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I Am A Long Time Fan Of Diana Krall

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I’m a long-time fan of Diana Krall; I began listening to her when her Look of Love album came out in 2001. I own most of her albums as well as Live in Paris – DVD and Live in Rio – BluRay. So, you can imagine my excitement when I heard she was coming out with a new album in 2015. Then I found out what was going to be on it. Now I was excitedly concerned. She’s known for singing the Great American Songbook and jazz in general. Wallflower sounded like it was going to be the Great American Soft-Rock (Pop) album. Some of these songs were sung by The Carpenters. Not to disparage The Carpenters, but I have heard the songs in more than one elevator and more than once while I’m waiting on the phone. I was more than a little concerned that this was …show more content…

I’m not a fan of raspy voices - earthy yes, but not raspy. Mr. Adams is near the top of the hill in terms of the raspy quality of his voice, matched only by my least favorite artist on the planet, Rod Stewart. When Sting collaborated with Messrs. Stewart and Adams on “All for Love” for the movie The Three Musketeers, that, for my preference, was the epitome of poor songs (even though I quite like Sting).

In many ways, David Foster’s production of the album reflects his professionalism and adept touch. Typically a genius at choosing tracks and their order, understanding the album as a whole and ensuring stellar orchestral band support, there are times when it seems out of place and over-produced on this album. In particular, the lush strings that begin the somewhat obscure Bob Dylan song, “Wallflower,” don’t seem to quite mesh with its folksy underpinnings. But then again, this is an atypical folk song. It’s more like a country love song. I would also say, that any Bob Dylan song sung by anyone other than Bob Dylan is a win. (Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen have to be two of the best songwriters this country has produced; they also have to be two of the worst singers I’ve ever heard. However, if you listen to the Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3, his singing is reasonably good on “Wallflower.”) I digress; despite the occasional mismatch, Mr. Foster does a fabulous job producing a clear, chromatic, cohesive, consonant sound for this album. Ms. Krall and Mr.

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