Good pipes, and good luck

Too rarely in an artist's career, everything falls into line: Luck, hard work, confidence, critical and commercial acclaim and, last but not least, personal satisfaction. So it is with Dianne Reeves at age 51.

Reeves sports an august résumé, deep respect among her peers, and sufficient fame to feed her ego and bank account without turning her person into a persona. She is the only vocalist to win Grammys for three consecutive recordings: the 2001-03 discs "In the Moment," "The Calling" and "A Little Moonlight." Yet, as her Wikipedia bio notes, she is known more for her live performances than her albums.

All that was before George Clooney called and asked her to appear in his film about journalist Edward Murrow and McCarthyism, "Good Night, and Good Luck." Clooney used frequent scenes of Reeves performing onscreen to evoke the smoky jazz ambience of the film's mid-1950s setting. The movie's soundtrack corralled Reeves her fourth Grammy.

"George called us directly, told me that his aunt [singer Rosemary Clooney] was a big fan, and that he thought I would be perfect for this," says Reeves, who will perform at Orchestra Hall on Friday. "Suddenly this whole new audience was coming to my performances."

She spoke Wednesday from a hotel in Belgium. Although she was born in Colorado and makes her home there after a stint in Los Angeles, Reeves is a frequent visitor to the continent, embarking on a 25-date European tour after the success of "Good Night, and Good Luck," accompanied by just two guitarists.

It was at the Belvedere palace in Vienna that she saw a Gustav Klimt painting that inspired her just-released CD, "When You Know." It depicts various stages of a woman's life, from innocence to maturity. Back home in Denver, Reeves decided to evoke a similar journey using love songs.

Ironically, she views "When You Know" as a continuation of "Bridges," the 1999 record derided by some critics as too pop-oriented, and the last Reeves record (not counting Christmas discs) that didn't capture a Grammy.

Innocence and experience

For the "innocent" love songs at the beginning of the journey, Reeves opts for the starry-eyed naivete of pop-soul confections such as the Temptations' "Just My Imagination" and Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You," caressing the feathery arrangements with even greater delicacy than the originals. Between them is a powerhouse rendition of "Over the Weekend" (previously recorded by Mabel Mercer and Nancy Wilson), replete with gusty crescendos and strings.

Reeves manages to make even the hackneyed "Windmills of Your Mind" tolerable by dialing down the melodrama and tinkering with tempo and harmony. But the "mature" love songs are where she finds her groove, from the sassy sophistication of Jon Hendricks' "Social Call" to the elegant prancing of the title track (done by Shawn Colvin for the movie "Serendipity") to the finale, and lone Reeves original, "Today Will Be a Good Day." A Bonnie Raitt-like Delta blues rocker, "Good Day," is a tribute to Reeves' mother.

"I keep a diary and I came across some of her sayings," Reeves says. "I have to laugh: She'll call in the morning and say to me, 'I know you're resting, so what can I do for you today?' She'll be 84 this year and I love that she is still that way."

Which brings us back to the notion of everything falling into place. Reeves wanted to revisit and extend the intent of "Bridges" in part because of everything that has come her way since then -- not only the Grammys and "Good Night," but the challenge of singing with two guitarists and the inevitable insights that accrue with nine years on the planet.

One of those guitarists, Romero Lubambo, is featured on the new record, and has joined her trio of more than five years -- pianist Peter Martin, drummer Greg Hutchinson and bassist Reuben Rogers. Even as Reeves acknowledges that her touring ensemble is "in transition," she can't keep the excitement out of her voice about this knowing.