Diana Krall's New CD

This virtually took over the September issue of JazzWise magazine in the UK - with full page, full -colour pics on front and back cover, plus a 4 or 5 page feature with more photos inside. They also reviewed the album and gave it 4 stars plus "reccommended" status.

They said:

"fresh , organic and full of the best possible tastes!"

But I supect that Jazz magazines like her as it gives them a break from photos of dull or downright ugly-looking, middle-aged men.

The photos look like a "glamour" shoot to me and are just a few short steps away from "soft porn" in my girlfriend's view!! I got serious grief when I bought the magazine home.

I mean OK - it's not her fault that she's very attractive and I suppose you can't blame her or her record company from trying to draw people's attention to Jazz which is a minority interest usually... but somehow it grates and you think : does she deserve more attention than all the great Jazz CDs released this year put together!

I mean how can Dave Holland compete on a level playing field!!


PS I haven't heard the album but have liked everything I've heard on radio, TV etc.

 

Hey, this is a bass player's site, you don't need to justify ANY recording with Christian McBride on it. I own three of her CD's and the upright work on each is impeccable.

 

I was taking some coffee the other morning, watching television, and lo and behold, Diana Krall was playing piano on Sesame Street.

The sun was out, the coffee was good, Diana Krall was performing a duet with Elmo.

It was a good morning.

 

Maybe, maybe not. But, in my opinion, that's not a reason not to buy her CD.

Personally, I like her.

 

Miles Davis is too good looking to really be a serious jazz musician.

 

Well, there's a life-size cut-out of Diana Krall as one ENTERS the big store here in-town...lookin' good!

Truth be told, I do have a couple of Krall's cds(on account one had McBride)+ her Christmas EP(nice version of "Christmas Time Is Here"...what can I say, I'm a sentimental ol' sap).
She's sultry & uses it...no complaints from me!

JO-
You really need to hit www.jazzcorner.com more often; the regulars there will discuss certain Jazz players' attire/looks...they will argue endlessly over, say, "The Young Lions" dapper dress(stylin' & posin') vs. the guys who could care less about style vs. substance(their music).
...at times, it's a pretty funny read.

 

Hey, JO-
"Boplicity", huh? That's cool!
...and that site does get rough; the political threads are very heated as are the Free Jazz vs. Swing/Bop threads.
Wynton Marsalis is the anti-Christ...Smooth Jazz lovers are usually dismissed PDQ(the 'smoothies' hang out @www.contemporaryjazz.com).
Occasionally, a Krall thread pops up...it's usually open season. You'd think these same "critics" would get tired of the BS; they don't(apparently).
Anyway, there's some heavyweights that actually post & interact with the regulars...Peter Erskine, Terri Lynn Carrington, Dave Holland, Frank Kimbrough, Robin Eubanks, Bob Brookmeyer, etc.
If ya think Ed Fuqua is acerbic...man, don't get on Brookmeyer's bad side!

My very first Internet post('98) was at the now defunkt Jazz Central Station(pretty much the same group of posters at Jazz Corner)...anyway, one of the regulars replied to my first ever post & called me a "Yo-yo"!

 

Well, I do think it is!

Seriously - OK Diana Krall is a very good singer/pianist with great supporting musicians - BUT there are a large number of CDs that are probably more original, are better written or played etc. etc. that have been released this year. So the question is why they should get less attention, simply because they don't have a photogenic front-person, whose photos can be scattered all over the press.

I suppose as a man (honestly!) I feel patronised or in some way "insulted" by the advertisers and magazines that assume that I will be "interested" in a CD simply because it has some lascivious pictures of an attractive women on the cover.

I feel my intelligence is insulted by campaigns like this - I mean if I want pictures of attractive women there are plenty of magazines I can buy if I realy wanted to. I buy JazzWise and any Jazz CDs based on an interest in the music and I can't see why I need to be somehow "encouraged" by sexy photos!!

The implication is that all men are controlled by their sexuality and cannot make an objective judgement for themselves on whether a female artist is worth listening to for their music alone.

If I was an attractive female artist who was genuinely interested in music, this is the last thing I would encourage. Firstly, you must wonder whether anybody has actually listened to your music and liked it rather than just your pictures - secondly you are bound to get disparaging comments from some other musicians who won't take you seriously because of this - not to mention the "wrong" type of fans.

OK so Diana Krall sells millions of albums, but is this for the music or the image? The music may well be very good but with the way she is being promoted we will never know.

I might well have bought the album based on the fact that I like Christian McBride's playing etc. But I am now inclined to ignore it in favour of things like Dave Holland's latest quintet recording which hit the shops in the UK at about the same time. Just to prove that I am not the sort of "stereotype" man that the advertisers think I am!

 

Methinks Elaine Elias does the same to sell records as well.

Which is sad, considering that she's an amazing vocalist and pianist.

 

She's just not THAT attractive. She's fairly pretty, but not traffic-stopping. She might be the best-looking competent jazz piano player in the history of the world, or something like that. But walking down the street, I don't think you'd really notice her.

 

I have to agree. She is pretty, but walking down the street I'd probably think she was just another corporate suit VP or something in the Financial in SF.

 

Yes - thanks Ed - this is exactly what I was feeling but couldn't express it so well - when it stops being about just the music and more about how many units can we shift to people making "lifestyle choices" then I don't really want to be part of it.

I don't want to stop anybody buying the CDs, but you just feel like saying there is so much more out there that's worthy of attention.....

 

Ed-
Bravo!

...how 'bout a hand over in the "Playing Against The Backbeat" thread?!

 

so, can someone post a pic? or am i the only one who has no idea who the hell you're talking about?