Diana Krall

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Birthday:

16 November 1964, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada

Birth Name:

Diana Jean Krall

Height:

174 cm

Diana Jean Krall was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, to Adella A. (Wende), an elementary school teacher, and Stephen James Krall, an accountant. She has Czech, German, English, and Scottish ancestry. Krall was raised in Nanaimo, a small community on Vancouver Island, where she began performing professionally at age 15 as a jazz pianist. In 1981, Diana won a Vancouver Jazz Festival scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston and, after a year and a half of serious study, she returned to British Columbia. Renowned bassist Ray Brown heard her playing one night in Nanaimo and convinced Diana to move to Los Angeles where she obtained a Canadian Arts Council grant to study with Jimmy Rowles. Jimmy encouraged Diana to explore her vocals to supplement her already blossoming piano skills. With several successful CDs to her credit, Diana has won numerous awards including Canada's Juno Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album (2000) and a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance (2000). She received the Order of British Columbia in 2000 for being a good-will ambassador for British Columbia and epitomizing Canadian culture. The greatest talent in the jazz field to come along in a generation, she frequently acknowledges her roots in Nanaimo where she began. She epitomizes Canadian culture and is an outstanding citizen and good-will ambassador for British Columbia. Show less «

I love everything about her: her elegance, her wit. And she is one of the greatest influences in what I do as an artist. (on her idol Peggy ...Show more »

I love everything about her: her elegance, her wit. And she is one of the greatest influences in what I do as an artist. (on her idol Peggy Lee) Show less «

[on Tony Bennett] We have continual arguments about whether rock 'n' roll swings, which of course it absolutely does. I have a different vie...Show more »

[on Tony Bennett] We have continual arguments about whether rock 'n' roll swings, which of course it absolutely does. I have a different view of the Great American Songbook than Tony. It has Willie Dixon and Hank Williams in it. But I totally respect that for Tonty it begins and ends when it does. Depending on where you started from, certain kinds of music must seem horrifying. Show less «

[on her family] They were really poor - they're coal miners - but they had a piano, so everybody played and I think my dad started taking so...Show more »

[on her family] They were really poor - they're coal miners - but they had a piano, so everybody played and I think my dad started taking some of the collection money on the way to church and buying 78s. That music was what they listened to, and people came over because they couldn't afford to go out. Everyone came to their house and brought bottles - whatever they had. I have tapes of it too, recordings of all of us singing together. Show less «

I was looking at all the pictures of the Ziegfeld Follies and [thinking about] how a lot of those girls perished, really. That's why I didn'...Show more »

I was looking at all the pictures of the Ziegfeld Follies and [thinking about] how a lot of those girls perished, really. That's why I didn't want to do this kind of flapper, get-your-ukelele-thing, because there's a darkness to it, a tragic element. Show less «

We all want to be astronauts or rock stars when we grow up, right? I mean, I always wanted to be an astronaut. My Confirmation day was spent...Show more »

We all want to be astronauts or rock stars when we grow up, right? I mean, I always wanted to be an astronaut. My Confirmation day was spent building a rocket. I built it out of the kit and read 'Carrying the Fire'. I had a chance to meet Neil Armstrong and his family on the fortieth anniversary of the moon landing. Show less «

[on her 2013 North American tour] The new show is vaudeville theatre. I've played a lot of vaudeville theaters in my day, a lot of gin joint...Show more »

[on her 2013 North American tour] The new show is vaudeville theatre. I've played a lot of vaudeville theaters in my day, a lot of gin joints, and I love that feeling. I like the feeling that the band is in a film, like some distant memory of the silver screen. I like the idea that concert begins, and it's like putting needle to wax. The music doesn't need the visuals, the music's strong enough on it's own, but this is something I've been cooking up my whole life. Show less «

I know from the first bars how the night will go. It's like a dinner party. You know how sometimes you throw seven people at a table and the...Show more »

I know from the first bars how the night will go. It's like a dinner party. You know how sometimes you throw seven people at a table and they can't find common ground. And other times, people sit down immediately and it's like they've known each other for a million years? That's how it feels when it's good. Show less «

You want the audience to feel as good as you do. I want everyone with me, not away from me. My job is to make everybody feel something: feel...Show more »

You want the audience to feel as good as you do. I want everyone with me, not away from me. My job is to make everybody feel something: feel good or feel a groove, feel a ballad and sadness or else feel elation. It's not them watching you tell them about your emotional journey. You're trying to help them find theirs. I'm the one to take them to that place. Show less «

[on her version of 'I've Got You Under My Skin'] I slowed it down and made it into a boss a nova. I find it made the song really sad. That's...Show more »

[on her version of 'I've Got You Under My Skin'] I slowed it down and made it into a boss a nova. I find it made the song really sad. That's kind of what I do. Take something really happy and make it miserable in the best way. Show less «