>>>>>I am so happy and relieved to be working again I went running this morning. An old pastime, long ignored. I took the loaded iPod with me and dialed it to k.d. lang. My god, what a voice. There are American Idol like singers and then there are those who are blessed. She is in the latter group. She can blow the roof off without even trying. I love listening to her.
>>>>
>>>>Of course. She's Canadian. ;)
>>>>
>>>>And you're right. She has a beautiful voice and great feeling for the music.
>>>
>>>My favorite Canadian singer and piano player is Diana Krall. (And I no longer hold against her that she married Elvis Costello; I was not available, so she settled for something less).
>>
>>Further to my previous reply, I should have mentioned that I think Krall is a remarkable pianist. First off, Jimmy Rowles did not take on many students, and those very few he took on had to be good.
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>>I like her singing a lot, but I do wish she'd spend a little more time just playing. There honestly aren't many piano players in her class.
>
>I have also discovered Diana Krall long time ago (can't remember at the moment how I came across her music for the first time). But it has been so long that my wife learned to live with my crush on DK :). And I agree that she is a superb piano player but I do find that she has the right balance (for my taste) between her singing and playing. I have many of her CDs, one DVD (Diana Krall in Paris) and the only little disappointment I have is with her latest CD "Quiet Nights". Not as good I expected from her; even though I love Brazilian jazz, her playing in that style just does not do it for me. Even though I will probably buy the DVD of her playing in Rio; if anything, just to look at her again :).

I agree with you about "Quiet Nights". I find it just a bit too ordinary. Her singing is good, as usual, but the music seems cliché somehow.

Frankly though, I love her early stuff more than her later stuff. Maybe it's just that her early stuff seemed to fall more into the jazz genre. In any event, I do still like her, but I liked her better back then.