Bossa nova is not unfamiliar to
Diana Krall
, but 2009's
Quiet Nights
is her first record devoted to the gently swaying rhythm. Teaming up again with arranger
Claus Ogerman
, who last worked with
Krall
on 2001's
The Look of Love
and who also frequently collaborated with bossa nova godfather
Antonio Carlos Jobim
,
winds up with a mellow, lazy album that recalls the relaxed late-night sophistication of
Jobim
's duet album with
Frank Sinatra
, which
Ogerman
also happened to arrange and conduct. It's not just the sound, it's the songs: how '60s standards like
Bacharach/David
's
"Walk on By"
sit next to three
tunes, a song by
Marcos Valle
(
"So Nice"
), and a few American Songbook standards placed at the beginning, the better to ease listeners into purer bossa nova at the end. Then again, they don't need much persuasion -- if any music could be called accessible it's this, with its warm intimacy and classic good taste. If anything, there may be a bit too much classic good taste on
-- there is no reinterpretation, only homage -- but that's not quite a problem because
knows enough to lay back, to never push, only to glide upon the gossamer surface. After all, some things are timeless for a reason; they need no updating, only replicating. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine