Love Scenes

Amazon.com essential recording
Like a mink draped over mahogany, Diana Krall's luxuriously supple alto adorns the vintage songs of romance and longing found on Love Scenes with a palpable aura of glamour and late-night cool. Her ostensibly effortless command of phrasing and intonation, whether the mood is seduction or a sweet sassiness, further fortifies the opinion that the Canadian vocalist-pianist possesses one of the great female jazz voices to surface in the late 1990s. Augmented by spare but skillful instrumentation from bassist Christian McBride and guitarist Russell Malone, Krall sustains a largely quiet (though hardly sleepy) ambience throughout the CD's 12 selections, from Irving Berlin's "How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the Sky)," which she also uses as a showcase for her touch at the keyboard, to Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away from Me." Her swing is artfully subdued ("All or Nothing at All"), and her wry, expressive approach to "Peel Me a Grape" is pure charm. Yet Krall shines most luminously on languid gems such as "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" and "Garden in the Rain." Anyone in search of an album ideal for watching city lights at 2 a.m. should keep Love Scenes in mind. --Terry Wood