[Dixielandjazz] Re:NORAH JONES

[Stephen Barbone]

List Mates:

I originally sent this to Rebecca Thompson off list but decided to post
it after returning from my local record store and buying her CDs. After
a listen, I am enthusiastic about her musical vocals and the back up
musicians. Jazz or not, who cares, this girl can indeed sing as well as
play the piano. Not only that, but she is young and good looking and so
far hasn't bared her breasts. (to my knowledge)

And as Kimberley Shaffer said, her teenagers sing along with Norah's
tunes which are quite easy to follow. Hey, is this deja vu all over
again? Tunes you can hum and/or sing along with? What will the
songwriters think of next? ;-) VBG. Do other band leaders think this
might be a key to attracting younger audiences, or is it just me?

Go ahead Norah, do your thing. It's your money, your music and your
life, Live it. Those of us who enjoy your voice and tunes we can hum
along with, love you. Critics? Ignore them. They are a dime a dozen.

Message to Rebecca follows:

Hi Rebecca:

Here is what I have on her so far, from
http://www.bluenote.ca/norah_jones/artist.asp#bio

Cheers,
Steve

There are certain singers whom we feel that we know, from the very first time
we hear them. As the intimacy of their delivery and the subtle shading of
their interpretation draw us in, a whole personality seems to take shape in
our imagination.

Norah Jones is that kind of singer. Her Blue Note debut album, Come Away With
Me, offers a musicalityand depth of feeling that would be uncommon in
any era.
In the present day, in a performer just 22 years of age, these qualities are
truly remarkable.

The Brooklyn-based artist has sung and played piano professionally since her
teens; Come Away With Me reveals her estimable skills as a songwriter and
arranger. Norah composed the unforgettable title song Come Away With Me,
Nightingale, and she co-wrote The Long Day Is Over. She puts a sophisticated
Western-swing spin on Hank Williams' Cold, Cold Heart and utterly transforms
the John D. Loudermilk blues ballad Turn Me On (with thanks to Nina Simone,
from whose recording Norah learned the song). Come Away With Me blends
elements of jazz, soul, country, and folk-pop in a warm, unselfconscious
amalgam and erases musical boundaries in the process. One could imagine fans
of Sade, Charlie Rich, and Nick Drake all deriving equal enjoyment from this
record.

Norah, on vocals, piano and Wurlitzer electric piano, is backed
seamlessly by
a skilled supporting cast. Bassist Lee Alexander, drummer Dan Rieser, and
guitarists Jesse Harris and Adam Levy are among the New York musicians with
whom Norah has been playing live since the autumn of 2000. Her special guests
on Come Away With Me include Bill Frisell (guitar), Kevin Breit (guitar),
Brian Blade (drums), Jenny Scheinman (violin), Rob Burger (accordion), Sam
Yahel (Hammond B-3 organ) and Kenny Wollesen (drums).

The adroit and understated production is by Arif Mardin the veteran
producer/arranger of landmark recordings by Aretha Franklin, Dusty
Springfield, Laura Nyro, Roberta Flack, and Willie Nelson, to name a few.
Norah and album engineer Jay Newland produced Don't Know Why and Turn Me On,
with additional production by Arif. Craig Street is credited with original
production of three tracks (Seven Years, Feelin' The Same Way, and The Long
Day Is Over), with additional production by Jay and Norah.

The Story So Far... Norah Jones was born March 30, 1979 in New York
City. When
she was four years old, Norah and her mother Sue moved to the Dallas
suburb of
Grapevine, Texas. Norah's earliest musical influences came from her mother's
extensive LP collection and from 'oldies' radio. She began singing in church
choirs at age five, commenced piano lessons two years later, and briefly
played alto saxophone in junior high.

"My mom had this eight-album Billie Holiday set. I picked out one disc
that I
liked and played that over and over again. You Go To My Head, that was my
favorite."

When Jones was 15, she and her mother moved from Grapevine to Dallas' central
city, where Norah enrolled in Booker T. Washington High School for the
Performing and Visual Arts. (Soul singer Erykah Badu and trumpeter Roy
Hargrove are also Washington alumni.)

Norah played her first gig on her 16th birthday, an open-mic night at a local
coffeehouse, where she performed a version of I'll Be Seeing You that she'd
learned from Etta James' treatment of this Billie Holiday favorite. While
still in high school, Norah won the Down Beat Student Music Awards for Best
Jazz Vocalist and Best Original Composition in 1996, and earned a second SMA
for Best Jazz Vocalist in 1997. After graduation, Jones entered the University
of North Texas, nationally renowned for its music programs, where she majored
in jazz piano. She also sang with a band called Laszlo, playing what she
describes as "dark, jazzy rock."

In the summer of 1999, Norah accepted a friend's offer of a summer
sublet in
Greenwich Village. She came to Manhattan and never returned to North Texas
State.  "The music kept me here. The music scene is so huge, I found it very
exciting. I especially enjoyed hearing amazing songwriters at little places
like The Living Room. Everything opened up for me."

For about a year beginning in December 1999, Norah appeared regularly
with the
funk-fusion band Wax Poetic (now signed to Atlantic). But she soon assembled
her own group with Jesse Harris, Lee Alexander, and Dan Rieser. In October
2000, this lineup recorded a selection of demos for Blue Note Records.
On the
strength of these recordings and a live showcase, Jones was signed to Blue
Note in January 2001. Norah sang two songs (Roxy  Music's More Than This and
Day Is Done by Nick Drake) on guitarist Charlie Hunter's Blue Note album Songs
from the Analog Playground, and has frequently performed live with Hunter's
group.

Norah began recording the songs of Come Away With Me in May 2001, doing
preliminary work with producer Craig Street at Bearsville Studio in Woodstock,
New York. In August 2001, the singer and her musicians went back to
work, this
time with Arif Mardin at Sorcerer Sound in Manhattan.

"I was nervous at first. I didn't want some amazing producer who'd done all
these famous records to come in and have me be
 scared to tell him what I thought. But Arif is the nicest guy in the world,
very easygoing. He was there to keep my act together and make sure I got a
good record. Arif had great ideas." "I never thought I'd have a record like
this. I thought it would be
 at least five years before I'd reach that point. This is really the
record I
wanted to make."

Thompson wrote:

> I thought I heard somewhere that she is from the Dallas area.  Also, didn't
> she win a Grammy last year for best newcomer?
>
> Rebecca