The Beauty of Norah Jones

In winter of 2002 I was just getting back to college when a co-DJ asked me to come over to the station and help sort out the CD's from all the mail we got while we were on winter break.  We would always get a ton of CD's.  Some of these CD's were playable and others were good as coasters.  Without fail we would receive a package that had like ten of the same title.  If that was the case then the DJ who was interested in the CD they would get to keep it.  They thought we were a commercial station and we could use these as radio giveaways.  One package that grabbed my interest was from Blue Note records.  It was more like a box then a package.  When I opened it up there were ten copies of a Blue Note album called Come Away With Me.  The singer and piano player was none other then Norah Jones.  I grabbed a copy and the other nine sat on the Jazz directors desk.  It was not their long when not only did the Jazz director grab one, but a DJ who focused on edgy music on Sunday nights grabbed one too.

The next time we had a station meeting their was six left, but the buzz with the DJ's that grabbed a copy of the album was quite interesting to say the least.  We all met together for a brief discussion on the album.  We all agreed that this was great.  It was mellow and quite original.  Sadly we had no information in the box of CD's, but a day or so later their was piece of mail from Blue Note.  It read something like this, "glad you got a copy of our new signing to Blue Note Norah Jones.  She is not too new to the music world but her father is the quite famous Ravi Shankar and we see promise in her."  "Please play and give away this CD at your leisure as we expect this to be the next best thing."  "Attached is a CD of the single "Come Away With Me" a bio sheet and a list of her future dates for a tour in the summer of 2002.  As I looked I saw a date in my home state.  It was not much but for me It was a chance to see an up and coming star in the music world with originality and creativity.

At first listen I really liked what I heard.  This music was soothing and not overpowering.  It was unique and original.  She wrote most of the music, but added a co-conspiritor for good measure in Jesse Harris.  By the way he is an amazing, talented songwriter with a huge following among other songwriters.  She peppered her album with other non originals like John Loudermilk and Hoagy Carmichael.  She impressed me further beside those unique covers by adding a song written by Hank Williams.  To me, the Hank Williams songbook is one of the best ever created.  Add all that and you mix it up with some great session musicians.  These include Bill Frisell, Brian Blade, Jenny Scheinman, Rob Burger (Tin Hat Trio) and others and you got a slew of important and quite notable musicians.

After a few listens I knew that Norah was on the right track.  Did I know this album would sell 27 Million copies? No, I did not, but I knew people old and young would love to hear something new and fresh.  Each song sounds like a true original and each song has a passion feel that has no signs of going stale.  Her voice is beautiful and her piano playing.  These songs are not quirky like a Tom Waits album, but they are straightforward and direct.  She works each song with passion and embrace and not many artists can do that.  It is not a typical Blue Note album, but then again some of those albums back then were close to the same of what she created.

After school ended for the year I went to go see her for myself.  I expected a short show with her playing a bit of an hour or so and be off quicker then when she came on.  This was not to be the case. She played her songs in the middle of some odd covers here and there and gave the curious listener something to understand where she came from.  She played a few Willie Nelson tunes but the writer that got most of the attention was Hank Williams.  She played these songs once again like they were her own creation.  She made me personally go dig out my Hank Williams Songbook and listen to them again.  Norah's vision of Hank Williams music was honest and beautiful.

When you need to find an album that keeps classic traditions and with great songwriting and with beautiful music to go along with it.  Come Away With Me is it. Even though this is her first, this was not going to be her last. After almost two decades of music Norah's music is still awesome and a joy to listen to.  Come Away With Me is an album steeped in tradition and an album that knows it's past.  It knows its past with great songwriting and wonderful singing.  When it came to her first she made us remember the classic from the past and think about great music she would make in the future.  Check out Come Away With Me and you will see it's one of my favorites of the 21st Century.  Enjoy!!!