Biography Diana Krall - Showbiza.com/ca

Diana Krall is a jazz musician who achieved crossover success with her sultry, understated vocals and her bop piano playing.

QUOTES

“So much of what we do as artists is a combination of personal experience and imagination, and how that all creeps into your work is not so linear.”

—Diana Krall

Synopsis

Diana Krall is a Canadian jazz musician whose breakthrough came in 1996 with the album All for You. She received her first Grammy Award for 1999'sWhen I Look in Your Eyes. On The Girl in the Other Room, Krall for the first time included some of her own compositions as well as songs written or co-written by British singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, whom she had married in 2003.

Early Life

Diana Krall was born on November 16, 1964, in Nanaimo, Canada. She grew up in British Columbia, where she began taking classical piano lessons when she was just 4 years old. In her youth, Krall spent hours listening to her accountant father's 78 RPM record collection. Her grandparents exposed her to jazz music, and she spent many weekends singing the classics at their house.

By the age of 15, Krall was performing classics in bars and restaurants. She received a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where she studied music. After graduating, she lived briefly in Los Angeles, California, before moving to Toronto, where she recorded her debut album, 1993's Stepping Out. She moved to New York City shortly after the project's release.

Career Success

In 1996, Diana Krall released All for You, a Nat King Cole tribute album that served as her breakthrough. The wild success of her follow-up project, 1999's When I Look in Your Eyes, made it clear that audiences loved her traditionalist jazz sound. The album sat on top of the charts for more than a year and became an international best-seller. It also earned Krall her first Grammy Award, for best jazz vocal performance.

Krall went on to win the 2002 Grammy for best jazz vocal album for her seventh album, Live in Paris. She also received plenty of accolades in her home country; she took home three Juno Awards (from the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) for her 2001 album, The Look of Love, including for album of the year and artist of the year.

Diversifying Her Sound

In 2003, Krall married British musician Elvis Costello; the couple has a pair of twin boys, Dexter and Frank.

Costello actively encouraged Krall to write her own music, and eventually, the couple began composing songs together. The resulting album, Girl in the Other Room (2004), was criticized for erring toward a contemporary pop sound instead of staying true to Krall's jazz roots, with some dissatisfied fans even walking out of her concerts. But that didn't scare Krall away from experimenting with new styles; 2009's Quiet Nights features Brazilian songs, and 2012's Glad Rag Doll is comprised of Prohibition-era singles.

New Pursuits

Krall has toured worldwide, mostly with her trio—a guitar and drums, in addition to her piano—but often with a symphony. She's performed at Carnegie Hall, and at the White House for President Barack Obama, among various other venues.

In addition to creating music, Krall has produced music for legendary singer-songwriter Barbra Steisand. She also played piano for several songs on Steisand's 2009 album, Love Is the Answer. Additionally, Krall worked with rock icon and former Beatle Paul McCartney on his 2012 album, Kisses on the Bottom.

After marrying Elvis Costello, she worked with him as a lyricist and started to compose her own songs, resulting in the album The Girl in the Other Room. The album, released in April 2004, quickly rose to the top five in the United Kingdom and made the Australian top 40 album charts.

She joined Ray Charles on his Genius Loves Company album in 2004 on the song, "You Don't Know Me".

In late May 2007, Krall was featured in a Lexus ad campaign. She also sang "Dream a Little Dream of Me" with piano accompaniment by pianist Hank Jones.

Quiet Nights was released on 31 March 2009.

Krall also produced Barbra Streisand's album Love Is the Answer, released on September 29, 2009. 2011 saw Krall retreat to Sri Lanka; however, no publicity was given and the visit remained entirely private. In September 2012, she accompanied Paul McCartney at Capitol Studios in a live performance of his Album "Kisses on the Bottom", which was shown live on the internet.

On September 13, 2012, Krall performed Fly Me to the Moon at astronaut Neil Armstrong's memorial service in Washington, D.C.

Glad Rag Doll, her latest album, was released on October 2, 2012.