Ahead of her new album release this coming Friday, 7th October, Marc Zisman of Qobuz had the opportunity to sit with the world renowned jazz artist to chat about life, music, and more... Norah Jones
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An artist like no other, the whimsical melodies and jazz infused albums of Norah Jones blur the lines between pop, soul, and country, and have enchanted listeners ever since her big break in 2002, with the release of Come Away With Me. A smash hit, the album sold over 26 million copies and earned the singer 5 Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year (“Don’t Know Why”), not bad for a debut!
Daughter to the sitar maestro Ravi Shankar and concert producer Sue Jones, Norah Jones is the product of a rich cultural heritage. After the separation of her parents, the young Norah (née Geetali Norah Jones Shankar) relocated to her mother’s home in Texas and changed her name. It was there, at the Brooker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas, that she began to nurture her interest in music, listening to records, singing in the school choir and at church, and playing the alto saxophone. A few years later, she would pursue music at the University of North Texas, where she majored in jazz piano and sang with the university Jazz singers, meeting her future collaborator Jesse Harris along the way.
Like so many aspiring young artists, Jones sought inspiration on a well-trod path, and headed to the bohemian musical mecca that is Greenwich Village in the Big Apple, to begin performing as a lounge singer in jazz clubs and writing her own material. It was then that she signed with Blue Note Records, her long time label, and got to work on her debut album, Come Away With Me. Following its resounding success, both with critics and the wider audience, she released Feels Like Home two years later in stunning fashion. Feels Like Home sold a million copies in the first week of its U.S release, becoming the first album to do so since Eminem’s The Eminem Show in 2002, and scooped up more grammys for the singer, including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. In 2007, she returned to the top of the charts with Not Too Late and, never one to be pigeon-holed, also tried her hand at acting, appearing in the film My Blueberry Nights with Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman.
After more releases in 2009 (The Fall) 2012 (Little Broken Hearts), and 2014 (No Fools, No Fun), as well as collaborations with fellow artists Dangermouse, Jack White and Daniele Luppi, Jones has continued to produce music with the same kind of intelligent and delicately crafted songwriting at its heart. So much more than a late-night crooner, for which she is most known, Norah Jones is arguably one of the greatest living artists of our time, combining mainstream appeal with critical success. Deservedly so.
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Vocale jazz - Verschenen op 1 januari 2013 | Blue Note
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What does a shrug sound like? On "Don't Know Why,” the opening track of her debut effort, Norah Jones suggests a few possibilities. The first time she sings the title phrase, she gives it a touch of indifference, the classic tossed-off movie-star shrug. Her tone shifts slightly when she hits the chorus, to convey twinges of sadness; here the casual phrasing could be an attempt to shake off a sharp memory. Later, she shrugs in a way that conveys resignation, possibly regret—she's replaying a scene, trying to understand what happened. Those shrugs and shadings, tools deployed by every jazz vocalist of the 1950s, are inescapable throughout Come Away With Me—in part because everything surrounding Jones' voice is so chill. There's room for her to emote, and room for gently cresting piano and organ chords. Unlike so many of her contemporaries, Jones knows instinctively how much (or how little!) singer the song needs. The secret of this record, which came out when Jones was 22, is its almost defiant approachability: It is calm, and open, and gentle, music for a lazy afternoon in a porch swing. As transfixing covers of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart” and Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You” make clear, Jones thinks about contours and shadows when she sings; her storytelling depends as much on the scene and the atmosphere as the narrative. And Jones applies the same understatement to the original songs here, which weave together elements of country, pop, jazz and torch balladry in inventive ways. It's one thing to render an old tune with modern cleverness, a skill Jones had honed as a solo pianist/singer before she was discovered. It's quite another to transform an original tune, like Jesse Harris' "Don't Know Why,” into something that sounds ageless and eternal, like a standard. Jones does that, over and over, using just shrugs and implications, rarely raising her voice much above a whisper. © Tom Moon/Qobuz
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Vocale jazz - Verschenen op 1 januari 2013 | Blue Note Records
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Pop - Verschenen op 1 januari 2009 | Blue Note Records
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Met The Fall voltooit Norah Jones de overgang van haar smooth cabaret beginperiode naar een meer kunstzinnige, moderne singer-songwriter. The Fall draagt nog wel een paar naweeën van Fiona Apple of Aimee Mann in ballad modus in zich, maar de arrangementen eisen nooit de aandacht op. De focus ligt altijd op Jones' stem en nummers, allemaal eigen materiaal, soms samen geschreven met haar langdurige collega’s Jesse Harris, Ryan Adams, en Will Sheff van Okkervil River. Op dit album knoopt Jones de losse eindjes aan elkaar. Ze is niet bang om glad of zwoel te klinken, en laat net genoeg dissonantie en onenigheid toe, waarmee ze een subtiel en nogal buitengewoon ingetogen album heeft gecreëerd dat goed functioneert als achtergrondmuziek maar dankzij de fijn bewerkte nummers blijft hangen.
