That’s why this last time, we did so many tracks. He made sure that you had the time and space to do what you needed to do. The more that we worked together, the more intimate that process, and trust, became. The less Tommy said, the more he knew he would get from me. He knew I needed quiet to work, to process, to vibe off of the musicians. He’d look at you and say, “Yeah,” or “One more,” quietly. When you finished a tune, he’d just let it be… until he opened his eyes. He would sit with his headphones on, eyes closed, and let the music be. He took himself out of the behind-the-glass situation, and got deeper in became part of the ensemble without being in any one’s way. What was the studio environment like between you, Tommy and your players? He would sit with me in the room when we recorded. Al Schmitt (the renowned recording engineer), Tommy and I had an amazing partnership. He turned Tommy on to that BET thing… You find people to champion you, partner with you. He gave me that chance and believed in me before Tommy heard me. I worked and worked and got to New York City and was introduced to Carl Griffin (then the senior VP of A&R at GRP Records) who was, credit where credit’s due, looking to sign me first. I did my own album before all that and raised my own money for it. ![]() I started playing in piano bars when I was 15 that’s two years older than my kids are now. I bought the right records and had the right educators: Ornette Coleman, Bill Evans, Miles Davis. It matters that you feel things such as this that you can respond to. It was like a direct lightning bolt hit me. One of the most important days of my life was seeing Peterson play live. I came from Vancouver where I just devoured everything I had access to, which included seeing greats such as Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown. I was working hard to be a jazz pianist, and had done a record with John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton - my band, to this day. What do you recall about getting to know LiPuma? ![]() In it LiPuma talks about being there near the start of your career, first hearing you and not entirely digging it, then seeing you on BET doing “Body and Soul” and getting that light bulb moment - that you were a hardcore jazz purist. Seguing into someone else long in your life: Tommy LiPuma, your longtime producer, and the man behind the sessions that yielded “Turn Out the Lights” and “This Dream of You.” Did you read Ben Sidran’s new biography, “The Ballad of Tommy LiPuma?” We both know that it is a privilege to be able to make music, and put out records, in these times, and you hope that somebody else finds comfort in what we’re able to do. Now we have the time for evening dinners, to sit around as a family and talk about life and art. Not to undermine what I do, but hearing him up-close like this is something I rarely get the chance to do. I think his stuff’s more pointed that mine. Or what you’re going to play for each other? That’s a form of artistic expression, a means when words don’t arrive… The beauty of having Elvis at home is the excitement at wondering what he’s going to play for me at the end of the day. ![]() I talk to kids about this all the time: how this does not need to be your life’s work, but you should know what it feels like to play a ‘G’ on the piano, or pick up a guitar and know what that feels like. It’s an education to have access to this. I’m in awe of him every day, and how he works. ![]() So, being together, it’s a loving time for us and for our family. Being together is very unusual for us, especially in the last few years, because I go on tour, and Elvis is home, then he goes on tour, and I’m home. Like everyone, we’re taking time to love, laugh and comfort each other, and find comfort in music, art and reading. KRALL: You mean me and Elvis? Oh God, yeah. Do you and your husband talk much about work, like the fact that the two you have albums out this autumn with releases mere weeks from the other? VARIETY: You share a life with your family, currently in quarantine. Quarantined with her two children and husband Elvis Costello (whose own new album, “Hey Clockface,” is due a month from now), Krall - in her first interview regarding “This Dream of You” - talked expansively and emotionally on a series of far-ranging topics.
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