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I can't help but
think of Janis Joplin while listening to Norah Jones. Like Joplin
she has a piercing yet subtle quality to her voice, it's a quality
that stops you in your tracks and changes your idea on what really
is good in your CD collection. On first listen I found myself rethinking
what that special ingredient really was that makes tremendous singer.
Whatever it is you will find it on Come Away With Me. This
is the album to give to anyone lamenting the stagnant state of the
record biz, consider this one your rescue disc. Norah Jones sings
these songs with the ease, focus, depth, and perspective of someone
who should be a thousand years old. If there's one performer who's
comfortable in her skin its Norah Jones. Her delectably lazy delivery
is well served on the albums opening track 'Don't Know Why' penned
by her guitarist Jesse Harris who wrotefive songs on the album.
On first listen I was hard pressed to tag it to a specific genre,
is it Jazz, Smooth jazz, Folk, Blues or Pop? Maybe none of the above
but rather an amalgamation of so many different styles. Norah Jones
could carve a respectable place in music history with just the strength
of 'Don't know Why' but there is much more to this album. 'Seven
Years' touches an early Buckingham/Nicks/folk feel with bassist
Lee Alexander's quiet tale of a singing free spirit with no one
by her side. Jones salutes Hank Williams with a stripped down bluesy
Jazz cover of 'Cold Cold Heart' and when she gets behind the Wurlitzer
piano on 'Feeling the Same Way' you may be asking yourself how could
this album get any better? It does. The title track stands out as
a hypnotic lover's serenade that's peaceful, honest and sung with
Norah Jones wonderful haunting vulnerability. Jones has been compared
to Diana Krall which is understandable in tempo considering the
quiet introspective feel of this album but their voices sound nothing
alike. Krall's orchestration is noticeably absent here replaced
by Jones' more pronounced almost Floyd Crammer Americana Piano chops.
The guitar playing from Jesse Harris and Adam Levy is also worth
mentioning, expect styles that range from acoustic straight folk
and breezy Jazz kind of like a Pat Metheny/Bill Frisell/Will Ackerman
love-in. Jazz and Smooth Jazz radio is playing Norah Jones but there's
also airplay on Country radio so maybe the mainstream boys will
take the hint. I could write ten pages on this album. It's easily
the best album released so far this year.  Norah Jones Live in New Orleans DVD EMI With the eight time Grammy winning album 'Come Away with Me' (she individually won 5) everyone is hungry for anything Norah. I wouldn't be surprised if the handle topped the baby naming list next year. All the hoopla aside Norah Jones is one of the most talented, unique singers to emerge in this crazy existence of Diva's in the last 25 years. Interestingly she became fodder for water cooler gab long before the trophies came. Everyone seems to say the same thing about Norah Jones - that she sounds like she's been around a thousand years - there is a wisdom behind that voice that I doubt she's even aware of. Last week while on the phone with Gerry Beckley of the band America he switched the interview over to Jones and how on first listen he was stopped in his tracks in awe. The same happened with Marc Jordan and Faith Hill recently said that Jones was "just an amazing talent" and that her debut is played constantly in home and car. They're preaching to the choir! Even though Jones sounded a little nervous performing at the Grammy expect an artist in her element on the DVD 'Live in New Orleans.' Jones proves that we may have tired of the Whitney/Mariah/Celine crescendos and that the magic here lies in her brilliant subtlety. At times the concert seems like a rehearsal not in the quality of the playing but in the laid back understated delivery. When she's playing Jones is truly hypnotic but in between the tunes she seems a little shy almost girlish. So her intro chatter is kept to a minimum something that's bound to change as she becomes more comfortable with the intimacy of an audience. Most of the songs from the first album are on this DVD plus a few extra gems previously available on Japanese pressings or her first EP. Highlights include the haunting, tranquil 'Nightingale' and of course the hits 'Come Away With Me' and 'Don't Know Why.' Not many artist can cross-pollenize the genre's like Norah Jones. Is she a little Country, Rock'n' Roll, Jazz or Blues? And does it even matter in her case. This DVD fortifies what the album did last year It's another stripped down, honest recording from a young lady who could very well change radios musical recipe. - by John Beaudin  |
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