Twenty-two years ago, Norah Jones catapulted to superstardom with her debut album Come Away With Me. The record earned Grammy Awards for Album, Record and New Artist of the Year respectively and helped redefine piano-forward jazz for an entirely new generation of listeners.
Jones’s latest, Visions, finds her delving deep and covering those emotions with poetry and experimental musical textures. Her songs are both dark yet hopeful as she takes back control over her life after experiencing heartbreak and loss.
Born in Grapevine, Texas
Geethali Norah Jones Shankar was born in 1979 to American concert producer Sue Jones and Indian sitar player Ravi Jones, although after they separated she moved with her mother to Grapevine Texas where she attended Colleyville Middle School and Grapevine High School before enrolling at Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas.
After graduating high school, Norah attended the University of North Texas but never completed it. Instead she relocated to New York City and started her musical career.
Her father is Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar was famous for teaching George Harrison from The Beatles how to play sitar and for popularizing Indian music in Western nations. He also pioneered international sitar festivals.
Geetali Norah Jones Shankar was born in New York City to American concert producer Sue Jones and Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar; later she changed her name with her father’s permission to Norah Jones.
Jones’ debut album Come Away With Me was an enormously successful debut. Her follow-up, Feels Like Home (2004) was more mellow, featuring Jones’s soulful vocals over intimate jazz piano acoustics.
Her mother is Sue Jones
Norah Jones found instant fame after her 2002 debut album, Come Away With Me, won five Grammy Awards. This mixed contemporary jazz and folk music together on one album; Jones later went on to star in Blueberry Nights film as well.
Norah’s success with an obscure genre of music has served as an exemplar to other performers. She has collaborated with artists like Foo Fighters and Ryan Adams & the Cardinals.
Her first album was Come Away With Me (2001)
Norah Jones’ debut album, Come Away With Me, won critical acclaim and earned her numerous awards. The music on this record blended jazz, blues, and folk elements to produce something truly captivating.
After the success of her debut album, Norah Jones went on to record several more. Her second record, Feels Like Home, received favorable reviews and won her a Grammy. Additionally, Norah released The Fall (2009) and Little Broken Hearts (2012) with collaborations by Danger Mouse (real name Brian Burton), before returning to jazz-inflected sounds of her first record for Day Breaks (2016).
Her second album was Feels Like Home (2004)
Norah Jones follows up her debut release with another ambitious effort entitled Feels Like Home. Her songs weave country, folk, jazz and pop into an intricate musical tapestry for an engaging listening experience.
Jones casts aside genre conventions and capitalizes on her two greatest strengths – her soothing vocals and emotive songwriting. Her lilting tones resonate with existential anxiety and heartbreak pains while she also sings of moments that bring comfort, such as ending relationships or discovering hope even during times of darkness.
Her third album was Not Too Late (2007)
Norah Jones follows up her successful sophomore album Feels Like Home with Not Too Late, an eclectic collection that effortlessly blends jazz, folk and pop genres and displays Norah Jones’ true tastes and musical ideas while showcasing her beautiful voice.
With this album, she focuses more on the music itself rather than on image promotion; this serves as an ideal demonstration of Norah’s musical diversity and her ability to reach wide-ranging audiences.
Her fourth album was The Fall (2009)
After the success of her second album, Norah Jones set about exploring new sounds on her fourth release The Fall which came out in 2009.
Norah showcases an experimental side on this record that is far removed from her sophistipop debut; she mixes jazz, pop and Americana elements within each track on it.
This album opens up with an unmistakably catchy beat and triad of piano chords on “All This Time.” From there on out, guitars, prominent bass lines and loose grooves drive its pace forward.
Her fifth album was Little Broken Hearts (2012)
Norah Jones has seen considerable success since the release of her debut album Come Away With Me. Since then, she has ventured into cinematic rock with Danger Mouse, formed a country band and even contributed her vocals on an Outkast track!
Little Broken Hearts, Jones’ fifth album, finds her exploring uncharted musical terrain. Blending jazz influences with rock guitar plucked chords and layers vocals – Jones creates music both beautiful and uplifts audiences with each track on this release.
Her sixth album is Visions (2017)
Visions finds Jones continuing her progressive jazz-pop blend that first distinguished her among Blue Note peers. Under Leon Michels’ guidance, she strikes a balance between compositional specificity and jam session-like freedom.
As with her earlier albums, this collection once more showcases Jones’ ability to follow her creative muse without regard for genre boundaries – something which sets her apart from her contemporaries.