Norah Jones

One Liner:  One of the finest vocalists around, maybe forgotten, but still making jazzy tunes

Wikipedia Genre:  pop, jazz, folk, country, blues

Home: NYC

Poster Position: 2
Both Weekends.
Friday at 4:10.

Honda Stage.

Thoughts:  I really never give Norah Jones a thought.  Which is always interesting - at one point she was a huge star with that first album - but now she has just receded away from the spotlight so much that I don't recall seeing a single mention of her new album.  Visions was released March 8, and it really felt like it might as well have been a new Kidz Bop album.  And that is rude of me, because I am literally listening to it right now, and it is pretty cool!

Geethali Norah Jones Shankar has sold more than 50 million records worldwide, won 9 Grammys, and Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000's.  Her first album was the killer one, selling more than 27 million copies and earning five of those Grammys.  She is the daughter of stud sitarist Ravi Shankar, whose association with George Harrison turned him into a household name here in the States.  While she was born in Manhattan (which makes total sense), she was raised in Grapevine, Texas (which super does not track).  After high school, she attended North Texas to major in jazz piano.  After school, she moved to New York, signed with Blue Note, and started crushing it.

Come Away With Me has three mega-songs, and I'm not sure what it was about that moment, but her version of bluesy, country-flecked piano jazz just nailed the mood.  Top track by quite a bit is "Don't Know Why," which dropped right around the time me and my friends were all getting married, so this is the kind of song that makes me think of those times.  503.5 million streams.

The title song and "Turn Me On" are the other two big ass songs from that album.  And even the non-hits, stuff like "Seven Years" as an example, is just gorgeous music.

The next disc was 2004's Feels Like Home, which included some cool stuff like a Dolly Parton duet before having Dolly on your stuff was the badge of honor it is now, plus her second biggest streamer "Sunrise" at 334.2 million streams.

That standup bass rules.  I think the thing that is very fascinating to me is that many popular song from this era have never really translated into streamer hits.  Like, if you look at other majorly popular tracks from 2002, say Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You" as an example, that one was a top track in 2002 and yet only has 103 million streams now.  But something about these lovely tunes keeps them in the culture.  "Those Sweet Words" is lovely as well.  Listening to this makes me think of Meg Ryan romcoms.  I have no clue if that link is warranted and I'm refusing to look it up, but I feel it.

I remember 2007's Not Too Late as well.  Pretty sure I owned it - that cover of her black and white dress on the red looks very familiar.  But the stream counts are way down on this one - most tracks don't crack 5 million and only one has 40.  I don't recall 2009's The Fall, but the opening track on that one fired up 58.4 million streams.  Let's see "Chasing Pirates."

Oh yeah, I remember that tune.  Maybe that was the radio for that one, but I have definitely heard it.  A little gap here, before her 2012 album Little Broken Hearts that she apparently made with Danger Mouse.  Definitely lower interest to that album.  But not for any good reason that I can hear, she is still just plugging along with the same zip.  Not like it is all EDM or something.

Did you know that she made an entire album of duets with Billie Joe Armstrong?  That is a shock to me.  Wait, are they also all Everly Brothers tunes?  Who the hell greenlit this idea?  Is that the least commercial thing that has ever been made? "Get me the Fall Out Boy singer and Sheryl Crow to cover Bob Wills, STAT!  No, wait, make that the Offspring's singer with Vanessa Carlton doing Liberace!  No, wait, let's go with Kelly Clarkson and Billy Corgan doing Guy Clark tunes!"  Oh no, not all Everly songs, just all old Traditionals.  Even less commercially relevant!  But it is honestly really nice!  Super old school tunes and their nice harmonies wrapped around over the top.

The next album she released in 2016, I actually reviewed it back then and was apparently underwhelmed.  "Norah Jones - Day Breaks.  I want to like this one a lot more than I do.  I loved her first album (like everyone else in the entire world did), even though this type of jazzy piano music isn't really my normal cup of tea.  I've given this one a few chances, and it is still lovely music and all, but I can't say I'd need to keep going with it.  The hit is "Carry On," with 10.5 million streams (up to 110.9 million now!).

Like I said, super pretty and soulful and nice, but I'm OK.  I'll toss this one back into the sea and carry on."

After a few years she released the teeny tiny Begin Again in 2019, with only seven songs and very little action.  Then 2020's Pick Me Up Off The Floor - likewise not much for stream popularity even though it sounds generally pretty.  After that, her Spotify is littered with singles that apparently come from a podcast called Norah Jones is Playing Along.  The funny thing about all of these discs is that I am putting them on to check out the vibe of them, and for the most part I don't hear much difference between something on the 2020 album and the 2007 album.  Fascinating.  But the new album is entertaining, even if that is not going to be why people want to go see her in the Fall.  They'll go see her to hear the classics.  Like this recording of her Austin City Limits taping!

The opening announcer really is correct - one of the prettiest voices on the planet.  That was filmed in the old studio!  I can see the trees in the audience!

Anyway, yes, Norah Jones is still freaking amazing and her voice is a national treasure.  I'm not sure this makes me excited to see her play a sweaty set in October, since I will almost assuredly be elsewhere to see Stapleton or Blink, but it was nice to go back down this road with her for the past few days.