Norah Jones is an award-winning multi-GRAMMY winner who sits down with various guests to share musical collaborations and candid conversation. With her silky vocals and unique jazzy flair, Norah brings something special to songs of every style.
Norah returned to form with Visions, her 2021 release featuring new original material and taking a more sonic direction, drawing from both funk and psychedelic influences.
Born in Grapevine, Texas.
Geetali Norah Jones Shankar was born in New York City and moved with her mother after their separation to Grapevine, Texas following school enrollment and attending Booker T. Washington school for performing arts before enrolling at University of North Texas to major in jazz piano performance.
Come Away With Me (2002; now called Feels Like Home (2004) was met with critical acclaim and was ultimately successful worldwide.
Debut album: Come Away With Me (2001)
Come Away With Me was released as a 2022 Deluxe edition, featuring several previously unheard tracks from Blue Note Records artist Norah Jones – from her demos submitted to Blue Note as well as session demos recorded shortly after signing with them.
Come Away With Me was an instantaneous hit upon its release in February 2002. Jones’s seductive, velvety voice–reminiscent of either cabaret or honky-tonk atmosphere–was instantly captivating, striking a chord in America looking for familiar yet soothing tunes.
Second album: Feel Like Home (2004)
Feels Like Home, Norah’s second album, saw her continue her critical and commercial success while taking an active part in song writing; writing or cowriting six of thirteen tracks featured.
From Norah’s country roller “Staring at the Wall” to her piano pop number ‘Toes”, this album showcases Norah’s captivating voice and lyrics. Her tone is at once both emotional and honest; her performance speaks to someone who has experienced significant heartache but who now hopes for some kind of peace.
Third album: Not Too Late (2007)
Norah Jones takes a leap forward with her first album where she wrote or co-wrote every track herself, showing the depth and breadth of her talents despite still delving into easy listening territory at times.
Not Too Late features a couple of tracks from Charlie Hunter’s Analog Playground and an arrangement of Townes Van Zandt’s Cold Cold Heart to add variety, yet overall its intimate approach may put off jazz purists.
Fourth album: The Fall (2009)
After three albums of piano-led ballads, The Fall finds Jones breaking out her more bold and personal side in 13 songs that show her singing with fresh creative ambition.
Producer Jacquire King (of Kings of Leon and Modest Mouse fame) surrounds Jacquire’s husky vocals in a range of sound – rhythmic bluegrass to Stax-style soul and fuzzy rock spots – for maximum impact. Her delivery can occasionally seem overly cautious though.
Fifth album: Little Broken Hearts (2012)
Norah Jones defied all expectations with her fifth album Little Broken Hearts, as her work with producer Danger Mouse significantly upped production risks.
Jones transitioned away from her signature ballads with Western-influenced road songs and woman wrath-driven catharsis on Staring at the Wall; nonetheless, her signature style remained intact throughout. Staring at the Wall particularly displays her worn and weathered perspective and shows she is an artist willing to explore new avenues when breaking up; an excellent album.
Sixth album: Day Breaks (2016)
After taking a bit of a breather with 2012’s Little Broken Hearts, Jones returned to more familiar ground on Day Breaks with mostly original tunes that crossed genre barriers from Horace Silver’s ballad “Peace” to Wayne Shorter-penned horn-heavy closer “Fleurette Africaine”.
Norah took this opportunity to showcase her skill at gathering talented musicians into collaborations. This deluxe edition includes live tracks recorded at (le) poisson rouge in New York and Ronnie Scott’s in London.
Seventh album: Pick Me Up Off the Floor (2020)
After an incredible string of critically and commercially successful albums – such as her first platinum debut Come Away With Me – Jones returns with her seventh solo LP Pick Me Up Off the Floor, writing great songs in various styles (Townes Van Zandt cover to Tom Waits collaboration) without breaking genre boundaries.
She has explored cinematic rock with Danger Mouse, formed a country band called Little Willies and while some saw 2016’s Day Breaks as a return to piano jazz roots, she continues holding sessions without much regard to how they will go.