Diana Krall This Dream Of You 2LP

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Stereophile: Performance 4.5/5 Stars / Sonics 4/5 Stars

This Dream Of You is Diana Krall's 2020 studio album. Self-produced from sessions that took place in 2016 and 2017, with personally chosen gems from the American Songbook and more. The record features lead-off single "But Beautiful", Krall's last collaboration with friend and longtime creative partner Tommy LiPuma who died in 2017 at 80, as well as tracks like "Almost Like Being In Love" and "That's All".

Krall heads a quartet line-up on some tracks that includes such long-standing collaborators as John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton and Anthony Wilson, while other tracks feature a trio format spotlighting Christian McBride and Russell Malone. Among the duo performances, there's a notable first-take recording of "I Wished On The Moon" by Krall and bassist John Clayton, and two vocal cuts, "More Than You Know" and "Don't Smoke In Bed", on which she's accompanied by Alan Broadbent on piano. He also provided the string orchestration for "But Beautiful" and the string arrangement on "Autumn In New York". An ensemble of guitarist Marc Ribot, Stuart Duncan on fiddle and a rhythm section with Tony Garnier on bass and Karriem Riggins on drums is featured on "Just You, Just Me", Irving Berlin's "How Deep Is The Ocean" and the Bob Dylan song that gives the album its title, on which Randall Krall plays accordion.

"Some of these performances have unavoidable poignance," Krall notes. "In days when one cannot easily travel to New York, in autumn or any other season, I have to believe that there is still a place for hope even in a city of struggle and change."

No one can bewitch you with a love song like Krall... Some jazz purists distrust Krall because of all her Grammy awards (five) and multiplatinum albums (seven). Don't listen to them. She sings definitive interpretations of the American Songbook and makes them sound as natural and effortless as breathing. Her understatement is deceptive. Her mastery of nuance makes you believe you never truly felt a song until she sang it. With that extraordinary voice, breathy yet specific and lucid, she sounds like she is singing to herself, searching for truths in her own heart. The listener is allowed to eavesdrop.