I've always believed that when your friend's recommendations fail you, a guide is still needed for the discovery of great music. Whether it is a well placed song in a film, a great magazine article or a revealing interview, you stand to get pulled in via a variety of ways to make you look at the music in an entirely new light. Over the last year, one of the best places for musical discovery was Elvis Costello's show on the Sundance channel, Spectacle. Every week, I tuned in and just loved what I saw. Costello has a laid back interview style and even though I knew many of the artists he was covering inside and out, he still managed to finagle a gem here and there. The most illuminating interview wasn't done by Costello at all, but Elton John. A decision was made to do a show with Diana Krall (Costello's wife) and Elton John (a producer on the show) stepped into the interviewer's chair. As I watched the show unfurl, I was pulled into Krall's world. I think I had one of her discs sitting on a shelf somewhere when I found it cheap and figured it would make good music for a dinner party. Alas, I never gave this artist much thought but as I saw this insightful and awakening discussion between John and her, I felt as if I needed her music in my life. It didn't matter that her jazzy standards aren't what I would normally listen to, I needed to hear her music, specifically The Girl In the Other Room.
During the interview they discussed how she had never written her own material (jazz is very much are reinterpreting material from the past) and yet after the death of her mother at the young age of 61, she needed to express herself. This was when I sat up in the chair. As I watched her eyes tell stories of coming up with the lyrics and music, you could see a human working through her pain and trying to make sense of something so tragic it forced her to question much around her. Some people turn to drink or drugs, but Krall immersed herself in her music. Elton did a incredible job of plucking these stories from her and as she sat behind the piano and played pieces here and there, she won me over.
A little over a year later, I have listened to The Girl In the Other Room quite a few times. While I love her solemn take on her husband's "Almost Blue" and a few other songs, it's the original material here that holds the line, specifically the final four which finish the album; "Narrow Daylight", "Abandoned Masquerade", "I'm Coming Through" and "Departure Boy". The music here is more discreet as it allows it to be experienced. These aren't mere pop musings, but confessionals. She found a way to write prayers to herself as a way of making it through the trauma she experienced. It's more than a valiant record, but a philosophical one, as it is rare to find artists revealing so much vulnerability. None of the songs veer towards being overly sentimental yet are full of highly emotional voltage if you listen closely enough. The world is filled with music that can lift you and shelter you but all too often, we don't open ourselves to it. If not for Spectacle, I never would have given Krall's music a chance and for that, I'll forever be appreciative of the show. The world works in mysterious ways and even though journalism as we know it is fading quicker than a flower, respectable and honorable writing and discussion is still needed, if for no other reason than to shine a spotlight on unheralded affecting triumphs.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
