From the luxurious opening chords of the first track, even before Diana Krall has sung a single beautiful note, her new Verve release–The Look of Love–has us hooked. After winning a Best Jazz Vocal Performance GRAMMY® for 1999’s platinum-selling When I Look in Your Eyes, Diana Krall delivers her best album yet–a lush, cinematic collection of ballads and bossa nova tunes. Produced by Verve Music Group Chairman Tommy LiPuma, and featuring the London Symphony Orchestra arranged and conducted by the legendary Claus Ogerman, The Look of Love brings to mind such classic Frank Sinatra albums as In the Wee Small Hours and Only The Lonely. But the elegant piano solos, the sensual vocals, and the wickedly modern sense of humor are, inimitably, all Krall.

Krall’s classic style blends equal parts artistic vision, hard work, and determination. The Nanaimo, British Columbia native began playing piano at the age of four. At 15, she began performing standards for the weekend crowd at a local steak & brew. She later won a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee School of Music where she studied intensely for two years. A move to Los Angeles yielded some important mentors: legendary bassist Ray Brown, Hollywood Bowl musical director John Clayton, and the late Jimmy Rowles, who first encouraged Krall to sing. It was in L. A. that Krall began the woodshedding that would be the foundation of her career.

She made her debut on the GRP label with the critically acclaimed Only Trust Your Heart, which marked the beginning of her long-standing relationship with GRAMMY-winning producer LiPuma. All For You, a dynamic tribute to the Nat "King Cole" trio, followed and earned Krall her first GRAMMY nomination and an ever-widening circle of fans. Love Scenes showcased her mastery of the romantic ballad while displaying her playful side with songs such as the Blossom Dearie tune "Peel Me A Grape." That album topped the Billboard jazz charts for most of 1998, earning Krall another GRAMMY nomination.

In 1999, she won a GRAMMY and became the first jazz artist in twenty-five years to be nominated in the Album of the Year category. All of a sudden, she was a constant presence in the media, performing on numerous national television programs. At a Lilith Fair performance, thousands of teenage girls sang along to Diana’s rendition of "Popsicle Toes." A wide array of celebrities declared their admiration, from Harrison Ford and Sarah Jessica Parker to Elton John and Sting. Her music has been featured on Sex and the City, and in such films as Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Autumn in New York, Random Hearts, and the 2001 Robert DeNiro film, The Score.

Yet when it came time to plan her next album, Diana Krall didn’t vary from her pre-GRAMMY routine. She sat up one night in her New York apartment and began to play the records she loved: Frank Sinatra’s Only the Lonely, Julie London’s Cry Me A River, Nat "King" Cole’s Love Letters. As a student at Berklee, she would listen to Michael Brecker and Claus Ogerman’s Cityscape every night before going to sleep. "Claus Ogerman and Johnny Mandel have been my favorite arranger/composers since I was seventeen years old," Diana explains. "So I said to Tommy LiPuma, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we could work with Claus on the next album?’"

At the time, it seemed simply like another ‘what if?’ Sure, Ogerman had crafted landmark albums for Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and Antonio Carlos Jobim, but the German composer had been retired from arranging other musicians’ work–concentrating instead on his own piano sonatas and violin concertos–for almost 17 years. Then, when Diana was on tour in Munich, LiPuma arranged for her to have lunch with Ogerman. Struck by Diana’s musicianship, and their mutual love of old movies, Ogerman took the project on. The film buff connection proved to be more than a coincidence; it influenced how Krall has grown as a singer. Her voice is richer than it has ever been and so is the feeling underneath each song. "There are passages in which she reminds me of Barbara Stanwyck," Ogerman told The Los Angeles Times recently. "She’s acting the words great, the way Sinatra did. While he was singing, he was acting out the lyrics, and Diana does the same thing."

The Look of Love was a reunion for legends LiPuma and Ogerman, who hadn’t worked together in over ten years. The two originally collaborated on George Benson’s landmark recording Breezin’, and LiPuma produced The Claus Ogerman Orchestra’s 1977 album, Gate of Dreams and 1990’s Claus Ogerman featuring Michael Brecker, among others. LiPuma has also worked with such greats as Barbara Streisand, Miles Davis, Joao Gilberto, Natalie Cole, and Shirley Horn, so he’s a natural match for Krall’s intimate vocals, passionate piano playing, and love for classic sounds. "Diana and I share the same taste in music. While listening to Sinatra’s Only the Lonely, we figured out the direction for this album," LiPuma said.

"This is the first time I’ve produced five albums in a row for any artist. We have such a good chemistry between us–it makes it easy; when one of us makes a suggestion–the other listens in earnest," LiPuma continued. "We have tremendous mutual respect for one another."

The album’s crystal clear sounds come from longtime LiPuma collaborator Al Schmitt, who was behind the boards as engineer for his fifth Krall full-length recording. (Schmitt won the Best-Engineered Recording [Non-Classical] GRAMMY for his work on When I Look In Your Eyes.) "The thing about Diana is her musicianship," Schmitt told The Los Angeles Times. "More than most singers, she knows what’s right for her, and she knows how to make it happen musically."

From a smoky rendition of "Cry Me A River," to the heartbreaking tenderness of "I Get Along Without You Very Well," to a Spanish-language version of "Besame Mucho," and her sultry rendition of the title track, The Look of Love is the album that Diana Krall fans have been waiting for.

Of The Look of Love, Krall says: "I was so creatively pumped. We recorded so many tunes; I wish we could have released a double record… This album is my dream come true."