‘Diana Krall’ at Wolf Trap by Mike Spain


It was a hot, hazy, humid summer evening at Wolf Trap and Diana Krall and her special guest Denzal Sinclaire cooled the audience with their smooth jazz. Denzal is establishing himself as one of the most popular male jazz vocalists in Canada. His set lasted a little more than a half hour and included a mix of jazz standards and other well known songs. The well known songs included a beautiful version of “Amazing Grace” and a heartfelt jazz version of “Always on the Mind.” The standards were highlighted by a version of “I Got Rythym.” No matter what song he sang he made them his own with his smooth, distinctive vocals.

Denziel Sinclaire. Photo courtesy of Wolf Trap.

The heat and humidity might have played havoc on Diana Krall’s hair but her fingers and voice had no problems. The Canadian singer has eight JUNOAwards and three Grammy Awards under her belt. Her voice not only changed for notes, but for emotion and style as well. Her vocals met the challenge of several tempo changes. Her piano playing was virtuosic with the band and during her solo set. However, for me the wow moments came from watching the band interact.

Diana Krall is talented enough to shine on her own. She performed three tunes by herself. It started with a stunning rendition of “There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth the Salt of My Tears.” She then covered Bob Dylan’s “Simple Twist of Fate,”and concluded her solo set with a song she recorded with Paul McCartney called “I’m Gonna Sit Right down and Write Myself a Letter.”  The tune was made famous by Fats Waller.

Krall and her band ended their 13-song set with the Gershwin classic “I Was Doing Alright.” The crowd certainly was doing alright as the heat started to recede and heads were bopping to smooth sounds being made on the stage. Diana came back for her encore and acknowledged the request for “Oh, Canada” as being a new one. She opted for the beautiful, jazz standard “Love Letters.” Next she went on to perform “Look of Love” by Burt Bacharach which is one of her more successful songs. She finished the night off with a song she wrote with her husband, Elvis Costello, called “Departure Bay.”

Diana Krall. Photo courtesy of Wolf Trap.

Running Time: 2:45 minutes with an intermission between the opening act and Diana Krall

Diana Krall and Denzal Sinclaire played one night at Wolf Trap – 1551 Trap Road, in Vienna, VA. on Thursday, June 21, 2012. To view upcoming events at Wolf Trap, check out their calendar.

LINK

Diana Krall’s website.

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here