https://www.
~~ recommended by emil karpo ~~
March 30, 1979 • New York, New York
Singer, songwriter
In 2002 Norah Jones, age twenty-two, released her debut full-length album, Come Away with Me. A low-key, acoustic work that defies categorization but includes hints of jazz, traditional pop, country, and folk; the CD is the kind of recording that would ordinarily have sold several thousand copies, earned admiring reviews in the music press, and then faded from view. In the beginning, that is exactly the path the recording seemed to take. But to the surprise of many, including Jones herself, Come Away with Me continued to sell steadily month after month, thanks to outstanding reviews, positive word-of-mouth, and unexpected radio play. It took nearly a year, but eventually the album reached the number-one position on Billboard 's album chart, selling some three million copies over twelve months. By 2004 it had sold eight million copies in the United States and an additional ten million worldwide. Far less well known than her fellow nominees, Jones earned five nominations for Grammy Awards. On February 23, 2003, the night of the 45th Annual Grammy Awards, she went home with an armload of trophies, winning for every category in which she was nominated. Her follow-up album, Feels Like Home, followed a different, steeper path when released in 2004: Jones's second effort shot straight to number one, selling one million copies in its first week alone.
"I'm not soft-spoken and romantic, at all. I must be, somewhere deep down, otherwise I wouldn't like that kind of music. But I'm only like that when I'm on stage. I'm pretty much just loudmouthed, obnoxious, and silly."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
From NYC to Grapevine and back to NYC
Jones was born in New York City in 1979. Her mother, Sue Jones, is a nurse and music promoter. Her father, Ravi Shankar, is a world-famous musician hailing from India. Shankar became widely known for his association with the Beatles and other Western musicians; he taught Beatles' guitarist George Harrison how to play the sitar, a long-necked Indian stringed instrument, of which Shankar is considered a master. As early as age three, Jones began showing a keen interest in music, closely watching her father when he played his sitar. At age five she began singing in her church choir. She learned to play several instruments in her youth, primarily studying piano. Shankar and Sue Jones, unmarried when Norah was born, separated when she was still a young child. Sue took her daughter to live in Texas in a suburb of Dallas called Grapevine. Jones lived there for much of her childhood, having no contact with her famous father for ten years. Her musical influences during that time came from her mother's record collection. She felt especially affected by the works of great jazz, soul, and blues singers, including Etta James, Aretha Franklin, and Billie Holiday. Jones also spent countless hours listening to recordings of musicals such as Cats and West Side Story.
During her high school years at Dallas's Booker T. Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Jones explored her developing passion for jazz. On her sixteenth birthday she gave her first solo performance, singing and playing piano at a coffeehouse on open-mic night, when anyone brave enough can try his or her hand at performing for the public. During that period Jones also played in a band called Laszlo and tried her hand at composing jazz tunes. She earned recognition from the highly respected jazz magazine Down Beat, winning their Student Music Award (SMA) for Best Jazz Vocalist two years running and also winning an SMA for Best Original Composition. After graduating from high school Jones enrolled at the University of North Texas. She spent two years there, studying jazz piano and giving solo performances at a local restaurant on weekends. She also became reacquainted with her father, and the two developed a close relationship. The summer after her sophomore year Jones decided to head to New York City and try her luck making it as a musician there.
Pounding the pavement
Working in a restaurant during the day and performing in downtown clubs by night, Jones felt excited to be part of the city's jazz scene, rather than just studying music in a classroom. She decided to stay in New York, forming a jazz trio, and also performing with other jazz groups, including the Peter Malick Group. While her professional life revolved mainly around jazz, she began listening often to country music. She told Texas Monthly, "It's funny, but I got into country music when I moved to New York. I was homesick, so I listened to [renowned country singer-songwriter] Townes Van Zandt." She created a demo recording of her solo work to send to record labels in the hope of getting a deal, but after a year of passing her demo around with no success, she began to feel discouraged.
On the evening of her twenty-first birthday, Jones gave a performance that connected deeply with a notable member of her audience. Shell White, an employee in the accounting department of the revered jazz label Blue Note, was so struck by Jones's talents that she arranged for a meeting between the young singer and the label's chief executive officer (CEO), Bruce Lundvall. After meeting Jones and hearing her sing, Lundvall signed her to a record deal on the spot. Lundvall explained to Time magazine's Josh Tyrangiel that such impulsive decisions had been made only twice in his career at Blue Note (the other artist was jazz vocalist Rachelle Ferrell). Lundvall described the essence of Jones's appeal: "Norah doesn't have one of those over-the-top instruments. It's just a signature voice, right from the heart to you. When you're lucky enough to hear that, you don't hesitate. You sign it."
