Diana Krall

Jazz singer and vocalist Diana Krall possesses the gift of ivory-tickling magic and a voice so bewitching it could transfix a rabid werewolf. She was classically trained from toddler age at home in Canada, but her dad's love of Fats Waller left an equal impression on her future stellar career. Any song she touches, she owns.

Although Diana Krall built her name, and her jazz-purist fanbase, by covering standards, she showcased an incredible batch of original material on her 2004 album, The Girl in the Other Room, composed in partnership with Elvis Costello (who's also her husband). Tracks like "Narrow Daylight" are bittersweet killers, lyrically and emotionally.

A talent like Diana Krall's is too attractive to remain in splendid isolation, which is why we've pooled some of her collaborations here. She accompanies harmonica legend Toots Thielemans on "La vie en Rose," shakes it up with Tony Bennett on "Alright, Okay, You Win," and does Cat Stevens with Art Garfunkel on "Morning Has Broken."

As a measure of how successfully Diana Krall coaxed jazz into the mainstream, it's worth mentioning that her breakthrough, the GRAMMY®-winning When I Look in Your Eyes, was the first jazz collection to receive an Album of the Year nomination in a quarter-century. The woman's voice is mesmerizing, especially when backed by her repertoire piano skills — a potent combination, whether she's paying tribute to Nat King Cole or treading the crossover path with some seriously affecting original compositions. Stunning.