CD • Never has a Steinway upright from the 1890s sounded so old. On Diana Krall’s new album "Glad Rag Doll," the 47-year-old Canadian contralto is stuck in the same mind-set that marred Paul McCartney’s recent album "Kisses on the Bottom," in which he was essentially the bandleader. McCartney’s album of Tin Pan Alley covers was a sleepy affair, and Krall’s interpretive skills on the same type of songs fail to illuminate or elevate any of these obscure songs. On this album, Krall worked with her husband Elvis Costello’s longtime collaborator T-Bone Burnett, best known for his Grammy Award-winning work on the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack, among many other acclaimed projects. For all of Burnett’s skills, he does no favors for Krall, whose limited vocal range is surrounded by a spare emptiness. The seductive bossa-nova spirit that enlivened Krall’s 2009 "Quiet Nights" album is absent, and we are left with a pretty woman without much of a personality.
Grade: D
