Diana Krall - Live In Paris (2002)

Diana Krall has always been underrated as a pianist. I've always loved her playing more than her singing, and that's saying a lot.

On Live In Paris, a twelve song album with eleven tracks recorded in concert at the Paris Olympia in November and December 2001 Krall is fully utilizing both of her superlative talents.

Krall's band includes outstanding guitar work from Anthony Wilson with John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums. They're accompanied by Orchestre Symphonique European conducted by Alan Broadbent on "Let's Fall In Love" and "I've Got You Under My Skin."

This concert mostly features straight-ahead, mainstream jazz and ballads from the Great American Songbook plus a couple of newer tunes.  

Krall gets to show off her piano chops by churning up a great groove on "East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon)" and "Devil May Care," proving that she can hang with the best jazzmen on the planet.

The live encore is just the star singing and playing her piano on a cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case Of You."

On the final track, a studio cover of Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" - the second of two songs on this disc from the 1970s - Krall strips away the original pop influences attached to Joel's love song and turns it into a small group jazz masterpiece with Michael Brecker taking the sax solo.

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