Diana Krall

Diana Krall

Diana Krall is an accomplished singer, and jazz pianist. Diana was born in British Columbia Canada in 1964. She learned to play piano when she was just four-years-old. Everyone is her family are musicians. When she was in high school she played in a jazz group, and at just fifteen played in many restaurants in Nanaimo. She won a scholarship from Vancouver International Jazz Festival at 17 years old to go to Berklee College of Music. She stayed for one and a half years.

When she played in Nanaimo, Ray Brown, a famous bass player and ex-husband of Ella Fitzgerald told her to move to Los Angeles, California and improve her talents with Jimmy Rowles, a pianist. She did, and began to sing with him. This move led her to into a circle of producers and teachers who could further her career. In 1990 she went to New York and married the British musician Elvis Costello, on musician Elton John's estate in 2003. Diana and Elvis had twins Dexter Henry Lorcan and Frank Harlan James in 2006.

Listening to her fathers huge jazz music albums is what helped Diana be the musician she is today. She lost her mother to multiple myeloma in 2002, and her mentors Ray Brown and Rosemary Clooney in just a few short months of each other. Her younger sister is a strong supporter of her jazz music career.

Her first album came out in 1993, called Stepping Out. John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton were part of that record. Tommy LiPuma heard it and produced her next album Only Trust Your Heart in 1995. Her next album was called All For You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio, in 1996. That was nominated for a Grammy award and was on the jazz charts in Billboard magazine for seventy weeks. In 1997 Love Scenes was a hit record with Russell Malone on guitar, and Christian McBride on bass guitar.

In 2000, Diana went on a tour with Tony Bennett and was nominated for more Grammy awards. The Look of Love album went platinum, the following year. It went to number one on the Canadian charts, and on the Billboard 200, top ten. In 2001 Diana toured the world. The Paris Olympia concert was recorded, and Diana Krall-Live in Paris was released and went to the top of Billboard jazz charts, number 5 in Canada and the top 20 of Billboard 200. On the recording was a cover of Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" and "A Case Of You" by Joni Mitchell.

Diana also wrote with her husband after they were married, and wrote her own songs. The Girl in the Other Room was the result of her work, in 2004. This year, she was in a Lexus ad. Diana also sang "Dream a Little Dream of Me" with Hank Jones, a famous pianist. In 2003 she received an honorary doctorate from University of Victoria. In 2004 she was included in the Canada's Walk of Fame.