http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/MM/Saturday/Frontpage/20020720100020MM Highlight: BUZZ HIGHLIGHT
Come Away With Norah
THEREТS no question; Norah Jones is musically very talented. The 22-year-old
American has a great voice, a sure sense of pitch and musicality.
ItТs more than likely she inherited her gift from her father - the legendary
sitar player, Ravi Shankar.
Jones was born March 30, 1979 in New York City. But her father has not
played any role in her upbringing, and her countryish/jazz/torch style
certainly has nothing to do with Indian classical music!
She downplays his part in her life, and doesnТt mention it in her official
biography.
But her mixed parentage has resulted in a dark-haired lass with exotic looks
and a dazzling future ahead.
When she was four years old, Norah and her mother Sue moved to the Dallas
suburb of Grapevine, Texas. NorahТs earliest musical influences came from
her motherТs extensive LP collection and from СoldiesТ radio.
She began singing in church choirs at age five, commenced piano lessons two
years later, and briefly played alto saxophone in junior high.
УMy 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
favourite...Ф
When Jones was 15, she and her mother moved from Grapevine to DallasТ
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 IТll Be Seeing You that
sheТd learned from Etta JamesТ treatment of this Billie Holiday favourite.
While still in high school, Norah won the Down Beat Student Music Awards for
СBest Jazz VocalistТ and СBest Original CompositionТ in 1996, and earned a
second SMA for СBest Jazz VocalistТ in 1997.
After graduation, Jones entered the University of North Texas -nationally
renowned for its music programmes - where she majored in jazz piano. She
also sang with a band called Laszlo, playing what she describes as Сdark,
jazzy rockТ.
In the summer of 1999, Norah accepted a friendТs offer of a summer sublet in
Greenwich Village. She came to Manhattan... and never returned to North
Texas State.
УThe 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.Ф
For about a year beginning in Dec 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 Oct 2000,
this line-up 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 MusicТs More Than This and
Day Is Done by Nick Drake) on guitarist Charlie HunterТs Blue Note album,
Songs from the Analog Playground, and has frequently performed live with
HunterТs 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 Aug 2001, the singer and her musicians went back to
work - this time with Arif Mardin at Sorcerer Sound in Manhattan.
УI was nervous at first. I didnТt want some amazing producer whoТd 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.Ф
УI never thought IТd have a record like this - I thought it would be at
least five years before IТd reach that point. This is really the record I
wanted to make.Ф
This Brooklyn-based artiste 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 WilliamsТ 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, unself-conscious 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 DonТt Know Why and Turn Me On,
with additional production by Arif. Craig Street is credited with original
production of three tracks (Seven Years, FeelinТ The Same Way, and The Long
Day Is Over), with additional production by Jay and Norah.
УWhen Jones sings... you can hear echoes of her influences, like Billie
Holiday, Nina Simone and Joni Mitchell, mingling in her impressive,
well-contoured voice to create something all her own,Ф says USA Today.
УJones has musical instincts that seem tied far more closely to a soulful,
sometimes country accented brand of pop that is showcased marvellously in
this album debut,Ф writes the Los Angeles Times.
High praise for someone in her early 20s.
