Diana Krall

Diana Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian jazz pianist and singer. She is known for her contralto vocals. Krall was born into a musical family in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. Her father Jim Krall's large record collection helped to expose the young Krall to jazz legends. She began learning the piano at the age of four. In high school, she started playing in a small jazz group. When she was 15 she started playing regularly in several Nanaimo restaurants.

At age seventeen she won a scholarship from the Vancouver International Jazz Festival to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. In Nanaimo, her playing attracted the attention of famed bass player Ray Brown and drummer Jeff Hamilton. After hearing her play, Brown and Hamilton persuaded Krall to move to Los Angeles, and study with pianist Jimmy Rowles, with whom she began to sing. This also brought her into contact with influential teachers and producers. In 1990, Krall relocated to New York.

In 1993, Diana Krall released her first album, Stepping Out, which she recorded with John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton. It caught the attention of producer Tommy LiPuma, who produced her second album, Only Trust Your Heart (1995). Her third, All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio (1996), was nominated for a Grammy and continued for 70 weeks in the Billboard jazz charts. Love Scenes (1997) quickly became a hit record with the trio of Krall, Russell Malone (guitar) and Christian McBride (bass).

In September 2001, Krall began a world tour. Her concert at the Paris Olympia was recorded and released as her first live record. Diana Krall - Live in Paris topped the Billboard jazz charts, went top 20 on the Billboard 200 and went top five in Canada. It garnered her second Grammy (Best Vocal Jazz Record) and a Juno Award. The album included covers of Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" (a hit on U.S. smooth jazz radio) and Joni Mitchell's "A Case Of You."

After marrying Elvis Costello, she worked with him as a lyricist and started to compose her own songs, resulting in the album The Girl in the Other Room. The album, released in April 2004, quickly rose to the top five in the United Kingdom and made the Australian top 40 album charts.

Diana Krall also joined Ray Charles on his Genius Loves Company album in 2004 on the song, "You Don't Know Me." In late May 2007, Krall was featured in a Lexus ad campaign. She also sang, "Dream a Little Dream of Me" with piano accompaniment by legendary pianist Hank Jones. "Quiet Nights," her latest album, was released on 31 Mar 2009.