Listening to Visions’ songs makes it clear that Jones has overcome her challenges and emerged with an expanded perspective. Her lyrics speak about waking up, dancing and finally feeling free; her intention being to provide guidance, comfort and joy along her path of transformation.
Singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse revisits some of her classics during a 2003 session backed by Jesse Harris, bassist Lee Alexander and drummer Dan Rieser.
She is a singer-songwriter
Norah Jones first came into international prominence with her 2002 album Come Away With Me, which became an instantaneous global phenomenon. Since then she has sold over 53 million albums and been honored with nine GRAMMY Awards.
Jones’s musical style owes much of its distinctive sound to her varied upbringing, which included both Indian-born father Ravi Shankar (sitar virtuoso) and American mother Helen Walker, living most of her childhood years in Dallas, Texas and listening to Etta James and Billie Holiday as part of her repertoire.
As she pursued both high school and college studies, Norah Jones would often play in local folk coffeehouses and jazz clubs with guitarist Charlie Hunter – often winning her two consecutive Down Beat Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist in 1996 and 1997. After moving to New York City she formed her band consisting of bassist Lee Alexander, drummer Dan Rieser, and guitarist Jesse Harris which would go on tour until 2007. Since 2007 Norah Jones has performed with Puss n Boots band.
She is a pianist
Norah Jones has brought her music to such iconic venues as New York’s Apollo Theater and Morrison, Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater. A 9-time Grammy award recipient with songs heard by millions, Jones’s powerful talent and emotive vocals have cemented her place among today’s most revered artists.
Norah Jones remains grounded in jazz despite her exploration into pop and folk genres. She studied jazz piano at the University of North Texas Denton before making the move to New York City for a professional career, where she met Jesse Harris who would become her bandmate and co-writer.
On this episode of Norah is joined by Laufey, an Icelandic singer-songwriter acclaimed for their honeyed vocals who has earned them both GRAMMY nominations and millions of followers on TikTok. They perform beautiful originals as well as fan favorites from their respective catalogues while paying homage to their shared jazz heritage – recorded on April 21.
She is a guitarist
Norah Jones has contributed her vocals and guitar work to a range of releases outside her own albums, such as Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane’s Music Is Better Than Words album (released by Sony Music in 2002) as well as featuring on Robert Glasper’s 2013 release Black Radio 2. She made an appearance in Ted film as well.
Norah Shankar was raised by Ravi Shankar, an accomplished sitar player, and Sue Jones, an esteemed concert producer. Her parents divorced when she was very young; most of Norah’s childhood years were spent in Grapevine, Texas where she enjoyed listening to jazz and soul legends like Billie Holiday and Etta James as part of her musical education.
Come Away With Me was an instantaneous success and marked the beginning of her career. Since then, she has won multiple Grammy awards, selling millions of copies globally with albums that feature her signature blend of different musical genres.
She is a producer
Norah Jones is an acclaimed producer who has produced albums by Foo Fighters, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals and others. Her warm voice and intimate songs reflect influences such as pop and jazz music.
Come Away With Me was released in 2002 and earned her much praise, launching her onto the scene. Produced by Craig Street and Arif Mardin (known for working with Cassandra Wilson, Manhattan Transfer and K.D. Lang among others) this debut also received critical acclaim.
Jones released her next album, The Fall (2009), about a relationship in distress, featuring moody electric instrumentation that hinted at rock. However, with 2016’s Day Breaks she returned to jazz-influenced sounds of her debut record. Danger Mouse produced Little Broken Hearts album while they also collaborated together on Foreverly collaboration song which released simultaneously in 2012.