"Snorah" Jones makes good
Jones began her relationship with Blue Note by releasing a six-song EP, a less-than-full-length recording, called First Sessions. This CD includes several songs that later showed up on Come Away with Me. For her debut full-length recording, Blue Note paired Jones with veteran producer Arif Mardin, who had worked with such legendary performers as Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield. When she and Mardin began recording Come Away with Me in May of 2001, Jones showed a preference for a spontaneous style in the studio, aiming to capture the intimate and natural qualities of live performance. She recorded fourteen songs for her debut; Jones wrote a few of the tracks but left most of the composing duties to others, including her boyfriend, bassist Lee Alexander, and New York–based songwriter-guitarist Jesse Harris. She also recorded two songs made famous by musicians legendary in their respective fields: country king Hank Williams ("Cold, Cold Heart") and revered jazz-pop composer Hoagy Carmichael ("The Nearness of You").
Released in early 2002, Come Away with Me earned positive reviews. Music critics expressed appreciation for her distinctive voice and authentic, understated style. Many critics wrote of Jones as a promising new artist, a refreshing change of pace from the slick packaging of pop stars like Britney Spears. Even the most admiring reviewers, however, did not predict that the album would gradually become a smash hit and that Jones would become Blue Note's best-selling artist ever. Come Away with Me became so successful that it seemed to be everywhere: on the radio, on television, playing over the public address system in shopping malls. Jones recalled to Tyrangiel that she heard one of the album's tracks in an unexpected place: "Once on a plane—you know how they play elevator music before you take off?—they played one of the songs." The album's exposure became so great that a small backlash arose, with some music journalists declaring that the attention was nothing but hype, and criticizing Jones's music as bland and boring. Some even started calling her "Snorah Jones," a nickname Jones found amusing rather than hurtful. She confided to Tyrangiel, "My mom calls me Snorah all the time now."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
The "insanity," as Jones frequently characterized the buzz surrounding her debut, seemed to reach a peak when the album was nominated for eight Grammy Awards. Competing against such high-profile artists as Bruce Springsteen and Eminem, Jones swept the awards ceremony
A homey follow-up
When work began on a follow-up album, Feels Like Home, many music-industry insiders speculated that it would take a miracle for the second album to sell as well as the first. Such predictions did not faze Jones. Her primary focus was the music; she was eager to branch out on her second album and explore different styles, having shifted away from jazz and toward country in her listening habits and writing. For Feels Like Home, Jones took a greater role in the songs' composition, writing or cowriting six of the album's thirteen tracks. The album was recorded after a series of collaborative sessions with bandmates, with each member contributing to various aspects of the project. Guest artists included country-music mainstay Dolly Parton and, from the influential rock group the Band, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson.
After the phenomenal success of her debut, people throughout the industry—record label executives, music retailers, and journalists—as well as millions of fans eagerly anticipated Jones's follow-up. Released in early 2004, Feels Like Home was snapped up by one million buyers in its first week, resulting in an instant rise to the number one position on Billboard 's album chart. Determined to let her second album's reception happen somewhat naturally, Jones pressured Blue Note to devise an understated publicity campaign that wouldn't blanket the television and radio airwaves with commercials for Feels Like Home. Blue Note CEO Lundvall told Billboard 's Newman, "We're not hyping the record. We're not going out there and advertising all over the world." For her part, Jones remained calm under the intense pressure of following up a debut album that had sold more than eighteen million copies worldwide. She related in Texas Monthly: "It's funny, but I don't want to know about sales. I don't want to read any of the reviews; I don't want to see any of the articles. I just want to do what I do and have it be as unfussed-with as possible."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
American singer and songwriter Norah Jones has released seven albums. The albums are Come Away with Me (2002), Feels like Home (2004), Not Too Late (2007), The Fall (2009), Little Broken Hearts (2012), Day Breaks (2016), and Pick Me Up Off the Floor (2020).
Do you have a favorite Norah Jones tune? Post it here for the rest of us to enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment