Only Trust Your Heart

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2009.

Diana Krall, here with her first GRP album, expands on the delights that populated her 1992 debut, Stepping Out. Again, her talents are simply remarkable: she sings with feeling, emotion, and nuance--she invests a lyric with believability--and plays marvelous piano, no matter the tempo. The program pleases on so many levels: slip the disc into the player, hit any track at random, and you'll be moved. Take the oh-so-slow, heartfelt groover "Squeeze Me," on which her alto is both breathy and demonstrative and her accompaniments are sly, and which features a winsome solo by bass maestro Ray Brown. On another gut-wrenching crawler, "All Night Long," Krall tears you up with her emotive, intimate vocal, interspersing her singing with telling, shimmering piano notes, then delivering a solo full of wry confidences. The succulent title track is a deliciously slow bossa where Krall's vocal is partly whispered, as if sung in your ear. More upbeat is the finger-popping "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby," where the artist sings with grit and life then solos with an economical drive. Tenor saxophone giant Stanley Turrentine adds a trademark saucy improvisation. "I Love Being Here with You" is a romping shuffle where Krall's voice hits some notes on the head and stretches others like pulled taffy. "Broadway" is another vibrant outing that includes a singing, fat-noted solo from bassist Christian McBride and Lewis Nash's deft brush work. Aces all around. --Zan Stewart