Krall in Good Company for Homecoming

Forget what Thomas Wolfe said. Singer-pianist Diana Krall demonstrated Saturday night that you can go home again, and she did so in the confident manner of the major star she has become.

Sure, she was born in Vancouver, but most of Krall’s formative, learning years were spent in Los Angeles. And the homecoming qualities of her Saturday appearance at Universal Amphitheatre were richly enhanced by her all-Southland accompaniment.

Guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton--all major talents and bandleaders in their own right--are now members of her regular working ensemble. Add to that a large orchestra filled with the area’s major studio players, conducted by pianist-arranger Alan Broadbent, performing before a packed house, and the entire performance took on the atmosphere of a Krall celebration.

She responded with a program clearly aimed at displaying her versatile singing and piano skills, which have blossomed in the decade since her primary goal was to develop her jazz instrumental skills. It was also a program designed to please Krall’s core audience--jazz fans whose affection is for vocals blended smoothly with her piano work--as well as newly arrived Krall aficionados drawn to her recent big-orchestra torch singing.

The performance kicked off in high gear with a highly oxygenated romp through “I Love Being Here With You,” followed by a briskly swinging “All or Nothing at All.” Krall’s horn-like phrasing was in full blossom as she punched out phrases, lifting the rhythm, accenting the open spots in her lines with crisp piano punctuations.

At times, her energies were at such a high level that she tended to swallow words, not quite allowing them to emerge clearly. It’s a common Krall practice, and one that usually adds charm and character to her readings. But in this case it threatened to obscure the lines of her lyrics until she brought her phrasing into focus.

On these tunes, as elsewhere throughout the program, guitarist Wilson was the primary instrumental soloist, pouring out chorus after chorus, each more impressive than the last. Always a potentially important talent, he has risen to the top level of the crowded field of straight-ahead jazz guitarists.

The numbers with orchestral accompaniment--”Cry Me a River,” “S’Wonderful” and “Dancing in the Dark” (from her “Look of Love” album) and “Let’s Fall in Love” (from “When I Look in Your Eyes”)--showcased Krall’s svelte and sensual side. Sonically gorgeous, interpretively compelling, they revealed how adept she has become at switching into a traditional pop mode, reinterpreting familiar material with an accessible, Sinatra-like jazz sensibility.

Fortunately, any time these pop numbers leaned toward lightweight blandness, and one’s attention began to wander (never a problem with Krall’s small ensemble performances), she compensated. Richly layered interpretive orchestral numbers, such as “I Get Along Without You Very Well” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” revealed a maturity that bodes well for Krall’s creative future.

That maturity also was evident in her rendering of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” a number Krall unfortunately hasn’t yet recorded. Performed only with her piano accompaniment, it was as stunning as it has been in a number of prior appearances.

All of which led one to feel that, despite the appeal and success of Krall’s eclecticism, such a busy career hasn’t allowed her time to thoroughly mine her artistic depths. If she ever manages to blend her inventiveness as a jazz artist with the lyrical, storytelling quality she brought to “I Get Along Without You Very Well” and “A Case of You,” Krall finally will emerge not just as a million-album-selling singer, but as the major artist she so clearly is capable of becoming.