert, she plays her Steinway up one side and down the other. The orchestra is employed on about half the songs, but there's plenty of swinging, small jazz combo jamming mixed in. The audio quality is first rate, the picture is crisp and clear, the band is great (I'd never heard of guitarist Anthony Wilson before, my loss), Krall's smoky, sultry voice is in fine form, her piano playing is astounding, and oh yeah, she's easy on the eyes too. Did this woman sell her soul to the devil or what? This DVD is as good as it gets, it would stand up on its own just as an audio recording, but to be able to hear music this fine, and gaze upon Diana Krall too, is sublime.

An intimate look at Diana in a sold-out Paris concert, accompanied by a couple of her heroes, John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton among others. Those of us musicians who love Diana do so for her inspired piano work as well as the way she caresses every word of those lyrics -- It's all here, for over two lush and generous hours. There's something about the way she gets precision, emotion, and improvisation all working seamlessly together that is really astounding. But you know that. Don't be put off by the Bacharach thing -- this concert is Diana at her best, and you get the added bonus of watching her interact with the other great jazz players -- they're obviously all having a grand time -- as well as hear her relatively brief but sincere and friendly comments and wit between numbers. I almost forgot I was looking forward to seeing and hearing her Joni Mitchell tribute one more time on this DVD, but sure enough she comes out for a second encore and does it solo on the Steinway much as she did for Ms. Mitchell on the Joni tribute TV show last season, note-perfect. She manages to re-imagine every number while at the same time tipping her hat to Nat King Cole along the way (and sneaking in a rock riff or two). Even THE LOOK OF LOVE arrangement is edgy on this recording. Fear not -- this is first rate Diana with great visuals and surround sound, and you will not only be glad you risked buying this live 2 hour and 10 minute concert but you will find yourself grinning all the way through it. Oh, and she looks great too, but she lets slip that her fantasy man is George Clooney, so I'm out of luck. My copy is anamorphic widescreen, by the by.

Diana Krall - Live in Paris
In 1996 this artist broke into the scene in a big way with her debut album and Nat Cole tribute CD entitled "All for You". By 1999 she had been thrice nominated for Grammys, and had won one for Best Jazz Vocal-counting among her achievements a best Album nomination - the first time a Jazz album featured in this category in 25 years ! Diana has a Platinum album and her latest "Look Of Love", just went quintuple Platinum (4/10/02) in Canada. Recently, Diana toured and was dual billed with Tony Bennett. As a Canadian Jazz influence in the tradition of Oscar Peterson, Diana was a piano prodigy "discovered" by her mentor (and Peterson sideman of long standing) bassist Ray Brown. Diana has discussed her piano influences, and has mentioned and exhibits "touches" from the likes of: Jimmy Rowles (who encouraged her to add singing to her piano work), Nat Cole, Bill Evans, Monty Alexander and at her recent (Easter weekend) Radio City Music Hall appearance, she admitted to and recommended listening daily to that "towering" virtuoso of Jazz piano- Art Tatum. It's the height of understatement to say she's got a fine way to treat a Steinway. This "dynamo from Nanaimo" - British Columbia, was blessed with an embarrassment of riches by her creator: piano chops to beat the band- to say nothing of making it swing like hell; a voice that has been called a smoky blend of honey and scotch-alternately sweet, raspy, bluesy, lyrical and scatting lying perhaps somewhere between Sarah Vaughn and Carmen McRae. Last, but not least, Diana has a face that seems to be without a flaw that the camera loves from any distance or angle and at all times. The statuesque Ms. Krall might easily have used her lesser talents to become a successful fashion model, as it is Dianas' looks make her a natural for a visual medium like DVD.

I was fortunate enough to have attended 2 live performances by Ms. Krall and to have met the gracious performer on one of those occasions.

Armed with this knowledge, I recently got the Diana Krall DVD, it is simply put FAN TAS-TIC, superbly filmed, with great audio (use your Stereo Receiver preferably with Dolby 5.1 or if necessary the DVD players' Headphone jack) and extremely representative of what seeing a live show of hers (with a very tight group of sidemen) is like.

Camera placement is always right - following soloists and big band accents perfectly. This effort was very well thought out and edited. Visually artful- the opening scenes of Paris evoke the concert feel - an anticipation of opening night- from the Eiffel Towers rotating beacon to the chiaroscuro Notre Dame cathedral. Later, scenes of Parisian parks in the fall are used to great effect, and other night scenes with Diana traveling on a rainy Paris night.

In the Audio department- Dianas' sextet includes a quintet of skillful sidemen: Jeff Hamilton on the drums (of "LA Four" - also played with Monty Alexander, among many others) Paulinho DaCosta on percussion, (who played with Ella, Joe Pass and others), John Clayton is on Bass- and he solos superbly once even bowing his bass ala Slam Stewart on East of the Sun. Anthony Wilson is great on Electric Guitar- creating delicious dialogs with Diana on a number of the 15 tunes and 2 encores on the DVD. Wilson, cultivates a sound that is sometimes reminiscent of Joe Pass esp. on the standard "Pick Yourself Up" which has a very up tempo, 1-2, swing feel. John Pisano on acoustic Guitar does great work throughout but is a standout on a Jobim flavored version of Gershwin's "S'Wonderful"- and several others. Alan Broadbent a Bill Evans piano "disciple", conducts many of the orchestra backed numbers and the session succeeds admirably at combining an orchestra subtly w/o overpowering the smaller Jazz group, which often ventures out on its' own. Guest conductor Claus Ogerman is a force in Kralls latest album and he's legendary for work done with Tom Jobim, Frank Sinatra and Barbara Streisand. The Parisian audience knows how to turn up the quiet - it gets quieter than a mute church mouse - and stays that way for the whole show. I think I may have heard 1 cough about 80% of the way into the disc. The Parisians never fail to applaud with gusto when the time is right and they don't miss anyone's solos.

These 130 very well spent minutes include the "unexpected" ( if you haven't seen her on tour) tunes "Cry Me A River" and the poignantly lyriced Joni Mitchell tune "A Case of You", complete with that tunes reference to her native Canada. I leave it to you to find the many musical quotes that Diana weaves into her music like: "Love Me or Leave Me", "Cocktails for Two" or "Mona Lisa". Also included: rehearsal footage, and 2 "music videos" not the first Jazz music videos (remember Dave Brubecks flying piano ? or Tony Bennetts recent MTV video ?) but probably the only recent ones since. To sum it up (literally) $[money] plus a few bucks shipping from Amazon and that totals about a third of a live show ticket- a bargain indeed.
Great stuff if you are a Jazz listener, non-jazz listener or even a musical fence sitter. Not to be missed. If you see the DVD and want more Diana without the band - see her on the road and or look for her other CD's. If you are still disappointed- check your pulse. Enjoy !
-Bruce