Diana Krall

Diana Krall comes up with the most emotionally upbeat set of her career, even uplifting a couple of downer torch songs. She deftly navigates a mix of big band and small group jazz in a style that recalls 1950s jazz pop at its best (Cole, Miles, Sinatra, Basie, Ella). Krall's feel for tempo and space is as elegant as ever and she sidesteps good cheer on her reading of Jobim's steely, existential "Insensitive." Krall has class, but her crossover audience probably wouldn't even care if the jazz arrangements and solos weren't as strong as they are.