Diana Krall – All For You

A dedication rooted in the art of playing together

Diana Krall dedicates All for You to the Nat King Cole Trio. The subtitle identifies a particular musical world: Cole as singer and pianist within a small, responsive ensemble. Krall takes the piano herself, joined by Russell Malone on guitar and Paul Keller on double bass. That instrumentation is central to the record’s idea. Without a drummer supplying a continuous framework, movement grows from the interaction of three instruments, with the vocal placed inside their conversation. The tribute therefore involves more than choosing songs associated with an admired predecessor. It takes seriously a particular way of making music together.

The album was recorded at Power Station in New York from October 3 to 8, 1995, with Tommy LiPuma producing and Al Schmitt recording and mixing. Its original release followed on March 12, 1996, through Impulse!/GRP. Listeners who associate Krall chiefly with later orchestral settings will encounter a different scale here: voice, strings, keys and the relationship between a melody and its accompaniment. Small ensembles expose musical decisions. Where a large arrangement might establish a colour in advance, these players can shape the space around a phrase through their immediate responses to one another.

That makes the record engaging beyond the dedication itself. You need no specialist knowledge of Cole’s discography to follow these songs. Familiarity with his trio, however, offers another route into them. What possibilities arise when piano and guitar can both contribute harmony and rhythm? How does a bass hold things together without closing every opening? Krall’s programme invites those questions while remaining direct and approachable. Musical tradition becomes a working vocabulary for a personal interpretation, something carried forward through the practical decisions of musicians rather than preserved behind glass. The modest scale makes those decisions particularly rewarding to follow.

Twelve songs moving between playfulness and intimacy

I’m an Errand Girl for Rhythm opens with a statement of purpose. Even the choice of title draws attention to the rhythmic possibilities of singing. Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You and You Call It Madness then introduce other forms of personal address, bringing affection, uncertainty and assertion into close proximity. Together they give the first side a compact shape. Three songs are enough to establish contrasting possibilities within the same voice. You can follow the words or attend to the way piano and guitar support their accents; either approach leads towards the musical relationships underlying the album.

Side B places the playful imagination of Frim Fram Sauce beside Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Baby Baby All the Time. Steve Kroon adds percussion to Boulevard, a specific change of colour within the otherwise small-scale instrumentation. This is the Al Dubin and Harry Warren song, part of the older popular-song repertoire rather than one of the later compositions sharing its title. Bobby Troup appears twice in the programme, through Baby Baby All the Time and the subsequent You’re Looking at Me. Connections such as these help bind the selection together without restricting the album to a single songwriter.

Hit That Jive Jack begins the second record. You’re Looking at Me follows, before I’m Thru with Love closes the third side. The final side contains Deed I Do, A Blossom Fell and If I Had You. That closing song introduces a distinctive personnel detail: Benny Green is credited on piano for If I Had You. His guest appearance belongs specifically to the final selection. A change in the participating musicians thus arrives near the end without disturbing the intimate proportions of the record. Twelve titles form four sequences of three songs, giving each side an easily grasped character while preserving the larger journey through the programme.

Piano, guitar and bass as individual musical voices

Krall’s combined role as vocalist and pianist matters throughout All for You. A vocal phrase need not simply be placed over a completed arrangement; its accompaniment can emerge from the same musical conception. One useful listening approach is to follow the transitions between the sung line and the piano. When does a short figure reinforce the words, and when might it carry a thought onwards without them? These are questions about placement and emphasis rather than the number of notes played. They connect the clarity of a familiar song with the freedom to shape its movement through ensemble playing.

Russell Malone contributes much more than an additional timbre. Guitar and piano can both support chords and carry individual lines, making their relationship an essential part of this instrumentation. Paul Keller’s double bass provides another register and a rhythmic voice of its own. On a return visit, try following the bass as the centre of attention and hearing the other instruments around it. The perspective changes. Accompaniment becomes an active musical contribution, one whose effectiveness often depends on allowing the other voices to remain flexible. The trio format gives that kind of listening plenty to work with.

The two guests extend this core selectively. Steve Kroon’s percussion belongs to Boulevard of Broken Dreams; Benny Green’s piano appears on If I Had You. Green here is the pianist, distinct from the British jazz writer of the same name. Describing the whole record as a quintet would miss its character, just as assuming a conventional drum-led piano trio would. The specific ensemble is the point. Within a Krall collection, All for You places her instrumental work and her relationship with two regular partners at the centre. Cole supplies the dedication, while the record’s continuing interest grows from the identity of the musicians making it.

The Verve edition across two 33⅓ RPM records

The edition offered here, AVER 514950, belongs to the Verve Acoustic Sounds Series and contains two 180-gram LPs playing at 33⅓ RPM. According to the publisher, Bernie Grundman mastered this reissue from the original analogue tapes. The records are pressed at Quality Record Pressings, with a Stoughton Printing tip-on gatefold jacket. Those details identify this particular reissue. They should be distinguished from the original production credits: Doug Sax is named for the original album’s mastering, while Grundman is credited for this later edition. Another format of the same album does not automatically share its manufacturing history.

Three selections per side provide short, coherent portions of the programme. Four sides involve three changes, and their distribution reflects the scale of the album; a double LP does not necessarily imply 45 RPM playback. Choosing an edition involves its actual production, its contents and the way you want to listen. Speed alone cannot settle a general question of quality. This pressing contains twelve tracks. When I Grow Too Old to Dream, which appears as an additional title in some album listings, is not part of this specific two-LP programme. That distinction matters when comparing releases carrying the same album name.

The path through Krall’s dedication remains clear: a rhythmically minded opening, songs exploring different forms of affection, and the guest pianist’s contribution at the close. A carefully made gatefold provides a fitting physical home for the sequence. Listeners interested in singers and those drawn to the interaction of a small jazz group can approach the same record from either direction. Neither element is merely a backdrop for the other, and the relationship between them offers ample reason to return. You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and dispatch from Hilden.

Series: Verve – all 34 records: voices, organ and bossa nova

Musicians

Participants and documented credit status. Track references correspond to the tracklist.

• Diana KrallExisting portrait reference 1998/99piano, lead vocalsParticipation: Album personnel; no track-by-track allocation documented
• Russell MaloneExisting portrait reference 1998guitarParticipation: Album personnel; no track-by-track allocation documented
• Paul Kellerdouble bassParticipation: Album personnel; no track-by-track allocation documented
• Benny GreenLater portrait reference 2007 · pianistpianoParticipation: D3 · If I Had You; the pianist, not the same-named writer
• Steve KroonpercussionParticipation: B2 · Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Power Station, New York, October 3–8, 1995. Tommy LiPuma: producer; Al Schmitt: recording and mixing; Doug Sax: original mastering. Core personnel: Krall, Malone and Keller; pianist Benny Green on D3 If I Had You only, Steve Kroon on B2 Boulevard of Broken Dreams only. Album credits do not establish every instrument on every track. Twelve tracks A1–D3; When I Grow Too Old to Dream is not on this 2-LP. Bernie Grundman mastered this reissue.