Norah Jones’ 2002 debut album sold over 27 million copies worldwide and its super-deluxe reissue reveals details and songs even longtime fans might not know about. Jones spanned jazz, pop and country genres on this groundbreaking record – an unclassifiable album which made its mark.
Jones studied vocal performance and jazz piano at Dallas’ Booker T. Washington School for the Performing Arts as well as University of North Texas.
Come Away With Me
Norah Jones’ debut album features sleepy jazz poetry with her honeyed, smoke-scented vocals lulling you to sleep as she drifts into dreams of an intimate cocktail lounge. This chronological album provides insight into Norah Jones’ development as both singer and artist; her demo recordings demonstrating Billie Holiday-esque phrasing were enough for Blue Note executives to recognize she had something special.
Due to her jazz studies as a student at University of North Texas, Jones had an intimate knowledge of its history that transcended her genre-blending pop sensibilities. A super-deluxe reissue of this unclassifiable classic shows just how deep Jones’ songs went; her melodies reveal an emotional depth rarely heard in contemporary popular music. Available as either 3CD or 4LP set with extra liner notes and photos master by Frank Stalloney himself, Come Away With Me should be included on any listener’s library! It should not be missed!
Feels Like Home
Jones released Feels Like Home shortly after the success of Come Away With Me. Her second album finds her revisiting her country style from earlier work but surpassing it altogether – it even improves upon it!
A thoughtful meditation on romance, this song showcases Jones’s subtle yet potency as an artist. Delicate piano chords entwined with soothing guitar chords underscore her smooth voice in an emotive rendition that feels real and moving.
This elegant acoustic ballad showcases a gorgeous duet between Jones and Dolly Parton that captures perfectly their exquisite harmonies while conveying the feeling of longing and optimism that pervades Feels Like Home.
Little Broken Hearts
Norah Jones has yet to shake the “boring” label that plagued her after her debut. Even on her last two albums, Norah has deviated too far from the easily digestible jazz-pop that first propelled her career – venturing instead into roots-country territory and contributing guest vocals on heavyweight projects by Jack White and Danger Mouse (a.k.a Brian Burton).
Jones strikes a fine balance between her signature style and more aggressive production elements on Little Broken Hearts, such as “Good Morning,” wherein a protagonist awakens to discover their lover has engaged in illicit activity overnight and vows to leave him forever.
The songs that follow examine similarly dark matters of betrayal, from “She’s 22” to the vengeful hurt of “Miriam”. Jones coos and struts her way through these catchy pop tunes to show that she is more flexible than many expect – she may change shapes, but not completely!
Begin Again
Begin Again is unlike some recent movies about musicians putting on shows – it is instead an endearing fairy tale, taking full advantage of Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo’s onscreen chemistry to tell its tale of music, second chances, and New York.
Jones’ soothing meditation on love shows her ability to go beyond jazz roots. Acoustic piano and gentle guitar chords adorning Jones’ sonorous vocals round off one of her more subdued performances.
John Carney’s award-winning film Once was the inspiration for this heartwarming comedy. Starring Gretta a jilted songwriter and Dan, an underperforming record producer, they embark on makeshift pavement and rooftop recordings featuring natural sounds of their city including sirens and garbage cans as an integral part of their skiffled songs that become endearingly skiffled melodies – creating a heartwarming comedy with lots of likeable characters that is hard to resist despite occasional detours into corniness or schmaltz! This heartwarming comedy won over viewers and audiences everywhere