DIANA KRALL; "When I Look in Your Eyes" (Verve) ***Diana's back to croon her way into your heart. And if she doesn't make it there, check yourself for a pulse.
Much like Krall's most recent release, "Love Scenes," she dwells on love songs, drawing on her sultry voice and lush arrangements through most of the recording. This is her first time to drop the traditional three-piece ensemble for a full orchestra, though Russell Malone (guitar) and John Clayton (bass) still offer a half-dozen songs as the Diana Krall Trio.
Other than the orchestra, Krall does little different here than she's done in the past. She sings a number of jazz standards, albeit slower and more pronounced, with a sleepy, dripping-with-honey smoothness that has become her signature. "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "Do It Again" go much slower than earlier recordings by others, and we're right there with her, hanging on the next word.
In "Pick Yourself Up," her intonations bring to mind a female Harry Connick Jr. In keeping with her sense of humor (remember "Peel Me A Grape?"), she sings the cleverly-worded "Popsicle Toes," one of the few original songs on her album.
What would be nice is if she were to offer up a couple of piano solos, as she did in "Diana Krall: The Early Recordings." She plays piano on all the songs and actually started off as a pianist -- it'd be nice to let some of that shine through.
One annoying aspect -- and this has nothing to do with her singing -- is the continual attempt by those who market her to sell Krall as a sex symbol. She has a very different, unique look, yet -- and especially in this album -- they've gone a little overboard in the photo department. On the album's cover and throughout its inside sleeve there are -- not one, not two, but 14 -- shots straining to portray her as a sex kitten.
Jazz singers aren't supposed to overdo photos of themselves; that's what country solo artists do. Besides, her voice sells itself -- the packaging isn't at all necessary.
Still, it doesn't change the fact that Krall has chops. Nobody dares dispute that. Her respect for standards as they stand will keep her around for a long time to come. With or without the pictures.