DIANA KRALL LEAVES THEM BREATHLESS.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

Diana Krall probably rolls out of bed looking cool, but the jazz diva sizzled before an enthusiastic crowd at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday night.

Though she was wearing an elegant long black dress with a slit up the center of the skirt that would have heads turning at any ball, Krall and her three-piece band quickly dispelled any notion that it was to be a formal evening as they tore into a lively version of ``I Love Being Here With You,'' complete with racy solos.

She was then joined by the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and a string section from the Henry Mancini Institute for ``Do It Again.'' As she seductively exhaled the line ``naughty but nice,'' it sort of summed up Krall's appeal. Her vocals don't soar or overpower. ``Love'' may become a two-syllable word, while a two-syllable word becomes one in a barely audible sigh. Krall's dynamic is in her phrasing, the breathiness that a horn player may use, and she knows that sometimes what you don't hear makes a song all the better.

She also finds ways to make the familiar seem fresh. You would think that the late Dusty Springfield's exquisite version of ``The Look of Love'' would preclude any other versions, but Krall gives the tune, the title track of her upcoming album, a tasty hint of bluesiness right down to her piano solo. On ``Cry Me a River,'' Julie London's understatedness is replaced with a growl. And her version of Joni Mitchell's ``A Case of You'' is simply soulful.

The Canadian native is also growing as a performer. She joked at one point how The New York Times said she didn't talk enough, so she was going to talk all night. And she certainly seems to have a rapport with her audience, turning more to face them as she sings. But the real growth is how she continues to push her music - as any good jazz artist would - with grittier piano solos and edgier versions of songs she has already made her own.

Even though she's the current darling of the jazz world, Krall is aware of the debt she owes to others. Throughout the evening, she paid tribute to a number of those who helped or inspired her throughout her career, including arranger-songwriter Johnny Mandel, who was in the audience, Jeff Hamilton and John Clayton, whom she came to L.A to study with as a 19-year-old (so the Bowl is a sort of homecoming), Nat King Cole (she's recorded a whole album dedicated to his music) and Rosemary Clooney (Krall did a big-band version of her hit ``Come On a My House'').

And though she's an interpreter of songs, Krall did one she wrote called ``Charmed Life'' with the line ``my fantasy's turned into reality.'' Maybe so, but watching her on Wednesday night, it's clear it's because of hard work.

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Jazz singer Diana Krall performed Wednesday at the Hollywood Bowl, where she wowed the sold-out crowd and paid tribute to her Los Angeles influences.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer