The Canadian jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall has sold more than 15 million albums. She has previously duetted with Ray Charles and Tony Bennett, and on her latest record, Glad Rag Doll, she covers a number of Tin Pan Alley-era songs with the veteran producer T-Bone Burnett at the helm. Krall lives in New York with her husband Elvis Costello and their twin boys, Dexter and Frank.
Glad Rag Doll’s cover shot of you is rather racy ….
I wanted to be fearless with the music and fearless with its presentation. The cover is something of an homage to Alfred Cheney Johnston's photographs of the Ziegfeld Girls, and there's a bit of a Bonnie and Clyde thing going on, too. We got Colleen Atwood [the costumier for the film Chicago] to do the styling. I didn't feel like I needed anybody's permission or a timeframe – I mean, look at those Vogue shots of Yoko Ono in hot pants recently.
There’s a poignancy to the new album’s title track. How do you interpret its lyrics?
I think it’s tragic and an ironic statement about femininity. “You’re just a pretty toy they like to play with / you’re not the kind they choose to grow old and grey with” – it’s the classic storyline of an old Hollywood movie, isn’t it?
How much do you and your husband act as sounding boards for each other’s music?
We certainly have a lot to talk about musically, and Elvis is incredibly supportive and encouraging. Some people seem to think I’m surrounded by a committee of men and that Glad Rag Doll was Elvis’s idea, but I have my own mind, and this album is very personal to me. A lot of the songs on there are ones my dad had on old 78s [78rpm records].
You recently played Fly Me to the Moon at the Washington DC memorial service for Neil Armstrong. How did that come about?
I’d met Neil when I was invited to play Nasa’s 40th anniversary celebrations for the Apollo missions. We had a glass of wine and a chat, and that was a big deal for me, because I was a total space nut as a kid and I used to build my own rockets from kits. Playing at his memorial was pretty intense and emotional. It’s on YouTube but I can’t watch it. I sat next to John Glenn and his wife. Those guys were the original space cowboys, out there using less technology than there is in my mobile phone. How courageous is that?
What are your memories of producing Barbra Streisand’s 2009 album, Love Is the Answer?
When she sings it’s so special and familiar that you almost fall over. Barbra is this powerful, charismatic presence, but she can also be quite intimidating. Whenever things got too intense I had a deck of cards handy and we’d play gin rummy. Thank God I never won.
Do your twin boys understand what mum and dad do for a living?
I think so, but they have their own thing going on, too. They love the English group Elbow. They love Radiohead and they call it “space music”. Dexter got to meet Paul McCartney recently. There was one song of Paul’s that he was obsessed with – I can’t tell you which one, but he even wrote a letter to the person in the song. It was beautiful to see this child who knew nothing of The Beatles’ significance cuddling in Paul’s lap while he explained to him what his favourite song was about.
Glad Rag Doll is out on Verve Records tomorrow. Visit www.dianakrall.com for more information
