Album Reviews

Krall’s cool, detached yet available look on the front and back covers of this popular 2002 release let you know from whence the emotions flow here. She sells these standards intimately yet barely rising above a warm smolder, leaving you to crack the code.

It’s a good strategy. Why compete with Claus Ogerman’s now classic, lush Bossa Nova orchestrations? Better to just let the atmosphere do the heavy lifting. On some songs Krall seems to have more emotion invested in and be more expressive playing the piano. She’s looser with her fingers.

Vocally she’s no Shirley Horn (but who is?), who could surprise and amaze with every phrase or Sarah Vaughan who could swoop and twist her voice into unimaginable corners and live to sing about it.

More important than technique when working in a setting like this is how the soloist deals with the undeniably rich settings. Krall chooses to complement rather than compete with the heart-tugging, burnished strings, bird-like soaring flute and neo-orgasmic rims shots that populate Ogerman’s twilight landscapes.

That’s what Antonio Carlos Jobin did on the genuinely orgasmic 1963 LP Antonio Carlos Jobim, The Composer of Desafinado, Plays (Verve V6-8547), where he plays simple, often one finger melodic lines and delicate rhythm guitar accents that allow Ogerman’s lavish (almost to the point of parody) settings to ooze sensuously without impediment.

That’s a Phil Ramone recording recording you need to hear. Back when, I used to show it friends and say “if you play this record and can’t score, you’re gay.” More recently, k.d. lang said basically the same thing!

Do we need another version of “Besame Mucho” and “The Look of Love”? Probably not. And I’m not sure Krall adds anything to “Cry Me a River” that Julie London omitted, but beyond those overly roasted chestnuts, the set goes down easy.

The LiPuma/Schmitt team has done more to keep the art of great recording alive than just about any one or team I can think of and this one, with orchestral sessions recorded at either Abbey Road with the London Symphony Orchestra or Capitol Studios with top contract players and ensemble recordings at either Avatar in New York or Capitol lives up to the billing. It’s lush, detailed and grandly scaled. There’s nothing not to like about the sound. No wonder it’s an audiophile fave SACD. However, this double ORG vinyl set is even better. It delivers more of everything.