Music lovers are stepping out this Saturday, July 5, 2025 evening at Red Bank, NJ’s Count Basie Center for the Arts for a concert by the celebrated Canadian jazz pianist and singer, Diana Krall.
Diana Krall was born in British Columbia and began studying piano when she was four years old. By the time she was 15, she was playing in local restaurants and bars. While still a teen, Diana was awarded a scholarship to Boston’s Berklee College of Music. After two years, she moved to Los Angeles where she met jazz bassist, Ray Brown, who became her musical mentor. Upon moving to Toronto, Krall released her first album, Stepping Out, in 1993.
Throughout the ’90s, Krall grew increasingly popular, especially with the 1999 release of When I Look In Your Eyes, a recording which spent 52 weeks in the #1 position on Billboard’s jazz chart and was nominated for a Grammy for Album of the Year, putting her in competition with such high-profile pop artists as Santana, The Backstreet Boys, The Dixie Chicks, and TLC.
After marrying British singer/songwriter Elvis Costello in 2003, Krall accompanied Paul McCartney on his Kisses on the Bottom album in 2011 and recorded Love Is Here to Stay with Tony Bennett in 2018. To date, she is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debut at the top of the Billboard jazz albums chart. Her recordings have also earned her ten Grammy nominations in addition to nine gold, three platinum, and seven multi-platinum albums.
Inside the Count Basie auditorium, the lights dim and the crowd cheers as Diana Krall takes the stage along with bassist Sebastian Steinberg and drummer Matt Chamberlain. Opening with “It’s Almost Like Being in Love,” Krall sings in her smoky alto voice, “What a day this has been/What a rare mood I’m in/Well it’s almost like being in love,” as Steinberg walks up and down his bass and Chamberlain adds tasteful drum fills on this swinging jazz tune.
The audience applauds and Krall’s mystical piano playing opens “All or Nothing at All.” On this Latin-influenced arrangement, Krall’s sultry voice intoxicates before the arrangement slows down and she plays a lyrical piano solo which is underscored by bass fills and drum flourishes.
Solo cascading piano introduces “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” where Krall stretches out her vocal notes and speaks several of the song’s lyrics for effect. As the piece shifts into a bossa nova feel, Steinberg softly slaps his bass and Chamberlain rolls his brushes on his drums.
Music lovers cheer and Krall responds, “Thank you so much; I’m so pleased to play here at the Count Basie,” before introducing her bandmates. Launching into “All of Me,” Krall plays a single note melody on the piano while Steinberg executes a walking bass line before the swing tune ends with Krall contributing a modified four-chord Count Basie ending.
An African rhythm pattern characterizes “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” where Krall plays a bluesy piano solo. Then, on “How Deep is the Ocean (How High is the Sky),” Krall sings, “How much do I love you/I’ll tell you no lie,” before creatively overlaying the song’s lyrics to an instrumental accompaniment of the Donny Hathaway/Leon Russell tune for The Carpenters, “A Song For You.”
Concertgoers hoot and holler and Krall gently responds, “Thank you.” Revealing that when playing her next number, “I always think of Nat King Cole” — and further acknowledging, “Every song, I think of Nat King Cole!” — Krall plays a rubato piano introduction to “Mona Lisa” prior to adding blues runs. Transitioning into a swing version of Ella Fitzgerald’s “Just You, Just Me,” Krall solos in octaves and Chamberlain adds ricochet drum shots while Steinberg scrambles up and down his bass.
On a recitative rendition of Fitzgerald’s “Exactly Like You,” Krall sings, “Why should we spend money on a show or two?” and the audience chuckles when she emphatically quips “YES!” Segueing into a soft and sultry interpretation of Burt Bacharach’s “The Look of Love,” Krall’s vocal soars as she accompanies herself playing reharmonized jazz chords on the piano.
Steinberg and Chamberlain leave the stage to Krall who performs a solo piano/voice rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning.” As a single spotlight shines, Krall renders a piano interlude which features both stride and arpeggiated piano styles which generate avid applause from the crowd.
Krall plays homage to Tony Bennett on a swinging version of “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” where after singing the lyric, “The way you sing off key,” the audience laughs when she adds an emphatic, “Never!” Then, on the upbeat Gershwin tune, “I Was Doing All Right,” Krall cries, “I was doing alright/But I’m doing much better now,” prior to rendering a ragtime-influenced solo laced with boogie-woogie style piano runs.
The crowd applauds and Steinberg and Chamberlain return for “Comes Love,” a high-energy Afro-jazz/swing tune which segues into a Sebastian Steinberg melody solo on “(I’m) Confessin’ (That I Love You),” with Krall picking up on the swing standard’s “I’m confessing that I love you/Tell me, do you love me too?” lyric.
Following “You’ve Changed,” a jazz ballad which features lovely cascading piano work from Krall, the trio performs “Queen Jane Approximately,” where Krall sings in her plaintive voice, “Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane,” on this soft rock tune composed by Bob Dylan.
After Krall plays a snippet of “Someone to Watch Over Me” on the piano, she announces, “I’ve loved playing with Matt Chamberlain and Sebastian Steinberg tonight,” before addressing the audience, stating, “It was so much fun because of you giving us so much love and energy tonight.” Here, Krall and her colleagues perform a funky jazz rendition of Robbie Robertson’s composition for The Band, “Ophelia.”
To conclude tonight’s show, Krall and her colleagues perform a dynamic interpretation of the Nat King Cole standard “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.” On this jazzy swing tune, Krall sings with feeling before playing a chordal piano solo and finishing up with a classic Count Basie three-chord ending.
The crowd stands and cheers and Krall says, “Thanks, everyone, for coming,” as she and her bandmates take a bow and exit the stage. When the group returns, Krall acknowledges, “We’ve had so much fun,” prior to paying homage to the late Brian Wilson with an emotional rendition of The Beach Boys’ “In My Room” which elicits cheers, applause, and another standing ovation.
As concertgoers make their way out of the Count Basie auditorium, several comment on Diana Krall’s performance tonight. Remarks John from Long Branch, “She was fantastic — she goes right to my heart,” explaining, “She’s got the soul of Janis Joplin, the looks of a runway model, and the velvety voice of Nat King Cole.”
Karen from Wall Township contends, “Diana Krall was wonderful tonight! She’s a brilliant piano player who has a wonderful style about the way she sings.” Jennifer from Scotch Plains agrees, adding, “I love her and I just love her sound — it just brings you a little bit of zen.”
Jay from Mamaroneck, NY, reveals, “I love her voice, but I’m a piano player and I think it’s just amazing the freedom she has with the jazz alphabet. The way she can integrate amazing jazz chords, arpeggios, and stride bass shows the very large alphabet she has access to, and it’s fun to see how she puts her own touch on songs in ways that are always new and interesting.”
Lastly, Robert from New Jersey asserts, “I’m a big fan of Diana Krall! I’ve listened to her for years — her voice is sultry, her piano playing is incredible, and her band was spot-on,” prior to exclaiming, “Diana Krall is above the rest and second to none!”
To learn more about Diana Krall, please go to dianakrall.com. For information about upcoming performances at the Count Basie Center for the Arts — including Dave Koz and Friends on July 27 and Esperanza Spalding on August 8 — please click on thebasie.org.
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