FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Diana Krall put on a great show, bantering about the rain and umbrellas in between sets.

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Krall at her best,
despite weather

Swarming termites and intermittent showers didn't spoil an evening of exceptional music as Diana Krall closed a two-year world tour with a final performance at the Waikiki Shell on Sunday.

"I'm from British Columbia, so it's my fault," Krall said, bringing up her rainy homeland when the audience was forced for the third time to duck under umbrellas, blankets and whatever else was at hand.

Krall made several references to the inclement weather between numbers, helping keep the mood light despite the drizzle. When one oblivious couple provoked angry calls of "umbrella down!" when they kept their large umbrella up during a clear period, Krall lightened the mood by saying that "Umbrella Down" could be "the name of my next album."

She also noted the unintended irony of singing "On the Sunny Side of the Street" while most of the audience was sitting in the rain.

Krall kept going even when it sounded as though the rain was shorting out an onstage amplifier.

The concert was remarkable for another reason unrelated to the quality of the performance. Standard procedure in recent years when the Honolulu Symphony works with a "pops" artist is that the guest does maybe 60 minutes, rarely more. Krall obviously isn't a standard "pops" guest. She did almost 90 minutes and it was time well spent.

In a single sentence: Krall has never sounded better. Maybe it comes with being in love, maybe it's the result of having spent that much more time in the business and on the road. Whatever the explanation, her voice was rich, warm and beguiling. Her work on grand piano was impressive throughout; the exuberance of her power chords was balanced by the delicacy with which she approached individual notes on "Let's Face the Music and Dance."

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FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM

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Krall acknowledged the success of her current album, "The Girl in the Other Room," early in the evening with engaging renditions of "Stop This World" and the title track. She introduced the latter by saying that it had been "written by Elvis Costello and his wife -- his very, very, very lucky and adoring wife" (anyone who's been following Krall's career knows that she is the wife in question). Krall mentioned several times that Costello was in Honolulu; she told fans who were yelling "Aloha, Elvis" to buy tickets for his concert here next year.

"Stop This World" and "The Girl in the Other Room" were certainly highlights, and beautifully done, but this was a show with no "filler" material or bad choices. Even two familiar Top 40 pop hits -- "Let's Fall in Love" and "Love Letters" -- were reworked beautifully as jazz material.

Krall was given excellent support from her backup trio of Anthony Wilson (guitar), Robert Hurst (acoustic bass) and Kareem Riggins (drums). Wilson's guitar dominated several selections. Hurst and Riggins were a solid two-man rhythm section and stellar soloists as well.

Termites added a surrealistic element as they swirled around the stage lights during the symphony's opening set. Pops conductor Matt Catingub led the symphony through original arrangements of four jazz standards and a three-song medley of songs associated with Ella Fitzgerald.

Catingub did double duty, playing piano as well as conducting, with Bruce Hamada (acoustic bass) and Noel Okimoto (drums) completing the core jazz trio that was the foundation of the set. Highlights were Catingub's arrangement of "One O'Clock Jump" and his powerful piano work on "Watermelon Man" as the finale.