Girl In The Other Room

This album carried a whole sack of question marks with it. While building a huge following with her rather irresistible brand of hybridised bop-swing balladry, Diana gradually yielded to commercial temptation the way Nat Cole, Wes Montgomery, George Benson and other jazz greats had. Her last couple of albums have been easy listening records. Tremendously accomplished mood music, granted, and, of course, wildly popular, but for this listener at least missing the x factor that sparked her efforts up to and including When I Look In Your Eyes. Add to the uncertainty her songwriting partnership with the new hubbie Elvis Costello and I had no idea what to expect. The result is simply wonderful, opening a whole new direction for Krall. Shes ditched the string orchestra and most of the jazz standards, opting for contemporary songwriters (Tom Waits, Chris Smither, Joni Mitchell) to augment the Krall/Costello pieces. Gone is the perky, zesty Di, in her place a whispering, haunted figure with more in common with Mitchell, or Dianas rivals Patricia Barber and Cassandra Wilson. I could pick highlights forever, but the one I really must mention is Narrow Daylight, one of the six new Krall/Costello pieces. The authors of the cover versions are in danger of becoming Dianas interpretive property, the way people lost their songs to Sinatra. This is a great, great record, be it jazz, pop or just bloody brilliant mood music.

Richard Mohr is from Readings Port Melbourne