Customer Reviews

Kral Space

5 star:		(5)
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It's as simple as this. Irene Krall was a fabulous singer with a great voice and all the musical sensibilities you could ask for who got stuck with obscure labels and producers because, well, she sings jazz you know, that night club type stuff and she was off the scene a lot too. Just ask anyone who has heard her if she is "underrated." No way.

If ever there was a consummate Irene Kral album, KRAL SPACE is it. Part of the reason for its excellence is not only an Irene Kral in top form, but her backup crew which, amazingly, no one has seen fit to mention in their reviews. So here goes; Alan Broadbent on piano, Fred Atwood on bass, Nick Ceroli on Drums, and Emil Richards on vibes and percussion. These are/were consummate pros who knew how to back Irene with subtlety and taste. As the saying goes, they are felt more than heard.

Which brings me to the subject of sound quality. I notice very little difference between this cd and the original l.p. To me, it sounds like a typical early 1960's session (even though it was recorded in 1977). There are a few blips here and there that are of only minor annoyance, and they sound more like electronic aberrations than l.p. clicks and pops. Irene Krall's singing is quite clear. the instruments, while suble most of the time, are clear on the louder passages (check out SMALL DAY TOMORROW).

KRALL SPACE was reissued in 2000 by the good folks at COLLECTABLES. There are some brief but interesting liner notes by one Jessica Webster, also recording dates and times and a "family portrait" of Irene, the musicians and producers (even Dave Frishberg who wrote WHEELERS AND DEALERS is there).

I'm not gonna tell you this is a "must have" cd only because the term is so over used. I can only tell you that I am a long time jazz fan who can take or leave most singers. However, for my collection, KRALL SPACE is essential.

This is one of 3 classic albums Irene recorded during the 70s, the other two are Where Is Love (CD out of print) and Gentle Rain. On this album, she's accompanied by an excellent jazz quartet, and the repertoire reflects the exquisite choices she always made for her records. From the 10 gems, the ballads Once Upon A Time, Star Eyes, Some Time Ago and the bluesy Small Day Tomorrow are probably the highlights, but the whole album shines with Irene's understated, down to earth, silky-smooth vocals. Vocal jazz just doesn't get any better than this. The only complaint I have is with the technical quality of this disc. Even though the box states: "Assembled from the best available tape sources" this is far from the truth. The source, in fact, is a digitally cleaned up LP (the inner groove distortion is unmistakable) and the processsing has considerably dulled the sound. If you don't mind this, and you still don't own this jazz masterpiece, do yourself a favor and get it. A little fiddling with your equalizer will surely make the sound a lot more listenable.

Irene Kral was a great singer -- a classic jazz singer from the 50's {she sang a bit with Maynard Ferguson and Herb Pomeroy], the 60's [Buddy Collette] and into the 70's [with Allan Broadbent]. Her rendition of 'Small Day Tomorrow" is the best and a real classic in jazz singing. "Star Eyes" is also outstanding. Yet, she has a sense of humor on some lighter tunes. Her intonation is on the mark, and her tone is sparkling with just the right vibrato. To me she is right up there with the great female jazz singers from her or any other era. Too bad she's gone!

For my money, Irene Kral is the second best singer of popular songs to Frank Sinatra. Comparing them thoroughly would take 10 hours, because they are very different in many ways. But they share the extremely rare ability to sing ballads to us in wonderfully musical ways without an ounce of musical guile. "Small Day Tomorrow" is my favorite from this collection in just that way. I hear the wry exasperation of the working jazz musician, honest and spare, in every phrase she utters.
On uptempos, she shares again a common touch with Sinatra -- that ability to make things rhythmically happy yet totally lyrical. It can be on the sassy "It's Nice Weather for Ducks" (she does have a more well-rounded sense of humor than Frank, and a truer sense of irony), or her snappy version of "The Song is You." I never lose the honest lyrical statement with her. And, as with Sinatra, I always sense a sensual yet thoughtful relationship between singer and song when I hear Irene Kral.

We just didn't have her long enough. But this collection is a fine sample of what made her so special.

I first heard Ms Kral on an FM station here in southern California in 1986
and found her layed-back style to be addictive. This album should be on
every jazz hound's list of "got to have it." A 5-Star rating is clearly
not enough (my favorite track on this album is "Star Eyes")