Krall Makes Crossover Plans as Her Star Rises

Diana Krall’s accelerating career has taken a surprising shift in direction. After spending more than five years with Mary Ann Topper’s boutique-sized, hands-on Jazz Tree Management company, the Canadian-born singer-pianist has decided to move to the large S.L. Feldman & Associates company (which also represents Joni Mitchell and the Chieftains) for worldwide management in recording, film and soundtracks.

The change comes at a time when Krall has been achieving unprecedented popularity. Her “Love Scenes” (GRP) has commanded Billboard magazine’s traditional jazz charts for nearly a year. In addition, last week she became the first jazz artist ever to have an album go platinum in Canada.

What does it all mean? At first glance, it seems to signal a move on Krall’s part to extend her popularity beyond the jazz arena. Feldman & Associates partner Steve Macklam identifies his company as “a worldwide leader in music, talent and entertainment services, and this provides Diana with a terrific platform to launch her new career path.”

A hint as to where that “new career path” might lead was immediately apparent in the announcement that Krall will be featured at Lilith Fair on select dates in August. She also is showcased in the July issue of Elle magazine and makes a return visit to the Fox television show “Melrose Place” on Aug. 27.

Can a jazz artist, however successful she is within the genre, cross over safely into the far trickier, often shark-infested waters of the pop entertainment world? Sam Feldman of Feldman & Associates thinks she can.

“Platinum status in Canada is hard to achieve these days,” he says, “particularly for non-mainstream genre artists. Clearly there is a huge audience for Diana Krall.”

But a huge audience in Canada doesn’t necessarily translate into the numbers required for major mainstream visibility. And the real question will be what impact Krall’s management shift will have on the most vital and admired aspect of her talent, the aspect that has nothing to do with pop stardom--her ability to bring new life and vigor to jazz singing.

Miles on the Web: Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue,” almost surely the best-selling jazz album of all time, continues to emerge in new forms. The latest is a high-tech, interactive multimedia connection between a home computer’s CD-ROM and a Sony/Columbia Web site (https://www.sonymusic.com/thelab/ConnecteD/). The premise, as announced, seems simple enough. “All a listener has to do,” according to a Sony press release, “is place a copy of the ‘Kind of Blue’ CD (CK 64935) into the computer’s CD-ROM drive and visit the Sony Music ConnecteD Web site.” (Other versions will apparently not suffice, since the CK 64935 edition is the first that has been “properly mastered.”)

Once logged on, one discovers a number of unusual items. There are, for example, essays by Dan Morgenstern, Ira Gitler and Robert Palmer, as well as pianist Bill Evans’ original liner notes. There are never-before-heard alternate takes and studio chatter from the original master recording, as well as audio interviews with Ron Carter, Chick Corea, Milt Jackson, Nicholas Payton and others. And there are unique, interactive elements, such as a transcription of Davis’ solo on “So What,” which is synchronized with the music on the CD, allowing the listener to cue various parts of the song.

Jeff Levenson, vice president, jazz A&R; and artist development for Columbia Records, sees the project as “an opportunity to give jazz fans new insight into Miles’ classic recording.”

“It will,” he adds, “make listening to the disc an entirely new and exciting experience. . . . and I think it enables all who thought they knew ‘Kind of Blue’ to really get it.”

Well, yes. But expect some complications before you have a chance “to really get it.” Logging on to the site, first of all, can be tediously slow. And, once there, one is met with a screen noting that Shockwave and Quicktime programs are required to make everything work in harmony.

You don’t have Shockwave or Quicktime? Not to worry. Links lead to sites where they can be downloaded free. But, once again, more complications. The downloading process is confusing and--at least once--froze my computer.

Does it all work? Eventually, to some extent. The material is certainly fascinating, but accessing the transcription of Davis’ “So What” has thus far eluded this listener. And the wearying process of stepping through all the screens and waiting for the graphics to load makes one wonder if it wouldn’t be a lot simpler, and a lot quicker, to just listen to the CD and read Davis’ autobiography.

****

Riffs: Koch Jazz has made a deal with Rhino Records to issue 33 albums from the Atlantic jazz catalog. The first nine recordings, scheduled for release in September, include performances by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Andy Bey, Gil Evans, Milt Jackson and Coleman Hawkins, Clifford Jordan, Duke Pearson and Max Roach. Most have never before been available on CD.