Friday Feature: Diana Krall

Recently I was going through a box in my garage and ran across a pair of concert tickets from the summer of 2004. One of my close friends, also a serious music lover, took me to see Diana Krall for my birthday that year. Diana gave four (FOUR!!!) encores that night.* Just looking at the tickets put a smile on my face and sent me to my stereo to enjoy some tunes.

Diana Krall is at once a throwback to an earlier era and a pioneer into new places and dimensions. Her vocal quality and style of delivery are both timeless and innovative, and her piano stylings are the perfect compliment to her wide-ranging musical forays. As a bonus, she is a beautiful and photogenic person.

Personally, Diana has been my favorite jazz vocalist since the first time I listened to her. And given the musicians she generally plays with (some of whom I'll list below), listening to Diana Krall is both entertaining and educational. It's classic, timeless music.

Not only have I been in love with the voice and music of Diana Krall for years, I've enjoyed listening to the musicians she works with. A partial list includes:

• Peter Erskine
• Jeff Hamilton
• John Clayton
• Anthony Wilson
• Russell Malone
• Christian McBride
• More HERE

As with other Friday Features, I hope you'll do some exploring and get to know the music of Diana Krall for yourself. You will be very richly rewarded.

Happy listening!


*I've been to many, many live shows in my life, from major symphonies to rock, jazz, pop and country acts in the largest and smallest of venues. Even though I love the music and the atmosphere, I'm ready to go home at the end of the night. Not so with Diana Krall. Even after four encores, my hear broke when she said goodnight. I could have listened and enjoyed forever. 

Do you have "friends?"

No, really. Do you have friends? 

I was asked this question my senior year in college by my 18-year-old piano teacher, a Spanish kid named Alvaro. I had decided sort of last minute to complete a few extra credits to get my Percussion Performance degree (in addition to Music Education), and that required another semester of piano lessons.

Alvaro, a young prodigy from Spain, was my assigned teacher. He was an amazing player and effective teacher, and part of that was his ability to be very direct and frank (honest) with his students. Such was the case with me.

About six weeks into the semester, I was working a difficult piece of music. There were several sections that I really liked, and I played them fairly well. But there was one small section - only about two measures - that I absolutely hated. Couldn't get it right, even after weeks of lessons and practice. As a result, each time I had to perform that section at my lesson, I sort of rushed/fumbled/plowed through it to get to the section after - one that I loved and could play well.

Well, I wasn't the only one getting frustrated with that short section of music. The conversation went something like this. (Remember to read Alvaro's lines with a Spanish accent, and with plenty of 'tude.)

Alvaro: Keith, do you have friends? 

Keith: What?!

A: No, really. Do you have friends?

K: (Indignant) Of course I have friends. 

A: Well, how do you become friends with those friends?

K: I dunno. Hang out, I guess? 

A: That's right, Keith. You have to "hang out" with this section long enough that it becomes your friend. 

I was dumbfounded. Shocked, even. The implications for practicing were immediate and clear.

We tend to, "hang out," with the music, skills, concepts and styles that we like. And we usually like what we're good at. It's called a, "comfort zone," and we all have one. So, how to solve the problem? Simple. Not necessarily easy, but simple: Spend time with them. Good, high quality, focused time. Work at making them comfortable and fun.

As musicians, we will expand our comfort zone by identifying the areas, skills, etc. that we're comfortable with and those that we aren't. I know that I definitely have some things that I hate playing, and I know it's because they're not comfortable for me.

Well, I took Alvaro's advice. I decided I was going to turn that weakness into a strength, and I did. By the next lesson, I was playing the difficult section with confidence. It's still amazing to me how much my attitude toward those two short measures changed just by spending enough time to get to know them very well and know that I was going to play them accurately.

By the way, this concept works for more than just music. Sports, food, people, cities, etc. Try to be friends first, and you'll find that you have fewer, "enemies."

Happy drumming!

Keyboard Percussion 5: Odds and Ends

There are a couple more keyboard* instruments that percussionists are occasionally called on to play. These aren't standard, but they're common enough that you need to be familiar with them.

First, crotales. (Cro-tall-ehs) Simply put, they're super-compact, small, pitched cymbals. Again, they're set up like a keyboard, and you usually play them with a hard plastic or phenolic mallet.

Seriously, though, you won't play these very often. But even as I type that I have to tell you that all of the orchestral sections I've played with in the last year have used crotales.

If you're a band director, and you're thinking about buying a set - borrow first! If you need them more than once per year, you might think about getting some. But until them, find a band director friend and do the borrow/trade thing.




Next up: celeste. Another instrument you won't play frequently, but you do need to be familiar. One classic example of a place you'll use them is in "The Nutcracker: Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy." We played this in college (seemingly) every year, and we had to drag the ol' celeste up from the percussion dungeon to get it done.

Here's a WikiPedia article about celeste that is very clear about the origins, mechanics and uses of celeste.

Again, before you buy this thing, make sure you really need one - or get a great deal!





There are many more pitched and/or keyboard percussion instruments, but they're either really similar to what we've already covered, or they're so rarely used that it's not really worth mentioning them here.

Happy percussion-ing!
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*It's worth mentioning that traditional keyboard instruments can fall into the realm of percussion, too. Like piano and harpsichord, although usually percussionists aren't asked to cover those parts. You should, however, do what you can to shore up your piano playing skills. Not only will it prepare you to cover some of these odd instruments, but there is also no better way to work on your sight reading skills than to play piano and learn some new music on a regular basis.