Singer and pianist Diana Krall was a few months short of her 5th birthday when, on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon. Forty years later, a number of events are planned to commemorate that auspicious day, among them Krall’s performance at Celebrate Apollo on July 20th at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. With members of Congress on hand along with almost every living NASA astronaut, Krall will serenade Armstrong and Aldrin with a doubtlessly out-of-this-world rendition of “Fly Me To the Moon.”

            In other Krall news, the singer can be seen performing “Bye Bye Blackbird” in the new Michael Mann film Public Enemies. Of course she’s on the film’s soundtrack as well. She’s also on Willie Nelson’s forthcoming CD American Classic, singing duet with the Texas master on a version of the romantic jazz standard “If I Had You” (which Krall covered previously on her 1996 CD, All For You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio).

            In other Apollo 11-anniversary news, a 55-pound chocolate-and-marshmallow MoonPie will be unveiled for public consumption on July 20th at the Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, Florida. That’s just one of many anniversary observations and celebrations set to take place later this month at various locales throughout the universe. For more details, check your local Internet.