Diana Krall - This Dream of You (2020) CD-Rip

Diana Krall reunited with Tommy LiPuma, the producer who worked with her for the first decade-and-a-half of her career, for Turn Up The Quiet, a 2017 album that found the pianist returning to the Great American Songbook interpretations that made her name. LiPuma died just before the release of Turn Up the Quiet, prompting Krall to fashion a quasi-tribute to her collaborator from the album's leftovers. The ensuing This Dream of You is hushed and reserved, a leisurely stroll through quite familiar standards augmented by a version of Bob Dylan's "This Dream of You," a deep cut from his 2009 album Together Through Life. Krall is supported by a rotating cast of all-star players -- Christian McBride and Russell Malone are on "Autumn in New York," Marc Ribot and Karriem Riggins are on "How Deep Is the Ocean" and the Dylan tune -- but the energy is so subdued, the shift in players is felt more than heard; the exception is the lively, swinging "Just You, Just Me," where fiddler Stuart Duncan makes his presence known. That mellowness is an attribute of This Dream of You, as it gives the album a distinctly relaxed, sophisticated vibe, but it's also a detriment because the record is so soft and slow it can veer into the sleepy. That wasn't a problem with Turn Up the Quiet, whose stillness was compelling, so This Dream of You winds up shining a light on the accomplishment of the final album Krall and LiPuma finished in his lifetime. Together, they knew which songs to select to create a complete listen. What remained behind is nice but not quite absorbing.