Quiet Nights

Diana Krall

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 31, 2009)
• Original Release Date: March 31, 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Verve
• ASIN: B001K3JF7K
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (259 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #274 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Diana Krall's 12th album Quiet Nights is an intimate recording of ballads and bossa novas from the team that brought you her best-selling GRAMMY Award-winning CD The Look of Love. Accompanied by her quartet and orchestra, Diana turns her sensual vocals and consummate piano skills to "The Boy from Ipanema", "Walk on By"and other classic tunes. Quiet Nights is initially available as a limited edition CD including 2 bonus tracks - her stunning rendition of the Bee Gee's "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" and the standard "Every Time We Say Goodbye". Also available on LP pressed on 180 Gram Vinyl.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

121 of 138 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The iconic diva returns with a mixed bag., April 6, 2009

By	ST "Easy Listener" (New York City) - See all my reviews

"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
Burt Bacharach Songbook Track "Walk On By"

52 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I'm just not feeling it..., May 22, 2009

By	Eric J. Anderson (Ankeny, Iowa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Flat and sterile, May 2, 2009

By	William Sharpe "Billou" (Paris France) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

We expected more from Diana Krall given her history of bringing old jazz standards to life with fresh interpretations and clever improvisations. One has to work hard to make these clasics of Jobim so dull. We can only hope that this is a temporary lull in Diana's otherwise strong career.