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Diana Krall - Live in Paris

Pioneer // Unrated // April 2, 2002
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]

Review by Aaron Beierle | posted April 27, 2002 | E-mail the Author
The Movie:

While I can't say that I'm very familiar with jazz music, vocalist Diana Krall has become a bigger and bigger star over the past few years, with best-selling albums and a lot of press. While some reviews have noted that Krall occasionally seems like she's selling her beautiful image (and she is model-gorgeous, as seen in this DVD), it seems ridiculous to make such comments when her talent is obvious. Krall's voice is wonderfully engaging, a rich, smoky and warm instrument that provides perfect emotion to accompany the lyrics while also simply remaining a very pleasant listen.

This concert was taped in Paris in 2001, where Krall is accompanied by the European Symphony Orchestra as well as the Paris Jazz Big Band and her own set of highly talented artists who provide backup instrumentals on her own recordings. The superbly filmed concert highlights each member of the group quite well, allowing the viewer to view a stage perspective for a little while before moving on. There's a nice sort of rhythm to some of the editing that I really enjoyed. Everyone on stage seems to be having a great time playing for the audience and they really provide quite a remarkable and enjoyable show.

Songs: Love Being Here, All or Nothing, Let's Fall In Love, The Look of Love, Maybe You'll Be There, Deed I Do, Devil May Care, Cry Me a River, Under My Skin, East of the Sun, I Get Along, Pick Yourself Up, S'Wonderful, Love Letters, I Don't Know Enough About You, Do It Again, A Case of You.


The DVD

VIDEO: The DVD is presented by Eagle Vision in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is simply an excellent presentation. While the video is arguably less important than the audio when it comes to a concert presentation, the rich, sharp images of this well-filmed concert are very easy to appreciate. The picture looks virtually flawless; aside from a bit of shimmer once or twice, I saw nothing to be concerned about. Colors are also well-presented, never appearing smeared or otherwise problematic.

SOUND: The concert is presented in either Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 as well as Dolby 2.0. The differences between the Dolby Digital and DTS tracks are minimal if any; both provide an entirely pleasant listening experience that was a joy to listen to. This presentation offers a wide and enveloping soundstage where all of the instruments of Krall's excellent backing band get their own chance to shine. Krall's voice also sounded fantastic, mainly coming through the center channel. The vocals didn't sound far-off or in any way problematic - they came through clearly and sounded natural and crisp, as if I was listening from the first couple of rows.

Surrounds were really employed quite appropriately to provide reinforcement of the music, as well as some crowd noise. The Paris crowd is very polite - while they show their appreciation between songs as cheering fills the room, they quickly fall back to total silence as the next song begins. Audio quality was exceptional as, aside from Krall's previously mentioned warm vocals, instrumentals were presented with a detailed, in-the-same-room feeling.

MENUS: Some minor animation livens otherwise rather ordinary backgrounds.

EXTRAS: There are videos for "The Look Of Love" and "Let's Face the Music and Dance". There's also some rehearsal footage, as well.

Final Thoughts: Krall provides a passionate, heartwarming two-hour performance in this Paris show, which I really was highly entertained by. Eagle Vision (the disc is distributed by Pioneer) has provided a highly enjoyable DVD edition, complete with excellent audio/video and a few supplements. Recommended.
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