I’m always impressed and approve of the courage it takes when someone admits that they were wrong, so I thought I’d extend the same courtesy to you all by taking this opportunity to tell you about today’s discovery of my own error in judgement.

It’s about Diana Krall.

I’m a jazz fan, particularly of big band and swing, Porter and Gershwin; I especially enjoy vocalists like Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald. I heard a clip from a very early Diana Krall album a few years ago and hated it. The steadily increasing Krall-appreciation in Canada left a bad taste in my mouth.

Enter Chrysler. Yes, the car company.

Classy car commercials impress me as much as beer ads do not. The use of black and white film and jazz in the soundtrack grab me every time. I got sick of “The Look of Love” when these commercials first debuted on TV, but for the past month I’ve been clicking the mute function off when the new Pacifica ad runs, because I love the clip they use of “Charmed Life”. (“Does she come with the car?” my father wanted to know when the first Krall Chrysler ads came out. Be glad you live in Canada, Dad; south of the border they use Celine Dion for a soundtrack.)

If I’m turning up the volume to listen to thirty seconds of car commercial soundtrack, I might as well admit to myself that I want to hear the whole song.

I turned to the Wide World of Web to find out which album contained “Charmed Life”, and discovered that to my dismay it exists solely as a Canadian bonus track on the live album or Look of Love, which means that both are collectibles and priced accordingly, between forty and fifty dollars, even on Canadian sites.

I stopped by Future Shop to buy a non-moving part today, and on a whim I checked the CD section.

Look at that. Diana Krall, Live in Paris. With the Canadian bonus track “Charmed Life”. And a pleasant price sticker that tells me it’s priced at fifteen ninety-nine.

Score one for Autumn and Diana Krall.

I love this album. “Charmed Life” is even more fabulous in its full 2:48 minutes of glory. And she does a terrific cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Case of You”.

So, I freely admit that I was wrong. Diana Krall’s great. I love her voice. I love her style. (Well, her current style; I might not be as enamoured of her earlier albums.) She’s not Ella Fitzgerald, but she isn’t trying to be. Plus, she’s Canadian. Yay her.

I may not have bought a car as a result of those Chrysler ads, but I’ve discovered a new jazz pianist and vocalist. If anyone wants to surprise me with a PT Cruiser, however, I still won’t say no. It has to have a DVD player in it, though, so I can play my new Diana Krall CD and pretend I’m in my own commercial.