MYRGC13.NET

I was in my office (former office, that is) about 2 years ago, in a late evening, just me and one of the companies partners. Even though we were quite some distance away, when I first heard the voice in the track it was playing on his computer, I quickly jumped from my seat to find out who that is.

This was the start of a beautiful love affair I have since then with Diana Krall. It was her beautiful, educated and powerful voice that surprised, thrilled and excited me in the beginning. And the feelings have not changed ever since.

Diana Krall is a Canadian jazz singer, who, as many others great jazz player, started its musical activity early…at the age of four. But it was only until the age of fifteen when she started playing regularly, in restaurants.

You see, this amazes me in Jazz… Artists have go get through a long period of learning, practicing and personal development before actually starting to be noticed by the public. While in commercial music, you just need a summer hit (and usually, voice, skill or talent is obsolete).

It was only at the age of 29 (after 25 years of music!!) when she released her first album, Stepping Out. 2 years later followed another album, and so she kept on going, having today about 10 albums, a great amount of live concerts and numerous collaborations with musicians all over the world.

She was one of the very few to cover a Tom Waits song (Tom is notorious for his aversion towards covers, lending his music for commercials and so on), Temptation. The cover instantly reached 1st position in the Jazz charts, being one of the many formal recognitions Diana received for her talent and dedication.

Diana received several Grammy awards (Album Of The Year, Best Jazz Vocal Performance and Best Engineered Album Non Classical in 2000), National Jazz and Juno awards, and more (even one MTV award). Also, she has 4 Platinum and 7 Gold Albums.

But more important (maybe), are some acknowledgments which are not that familiar in the musical world, like the Order of British Columbia, Order of Canada and Honorary PHD from Victoria Univ.

Well, these are mostly the facts. But the passion behind those facts, the sweet delight you can hear while listening to her and the calmness in her songs cannot be matched by anything.

RYLA23

Notation is the written expression of music notes and rhythms on paper using symbols. When music is written down, the pitches and rhythm of the music is notated, along with instructions on how to perform the music. The study of how to read notation involves music theory, harmony, the study of performance practice, and in some cases an understanding of historical performance methods.

Written notation varies with style and period of music. In Western Art music, the most common types of written notation are scores, which include all the music parts of an ensemble piece, and parts, which are the music notation for the individual performers or singers. In popular music, jazz, and blues, the standard musical notation is the lead sheet, which notates the melody, chords, lyrics (if it is a vocal piece), and structure of the music. Scores and parts are also used in popular music and jazz, particularly in large ensembles such as jazz “big bands.”

In popular music, guitarists and electric bass players often read music notated in tabulator, which indicates the location of the notes to be played on the instrument using a diagram of the guitar or bass fingerboard. Tabulator was also used in the Baroque era to notate music for the lute, a stringed, fretted instrument.

Notated music is produced as sheet music. To perform music from notation requires an understanding of both the musical style and the performance practice that is associated with a piece of music or genre.

Improvisation