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108 of 118 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The iconic diva returns with a mixed bag., April 6, 2009
"Quiet Nights" is Diana Krall's twelfth album, which marks her first work with the 79 year-old legendary arranger Claus Ogerman (Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim) since 2002's "Live in Paris", and her first studio work with Ogerman since 2001's "The Look of Love".
She may have started out as a jazz pianist/vocalist but these days Diana Krall seems to have ditched any semblance of swing in favour of sickly string arrangements.
Her voice is lush and exquisite but she overdoes the breathiness - to the point that one wonders if a ventilator is required - and sticks too much to indistinguishable, slow bossa novas and ballads.
The result is a florid and bland album that washes over the listener.
My favourite tracks are : "Too Marvelous For Words", "Walk On By", and "So Nice".
The album reaches # 1 of Billboard Top Jazz Albums. Issue date 2009-04-18
Live in Paris
Lazy Afternoon track # 5
Brazil duet with Diana Krall on track # 3
You're My Thrill
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38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I'm just not feeling it..., May 22, 2009
The singing, that is. This isn't a terrible album, but it certainly is missing a je ne sais quoi.
Pros: The classy orchestrations remind me of the classic Sinatra-Jobim collaboration. Diana's Jobim-like single-note piano solos are the essence of wit and understated grace.
Cons: Krall's singing has always been her weak point. Technically, her voice sounds good, but that's the problem. It's technically cool and precise, feathery, light, and on key. But it doesn't really touch me, except on personal material such as that found on The Girl In The Other Room. And some of the quieter material from her Paris concert. I'm not feeling it.
Not only that, Quiet Nights is filled with tempos that are maybe just a bit to slow to begin with, and Diana often sounds like she needs to get some sleep or lay off the 'ludes.
You're My Thrill is almost laughably bad, so ineffective is Krall at generating any kind of heat. Her delivery on So Nice sounds like she's doing a run through of the sheet music for the first time. What was she thinking? Not nice at all. Her slinky singing on Hang My Tears Out To Dry shows a little bit of the impishness and playfulness we see in her smile on the CD cover photo. What went wrong on the other songs, I can't guess.
And the orchestrations do tend to get lush to the point of syrupy or schmaltzy in spots. Part of that is used to good effect, but sometimes it goes overboard.
By contrast, Krall shines on Bacharach's Walk On By and How Can You Mend A Broken Heart by the Brothers Gibb. She sounds engaged here, and the arrangements are well thought out. Those two cuts are so good, it's almost shocking how dull some of the rest is. Corcovado (Quiet Nights) is one of my top ten favorite songs of all time, but Krall sleepwalks through the version on this album.
Well, I'm sorry to say this CD is a step backward in her recorded output. Even as a relaxing cocktail music album it pales by comparison to The Look Of Love -- again, with the exception of the Bacharach and Bee Gees cover tunes.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
If She Looked Like Susan Boyle..., June 29, 2009
If Diana Krall looked like Susan Boyle instead of Diana Krall, she might be making a comfortable living as a competent jazz pianist, because she really can play. She wouldn't be rated as a great singer, because in truth, she can barely sing. Her signature phrasing, halting and broken, speaks (literally) of a person who can't sustain a note for more than a second and who has a vocal range of maybe an octave. Fortunately she's a smoky alto rather than a strident soprano, with a sexy timbre to her voice that substitutes for musicality. And playing the cleavage card has always been a smart move in show business. Hence, she's a star.
Before I continue, let me clarify my feelings about Susan Boyle. Now, there's a singer or, at least, a singer with potential, a woman with a real voice. Her average-Jane looks and powerful pipes may, and hopefully will, impress me one day in a manner that Diana Krall never could, given Krall's extremely limited vocal skills.
Usually Amazon fans are fairly unified in their opinion of a CD, but this CD is notable for the extremely wide range of opinions about it. The die-hards love it because they love whatever Krall does. Other Krall fans are puzzled by what they correctly perceive to be a lackluster, dull, insipid recording. Still others scratch their heads trying to figure out what the heck people see in Diana Krall. I gave this recording a chance because I fall in that last category. Never one to be influenced by a good PR campaign, I nonetheless felt that perhaps I've been too hard on Krall. Alas, Quiet Nights is so quiet as to be comatose. Do not mistake affectless, flat, dry non-interpretation for intensity. The Empress has no clothes, my friends. Oh wait, she does. It's a low-cut black dress, and a fan is staring down the bodice right now, listening to the echo of his own breathing and mistaking it for music.
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