JANE SHIREK
Diana Krall’s best-selling
album The Look of Love (2001)
reached quadruple platinum
status in Canada. Krall took
home three Juno Awards
for this album. Her earlier
album, When I Look in Your
Eyes (1999), won a Grammy
Award and a Juno Award in
2000. And she won Vocal Jazz
Album of the Year at the Juno
Awards for The Girl In The
Other Room in 2005, Christmas
Songs in 2006 and From This
Moment On in 2007.
Krall of fame
Discography:
• 1993 Stepping Out
• 1995 Only Trust Your Heart
• 1996 All for You: A Dedication
to the Nat King Cole Trio
• 1997 Love Scenes
• 1998 Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas (EP)
Home Companion and NPR and lots of radio shows
in general. Radio is a big part of who I am. One of
my favourite films is Radio Days.
CC: Do you feel that you’d still be doing what you do
if you hadn’t achieved the level of success you have?
DK: There’s no other way for me. This is my path. If
I didn’t have the career I have, I would still be playing somewhere. I’ve always played. So, even if it was
in the pubs and local bars back on Vancouver Island,
I’d be playing. But … you know, I could have a
cooking show too.
• 1999 When I Look in
Your Eyes
• 2001 The Look of Love
CC: Do you feel a connection with other Canadian
artists?
DK: Sarah McLachlan. She’s a dear friend. Joni
Mitchell, Neil Young. Ben Heppner.
• 2002 Live in Paris
• 2004 The Girl in the
Other Room
CC: If you have an iPod, which artists would show
up on your current most-played list?
DK: Garrison Keillor, Flanders and Swann [a pair of
British performers: singer/actor Michael Flanders
and composer/pianist Donald Swann], Nat King
Cole, the Fratellis, Eddie Izzard [British stand up
comedian], Renée Fleming [opera and jazz singer],
Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Elvis Costello. My kids
have a whole play list too, and, because he’s away
right now, we play their dad’s music when he’s not
around. They love “Pump It Up.”
CC: You are an accomplished pianist. Do you ever
wish you were simply playing as a support musician
instead of being a bandleader?
DK: Yeah, I support the girl singer in our band [her-self]. Sometimes I’m not happy with the piano player
[also herself], and sometimes I’m not happy with the
singer. [Laughs] So I get the best of both worlds.
• 2005 Christmas Songs
(featuring the Clayton/
Hamilton Jazz Orchestra)
• 2006 From This Moment On
• 2007 The Very Best of
Diana Krall
DVDs
• 2002 Live in Paris
CC: Is there something you’ve wanted to do in your
career that you haven’t done yet?
DK: I’d love to do voice-overs. I’d love to do a voice-
over like Peggy Lee did with Lady and the Tramp. I’d
love to be the voice of a really great character for an
animated children’s film. C
• 2004 Live at the Montreal
Jazz Festival
Other highlights
CC: There are two aspects of being a successful art-
ist: craft and career. How do you feel about these
two sides of your life as a recording artist?
DK: I don’t have to analyze and talk about my craft. I
just do it. It’s an intuitive thing. I sit and put fingers
on piano keys, pencil to paper, earphones in my ears
and start writing, singing and playing until I feel like
I’ve got it. [At other times] what I’m doing is I’m talk-
ing. All day long. Sometimes to someone very serious
about the history and the use of the word “jazz,” and
sometimes to people who tell me they listen to my
music in their underpants. I wear a lot of different
hats when I’m discussing what I do. But when I’m
really doing it it’s a completely spiritual process.
• 2000 Krall is awarded the
Order of British
Columbia.
• 2002 She goes on a 20-city
tour with Tony Bennett.
The Costco
Connection
The Very Best of Diana Krall ,
her 10th studio album, is
available at Costco ware-
houses. “This is a collection
of the most popular songs
I’ve recorded, plus three
new songs,” Krall says.
• 2003 She receives an honour-ary Ph.D. (in fine arts)
from the University
of Victoria.
• 2004 She is inducted into
Canada’s Walk of Fame.
• 2005 She is made an Officer of
the Order of Canada.
