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elvis costello weds diana krall...I kid you not!


sunnysal

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If I want to listen to clever, intelligent female jazz vocals I'll take Blossom Dearie ANY day!

I have heard DK live a BUNCH of times, but not in years and I went to hear PB once a couple of years ago. I never listen to their albums, but if either were playing in the club down the street I'd go . . . .

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Colin,

I see by your bio on enjoythemusic.com that you are a technical writer by trade. My father was a TW at Hewlett-Packard for over 20 years. Way back when, a group of audio geeks at HP built an amp that was available only to HP employees ($400, if I remember correctly). It was called the Barney Oliver (the head of R&D at HP back then I believe). I remember when he brought one home, I was amazed that it only had one knob. I also remember that my dad's buddies at work took great pride in telling me "it was better than a McIntosh" (I was about 10-12 at the time). I think one of my older brothers still has one stored away somewhere. When I get up to Seattle again to visit them, we're going to try and dig it up.

Regards,

Chris

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On 12/11/2003 9:31:44 AM Allan Songer wrote:

If I want to listen to clever, intelligent female jazz vocals I'll take Blossom Dearie ANY day!

I have heard DK live a BUNCH of times, but not in years and I went to hear PB once a couple of years ago. I never listen to their albums, but if either were playing in the club down the street I'd go . . . .
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Allan,

I heard Blossom Dearie at the Jazz Bakery last year. Very clever and entertaining. My inlaws took me and warned me that "she was a little different". She sure was, but in a very good way. Some of the songs were hysterically funny.

Chris

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Blossom Dearie couldnt be any more opposite of Barber on many accounts. Descartes would approve... heh. Interesting rec, Allan.

Might be the Bizarro version of Billie's take of "Lover Man" in the self titled LP. But still good. I dont have a single Blossom Dearie here but my Dad (who left to meet with Johnny Hodges in a smokey club) had a few of her LPs back home. I dont think they have been pulled in forever. I might have to bring them down. Nice posting of covers.

kh

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On 12/11/2003 9:22:42 AM mobile homeless wrote:

"I don't know, but this sounds a bit like an autobiographical reference..."

Wow. I feel privileged to absorb about the only perceived supremely pointed attack I've seen ole Fini leave.

kh

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No pointed attack intended. Just a blunt elbow to the ribs, kind of a "wink-wink." I will go back to the drawing board. No eggs in the house.

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I don't usually contribute to music threads, but here's my 2 cents anyway...

I'm a little surprised to see the faint praise for Diana Krall. I've seen Klipschers wax eloquent over some pretty lame musicians over the years. Later day Elvis Costello would fall into that category in my opinion, although "My Aim is True"-era Elvis would not. He may be the same artist, but some things just don't improve with age. I can't imagine his music getting much more pathetic than his Bacharach project. That's nearly as sad as Rikki Lee Jones reduced to singing Steely Dan covers at the Holiday Inn...

Anyway, I think Krall is a real talent, although her latest recording brings to mind the bad old days when CTI's Creed Taylor piled gratuitous and corny string arrangements onto recordings by talented jazz musicians of piss-poor pop songs. Maybe there is a pattern here.

I think the real reason Krall's name doesn't create a patter of golf claps around the Forum, is that although Sting may be the "King of Pain," Diana Krall is the "Queen of Sibilance". I sold my first pair of Klipschorns after playing her version of "Let's face the Music and Dance" through the big horns with a Sony solid-state ES reciever. Talk about an ice-pick in the ear! I know better now--the Welborne DRDs will soon replace the Eico HF-81, although unlike Cut-Throat I went for the big 300B 7-watt headbanger set-up! I still don't think I'll ever play THAT song again...

Best in horns,

Triceratops

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Tom wrote (in part):

>SSSsssswonderful, SSSSSSSsssssmahvalus, jeez. I was >taken aback by this first time I heard it, which was on a >pair of LaScalas at close range. What's their point here, >anyway?

Maybe one of our resident engineers can comment. Although I really like some of Krall's piano phrasing, I think her voice is a little soft and at times borders on a breathy sex kitten parody. Maybe the recording engineers have her miked too close, possibly to compensate for a wimpy diaphragm (I'm speaking of the connective tissue item, not part of the microphone or the birth control device).

On a more positive note, Krall has had some great guitar sidemen over the years. I saw her play at the small stage at the Mount Hood Jazz Festival in Portland, Oregon a few years ago with Russell Malone on guitar, and they more than made up for the sleazy smooth jazz acts on the main stage (one of those was pop star George Benson--if you could have seen him playing jazz clubs in the 1970's before Breezin', he was phenomenal--but starving). More recently Krall played on a PBS program (maybe Soundstage?) with Peter Bernstein slinging the six-string. Bernstein has also appeared with Larry Goldings' Hammond organ trio--one album is called Moondog--no relation to the revered amplifier on this forum...

Best in horns,

Triceratops

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