One of the greatest pop songs of all time is Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "The Look Of Love," recorded over the years by Herb Alpert, Sergio Mendes, Anita Baker and Dusty Springfield. It's also the title song from a new Number One jazz album by Grammy-winning vocalist Diana Krall.
Romantics will cling to every word on Diana Krall's new collection of ballads and mellow bossa nova. It's not exactly a departure for the Canadian-born vocalist. She's recorded her share of pop and jazz standards in the past. But the new album is certainly one of her most adventurous outings.
Diana Krall has been performing jazz standards for a long time. She says she was raised on the music of pianist Fats Waller, one of her father's favorites.
At age 15, she sang for customers at a local restaurant in her native British Columbia. She studied piano at Boston's Berklee School of Music before moving to Los Angeles to work with jazz veterans Ray Brown and Jimmy Rowles.
One of her greatest influences is Nat "King" Cole, the legendary singer and pianist whose music inspired her 1997 album All For You.
Last year Diana won her first Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for her million-selling album When I Look In Your Eyes.
In addition to the London Symphony Orchestra, the new album features Krall's previous collaborators, guitarist Russell Malone and bass player Christian McBride. Rounding out the band are percussionists Paulinho Da Costa and Luis Conte, and drummer Peter Erskine.
Diana Krall begins a 10-city European tour in Belfast, Ireland, on November 5, followed by concerts in Spain, Portugal, Holland, England, Germany and France.