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Pop - Verschenen op 1 januari 2002 | Blue Note Records
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What does a shrug sound like? On "Don't Know Why,” the opening track of her debut effort, Norah Jones suggests a few possibilities. The first time she sings the title phrase, she gives it a touch of indifference, the classic tossed-off movie-star shrug. Her tone shifts slightly when she hits the chorus, to convey twinges of sadness; here the casual phrasing could be an attempt to shake off a sharp memory. Later, she shrugs in a way that conveys resignation, possibly regret—she's replaying a scene, trying to understand what happened. Those shrugs and shadings, tools deployed by every jazz vocalist of the 1950s, are inescapable throughout Come Away With Me—in part because everything surrounding Jones' voice is so chill. There's room for her to emote, and room for gently cresting piano and organ chords. Unlike so many of her contemporaries, Jones knows instinctively how much (or how little!) singer the song needs. The secret of this record, which came out when Jones was 22, is its almost defiant approachability: It is calm, and open, and gentle, music for a lazy afternoon in a porch swing. As transfixing covers of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart” and Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You” make clear, Jones thinks about contours and shadows when she sings; her storytelling depends as much on the scene and the atmosphere as the narrative. And Jones applies the same understatement to the original songs here, which weave together elements of country, pop, jazz and torch balladry in inventive ways. It's one thing to render an old tune with modern cleverness, a skill Jones had honed as a solo pianist/singer before she was discovered. It's quite another to transform an original tune, like Jesse Harris' "Don't Know Why,” into something that sounds ageless and eternal, like a standard. Jones does that, over and over, using just shrugs and implications, rarely raising her voice much above a whisper. © Tom Moon/Qobuz
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Little Broken Hearts, het vijfde studioalbum van Norah Jones. Het werd geproduceerd door Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) en telt 12 eigen nummers die door Burton en Jones samen werden geschreven. In 2009 lagen er al plannen na een serie van vijf vruchtbare sessies in Los Angeles, maar het duurde tot 2011 voordat Jones en Burton echt aan een nieuw album gingen werken. De aanleiding hiertoe was dat Jones gevraagd werd om te zingen in het spaghettiwesternproject Rome, van Burton en de Italiaanse componist Daniele Luppi.
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Pop - Verschenen op 12 juni 2020 | Blue Note Records
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A misconception has sometimes been associate with Norah Jones: that the Texan is little more than a pleasant light-jazz singer whose albums serve as harmless background music for high-brow and proper evening dinners. Though her writing, playing and eclectic collaborations, she has clearly proved that she is far more interesting than this cliché. And this 2020 offering is a new illustration of her complexity. As is often the case with Norah Jones, Pick Me Up Off the Floor is not quite jazz, not quite blues, not quite country, etc… Her genre-defying music works primarily to suit the song being played. Here we find what has been left behind after sessions with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Thomas Bartlett, Mavis Staples, Rodrigo Amarante and several others.But for all that the result is not simply a contrived mishmash of collaborations but a collection of songs that hold the same silky groove (present on six out of 11 tracks on the record in which Brian Blade’s drums work delicate miracles) and calm sound which increasingly suits the artist, somewhere between pure poetry and realism. “Every session I’ve done, there’ve been extra songs I didn’t release, and they’ve sort of been collecting for the last two years. I became really enamoured with them, having the rough mixes on my phone, listening while I walk the dog. The songs stayed stuck in my head and I realised that they had this surreal thread running through them. It feels like a fever dream taking place somewhere between God, the Devil, the heart, the Country, the planet, and me.” Rarely has Norah Jones sang with such strength, like on I’m Alive where she sings of women’s resilience, or on How I Weep in which she tackles love and exasperation with unequalled grace. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz
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Pop - Verschenen op 12 juni 2020 | Blue Note Records
