Special Guests

Special Guests
Saturday, December 13, 1997

Though the group's personnel has changed over time, The Battlefield Band has existed for more than 25 years. The band is an amalgamation of traditional Scottish music and modern composition: critics have said that The Battlefield Band combines "the classical Celtic music of the Scottish Highlands with the contemporary rock-oriented folk music of modern Britain." The current lineup is founding member Alan Reid (keyboards, guitar), Mike Katz (Highland bagpipe), John McCusker (fiddle), Davy Steele (guitar, cittern, bodhran). The band has recorded more than a dozen albums-the most recent is Across the Borders (Temple Records), a live recording done during the Edinburgh International Festival. In January, The Battlefield Band will begin work on a new album. Tonight's performance is the final stop on the Battlefield Band's current U.S. tour.

The New York Times says that Diana Krall "promises to become one of the most significant voices carrying on a classic vocal tradition." Krall grew up in a musical family in Nanaimo, British Columbia. A great-great-aunt of hers played the New York vaudeville circuit, and her father is a record and sheet-music collector. From her dad's collection, young Diana heard music from the earliest days of recording-via wax cylinders and 78s of opera, classical, and jazz galore-the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, Thelonious Monk, and lots of Fats Waller, who was the family's favorite musician. At age four, Krall began studying classical piano, but turned toward jazz during high school after being in a jazz group led by her high-school band teacher, a former professional bassist. In the early '80s, Krall earned a music scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music, where she studied for a year and a half. She came back to Nanaimo, where she kept up with the local jazz scene and ended up meeting and becoming friends with drummer Jeff Hamilton and bass great Ray Brown as they came through town. Brown, who's done much to further Krall's career, encouraged her to move to Los Angeles. A Canadian Arts Council grant allowed her to go to L.A., where she studied with pianist Jimmy Rowles and others. After three years in L.A., Krall moved to her current home base, New York City. Last month, she performed for President Clinton and Canadian Prime Minister Chretian at the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit in Vancouver. She has tours of the U.S., Canada, and Japan coming up in the next few months. Krall has made four recordings, the most recent of which is Love Scenes (Impulse Records). Performing with her tonight are Russell Malone (guitar) and Ben Wolfe (bass).