Norah Jones
a Web Page dedicated to Norah Jones and Her Fans
Notes from us
Her complete name was Geetali Norah Jones Shankar before she changes at age 16. She is an American multi-Grammy Award winning pianist. Also a singer-songwriter whose career was launched with her successful 2002 debut album Come Away With Me, a contemporary pop album with a soul/folk tinge, that received 8 Grammy awards and sold 20 million copies worldwide.
Jones attended the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and the University of North Texas, where she majored in jazz piano. In 1999, two years into the program, Norah left for New York City, where she performed with the band Wax Poetic.
Norah is cool and low-key despite being an extremely talented and attractive rising young star. She’s not a fresh face in jazz and soul music circles.
Jones was born in New York City on March 30 1979, the daughter of Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar, but she spent her childhood with her mother, Sue Jones, who moved to Dallas, Texas, when Norah was four.
This change in culture, subtle as it may be, can be seen in her music. She combines country, blues, folk, and jazz to create yet another niche in this day and age when crossover artists come by the barrelful. Still, she stands out without even trying.
Although Jones fully intended to return to college that fall, the lure of the folk coffeehouses and jazz clubs proved too strong and she soon became inspired to write her own songs. She appeared regularly with the trip-hop-electronica band Wax Poetic and assembled her own group around songwriters Jesse Harris (guitar) and Lee Alexander (bass), with Dan Rieser on drums.
In October of 2000, the group recorded a handful of demos for Blue Note Records and on the strength of these recordings, Jones signed to the jazz label in early 2001.
Come Away With Me, recorded by Craig Street was released in early 2002 and garnered much public attention. In 2004, Jones released her highly anticipated follow-up album, Feels Like Home.
Awards
These are Jones’ Grammy Awards since her first debut album:
- 2002 - Best Pop Vocal Album Come Away with Me
- 2002 - Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - “Don’t Know Why”
- 2002 - Best New Artist
- 2002 - Album of the Year Come Away with Me
- 2002 - Record of the Year - “Don’t Know Why”
- 2004 - Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals - “Here We Go Again” (with Ray Charles)
- 2004 - Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - “Sunrise”
- 2004 - Record of the Year - “Here We Go Again” (with Ray Charles)
The Albums
- First Sessions (2001)
-
Released in 2001, is an EP from Jones. Track in this CD: Don’t Know Why, Come Away with Me, Something Is Calling You, Turn Me On, Lonestar, and Peace.
Not Available Retail. Purchased from a private collection. The CD is in pristine like-new condition, and it has only been played twice. The disc, case, cover, and insert are in perfect condition. No scratches, no skips. A beautiful CD! Recorded October 8th and 9th, 2000. Only 5000 copies of the CD were ever made.
- Come Away with Me (2002)
-
Released on 2002. It is not just the timbre of Norah Jones’s voice that is mature beyond her 22 years. Her assured phrasing and precise time are more often found in older singers as well. She is instantly recognizable, blending shades of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone without sounding like anyone but herself. Any way you slice it, she is a singer to be reckoned with. Her readings of the Hank Williams classic “Cold Cold Heart” and Hoagy Carmichael’s “The Nearness of You” alone are worth the price of the CD. Jones’s own material, while not bad, pales a bit next to such masterpieces. They might have fared better had she and producer Arif Mardin opted for some livelier arrangements, taking better advantage of brilliant sidemen such as Bill Frisell, Kevin Breit, and Brian Blade; or if the tunes had simply been given less laconic performances. Jones has all the tools; what will come with experience and some careful listening to artists like J.J. Cale and Shirley Horn is the knack of remaining low-key without sounding sleepy–sometimes less is not, in fact, more.
- Feels Like Home (2004)
-
Track include in this CD: Sunrise, What Am I To You?, Those Sweet Words, Carnival Town, In The Morning, Be Here To Love Me, Creepin’ In, Toes, Humble Me, Above Ground.
This expanded edition of Feels Like Home includes three unreleased tracks from the recording session; plus a DVD mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound of of four live tracks filmed at the Teatro Nuevo Alcala in Madrid, Spain; two music videos; and an exclusive interview.
Need More?
Get more information on her biography, discography, galleries and the latest news on the link provided below