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A misconception has sometimes been associate with Norah Jones: that the Texan is little more than a pleasant light-jazz singer whose albums serve as harmless background music for high-brow and proper evening dinners. Though her writing, playing and eclectic collaborations, she has clearly proved that she is far more interesting than this cliché. And this 2020 offering is a new illustration of her complexity. As is often the case with Norah Jones, Pick Me Up Off the Floor is not quite jazz, not quite blues, not quite country, etc… Her genre-defying music works primarily to suit the song being played. Here we find what has been left behind after sessions with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Thomas Bartlett, Mavis Staples, Rodrigo Amarante and several others.But for all that the result is not simply a contrived mishmash of collaborations but a collection of songs that hold the same silky groove (present on six out of 11 tracks on the record in which Brian Blade’s drums work delicate miracles) and calm sound which increasingly suits the artist, somewhere between pure poetry and realism. “Every session I’ve done, there’ve been extra songs I didn’t release, and they’ve sort of been collecting for the last two years. I became really enamoured with them, having the rough mixes on my phone, listening while I walk the dog. The songs stayed stuck in my head and I realised that they had this surreal thread running through them. It feels like a fever dream taking place somewhere between God, the Devil, the heart, the Country, the planet, and me.” Rarely has Norah Jones sang with such strength, like on I’m Alive where she sings of women’s resilience, or on How I Weep in which she tackles love and exasperation with unequalled grace. This Deluxe Edition contains two bonus tracks and a collection of 17 songs culled from Norah’s Live From Home weekly livestream series. Thie Live From Home selections include a mix of career-spanning originals and such covers as Guns N’Roses’ Patience, John Prine’s That’s The Way The World Goes Round and Ravi Shankar’s I Am Missing You. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz
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Pop/Rock - Verschenen op 12 april 2019 | Blue Note Records
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Labels have never been her thing… Jazz, pop, country, folk, world, Norah Jones has always played music that she has to blur boundaries. And that her collaborators include legends of jazz like Wayne Shorter, of soul like Ray Charles, of country like Willie Nelson, of rap like Q-Tip and of rock’n’roll like Keith Richards, this American has worked tirelessly to, above all, be herself. A serene and beautifully nonchalant voice capable of inhabiting her own themes as well as revisiting any song. Three years after the ambitious Day Breaks, this brief Begin Again (28 minutes, 7 tracks) is more than just a thrown-together collection of tracks. Instead, it’s a new self-portrait, alternating between assumed pop (My Heart is Full), expressive soul (It was You) and up-tempo jazz (Begin Again). To stay amongst people of taste, Jeff Tweedy from Wilco made appearances on the magnificent A Song with No Name and Wintertime. Surrounded as always by the finest musicians (Brian Blade's velvet drums are wonderful), Norah Jones masterfully guides us through this no-man’s land of a little bit of jazz, a bit pop, a bit soul. And it's as enjoyable as ever. © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz
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Vocale jazz - Verschenen op 7 augustus 2016 | Blue Note (BLU)
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It is important to realize that Norah Jones is not just a famous persona waving from the cover of a glossy magazine, or simply “a pretty face". The truth is far deeper... Day Breaks is further evidence of her undeniable talent, but also of a tangible artistic evolution. Mixing beautiful original compositions with a sprinkling of great classics (Horace Silver, Neil Young and Duke Ellington), the sixth album from the New Yorker who grew up in Texas brings her many and diverse passions together in one place. Always lying within the realms of jazz, soul, pop and folk, it is her sincere and visceral love for the former that inhabits this stylish album, which doesn't dwell in the past for a single second. Over the years, the piano (much like her vocals) have toggled between nonchalance and pugnacity. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade are among the accomplices invited to the party here, and the experience of those involved is truly telling. Somehow, Day Breaks manages to see eye to eye with Come Away With Me, her first disc released back in 2002, and one that propelled her to the top of the charts. This 2016 vintage is even more structured than previous efforts. Mastered to perfection, the latest effort serves to epitomize the grace and beauty of this timeless artist. © MZ / Qobuz
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Pop - Verschenen op 1 mei 2012 | Blue Note Records
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What does a shrug sound like? On "Don't Know Why,” the opening track of her debut effort, Norah Jones suggests a few possibilities. The first time she sings the title phrase, she gives it a touch of indifference, the classic tossed-off movie-star shrug. Her tone shifts slightly when she hits the chorus, to convey twinges of sadness; here the casual phrasing could be an attempt to shake off a sharp memory. Later, she shrugs in a way that conveys resignation, possibly regret—she's replaying a scene, trying to understand what happened. Those shrugs and shadings, tools deployed by every jazz vocalist of the 1950s, are inescapable throughout Come Away With Me—in part because everything surrounding Jones' voice is so chill. There's room for her to emote, and room for gently cresting piano and organ chords. Unlike so many of her contemporaries, Jones knows instinctively how much (or how little!) singer the song needs. The secret of this record, which came out when Jones was 22, is its almost defiant approachability: It is calm, and open, and gentle, music for a lazy afternoon in a porch swing. As transfixing covers of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart” and Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You” make clear, Jones thinks about contours and shadows when she sings; her storytelling depends as much on the scene and the atmosphere as the narrative. And Jones applies the same understatement to the original songs here, which weave together elements of country, pop, jazz and torch balladry in inventive ways. It's one thing to render an old tune with modern cleverness, a skill Jones had honed as a solo pianist/singer before she was discovered. It's quite another to transform an original tune, like Jesse Harris' "Don't Know Why,” into something that sounds ageless and eternal, like a standard. Jones does that, over and over, using just shrugs and implications, rarely raising her voice much above a whisper. © Tom Moon/Qobuz
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Pop - Verschenen op 1 januari 2012 | Blue Note Records
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Vocale jazz - Verschenen op 27 oktober 2017 | Blue Note (BLU)
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It is important to realize that Norah Jones is not just a famous persona waving from the cover of a glossy magazine, or simply “a pretty face". The truth is far deeper... Day Breaks is further evidence of her undeniable talent, but also of a tangible artistic evolution. Mixing beautiful original compositions with a sprinkling of great classics (Horace Silver, Neil Young and Duke Ellington), the sixth album from the New Yorker who grew up in Texas brings her many and diverse passions together in one place. Always lying within the realms of jazz, soul, pop and folk, it is her sincere and visceral love for the former that inhabits this stylish album, which doesn't dwell in the past for a single second. Over the years, the piano (much like her vocals) have toggled between nonchalance and pugnacity. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade are among the accomplices invited to the party here, and the experience of those involved is truly telling. Somehow, Day Breaks manages to see eye to eye with Come Away With Me, her first disc released back in 2002, and one that propelled her to the top of the charts. This 2016 vintage is even more structured than previous efforts. Mastered to perfection, the latest effort serves to epitomize the grace and beauty of this timeless artist. © MZ / Qobuz
From
HI-RES€ 21,49
CD€ 14,99
Pop - Verschenen op 1 januari 2013 | Blue Note Records
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From
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Pop - Verschenen op 1 januari 2013 | CM BLUE NOTE (A92)
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What does a shrug sound like? On "Don't Know Why,” the opening track of her debut effort, Norah Jones suggests a few possibilities. The first time she sings the title phrase, she gives it a touch of indifference, the classic tossed-off movie-star shrug. Her tone shifts slightly when she hits the chorus, to convey twinges of sadness; here the casual phrasing could be an attempt to shake off a sharp memory. Later, she shrugs in a way that conveys resignation, possibly regret—she's replaying a scene, trying to understand what happened. Those shrugs and shadings, tools deployed by every jazz vocalist of the 1950s, are inescapable throughout Come Away With Me—in part because everything surrounding Jones' voice is so chill. There's room for her to emote, and room for gently cresting piano and organ chords. Unlike so many of her contemporaries, Jones knows instinctively how much (or how little!) singer the song needs. The secret of this record, which came out when Jones was 22, is its almost defiant approachability: It is calm, and open, and gentle, music for a lazy afternoon in a porch swing. As transfixing covers of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart” and Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You” make clear, Jones thinks about contours and shadows when she sings; her storytelling depends as much on the scene and the atmosphere as the narrative. And Jones applies the same understatement to the original songs here, which weave together elements of country, pop, jazz and torch balladry in inventive ways. It's one thing to render an old tune with modern cleverness, a skill Jones had honed as a solo pianist/singer before she was discovered. It's quite another to transform an original tune, like Jesse Harris' "Don't Know Why,” into something that sounds ageless and eternal, like a standard. Jones does that, over and over, using just shrugs and implications, rarely raising her voice much above a whisper. © Tom Moon/Qobuz
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Pop - Verschenen op 8 mei 2012 | Blue Note Records
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Jazz - Verschenen op 7 augustus 2020 | UMG Recordings, Inc.
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Pop - Verschenen op 11 november 2009 | Blue Note Records
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Jazz - Verschenen op 28 augustus 2020 | UMG Recordings, Inc.
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Norah Jones in het magazine
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Qobuz: Exclusive Interview with Norah Jones
Ahead of her new album release this coming Friday, 7th October, Marc Zisman of Qobuz had the opportunity to sit with the world renowned jazz artist to chat about life, music, and more...