03-05-2012, 13:09
online listen
shedding that jazz label
beautiful voice
coulda used some more pep
track 9 before any Little Willies kicked in
nice Jools Holland clip, as always
1.5 from me and a converted 2.1 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Say Goodbye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynjYnKkXhbU
released May 1st, 2012
![[Image: r66086kbaxo.jpg]](http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drr600/r660/r66086kbaxo.jpg)
Bio - from allmusic
Sultry vocalist and pianist Norah Jones developed her unique blend of jazz and traditional vocal pop with hints of
bluesy country and contemporary folk due in large part to her unique upbringing. Born March 30, 1979, in New York
City, the daughter of Ravi Shankar quietly grew up in Texas with her mother. While she always found the music of
Billie Holiday and Bill Evans both intriguing and comforting, she didn't really explore jazz until attending
Dallas' Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. During high school, Jones won the Down
Beat Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist and Best Original Composition in 1996, and earned a second Best
Jazz Vocalist award in 1997. Putting her vocal talents on the back burner, Jones worked toward earning a degree in
jazz piano at the University of North Texas for two years before accepting a friend's offer of a summer sublet in
Greenwich Village during the summer of 1999. Although she 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.
Jones 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. Following an appearance on Charlie Hunter's Songs from
the Analog Playground, Jones spent much of 2001 performing live with Hunter's group and working on material for her
debut. Come Away with Me, recorded by Craig Street (Cassandra Wilson, Manhattan Transfer, k.d. lang) and legendary
producer Arif Mardin (Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, the Bee Gees), was released in early 2002 and garnered
much public attention. The combination of her striking beauty and the fact that she was the daughter of an
internationally renowned musician placed Jones in the awkward position of defending her music from those who
dismissed her as another pretty face (the same argument used by those opposed to Diana Krall) and/or another riding
the coattails of her musical royal heritage (see Natalie Cole, Miki Coltrane, Corey Parker). Although not by any
stretch a "jazz" album (the label chose to call it "jazz-informed"), it featured jazz guitarist Bill Frisell and
session drummer Brian Blade, and indicated a new direction for Blue Note combining jazz aesthetics and talent with
a pop sensibility. Come Away with Me eventually went multi-platinum, selling 18 million copies worldwide and
winning Jones eight Grammy awards.
In 2004, Jones released her highly anticipated follow-up album, Feels Like Home. Pairing once again with producer
Arif Mardin, Jones pursued a similar approach to Come Away with Me, mixing '70s singer/songwriter-style tracks with
blues, country, and her own mellow take on piano jazz. In 2003, Jones played in a group called the Little Willies
along with Lee Alexander (bass), Richard Julian (guitar/vocals), Dan Rieser (drums), and Jim Campilongo (guitar),
playing covers of classic American music like Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. This one-off
performance ultimately turned into sporadic shows at the venue whenever their individual schedules would allow,
slowly incorporating original songs into their set along the way. In time, the Little Willies began considering the
release of a live album, but instead wound up documenting their sound in the recording studio. Milking Bull Records
issued the resultant self-titled album in March 2006. Late in the year the single "Thinking About You" announced
her return to her solo career. It landed on the album Not Too Late, released in early 2007. The Fall arrived in
2009, followed in 2010 by ...Featuring Norah Jones, a collection of musical collaborations. The following year
Jones was asked to provide some vocals for Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) and and Italian composer Daniele Luppi's
spaghetti western project Rome. Burton returned the favor in 2012 by producing and co-writing the songs on Jones'
fifth studio album, Little Broken Hearts.
Album Review - from allmusic
Exorcizing the ghost of a failed relationship via the time-honored tradition of the breakup album, Norah Jones
luxuriates in beautiful misery on Little Broken Hearts. Liberated by the separation but not quite ready to let it
go, Jones achieves a curious subdued tension here, dressing unadorned confessionals in softly stylized studio noir
created with the assistance of producer Danger Mouse, who collaborated with her the year before on the collective
Rome. Seeming opposites -- the classicist meets the futurist -- Jones and Danger Mouse are well matched, as both
artists are not as set in their ways as their individual reputations would suggest. Jones began to drift away from
the jazzy sophistication of Come Away with Me when she released the quietly adventurous Not Too Late way back in
2007, the year after Danger Mouse broke into the mainstream via Gnarls Barkley. In the ensuing half decade, the
singer/songwriter continued to dabble in different sounds and styles while the producer streamlined his electronic
eccentricities, leaving them to meet at the crossroads of Little Broken Hearts, where he wrings out the pathos in
her songs. The songs themselves hold little mystery -- all motivations are laid bare, there are no twists in the
melodies or detours hidden within the structure -- so all the mystique derives from a production that amplifies the
themes. Occasionally, Danger Mouse piles on his signature murk a little too thickly, weighing down such spare sad
songs as "She's 22" and "Miriam," yet his aural tapestries often lend the tunes a lilting melancholy they require
and add dimension to the album's poppier moments ("Happy Pills," "Say Goodbye"). Conversely, by placing so much
emphasis on the stylish ever-shifting surfaces of its production, Little Broken Hearts never quite sinks in
emotionally. Norah Jones may be pouring her heart out but it's been given an elegantly detailed sculpture that
camouflages her pain. Listen closely and its evident, but it takes effort to ignore the alluring haze and hear the
songs that lie beneath.
Track Listing
1. Good Morning
2. Say Goodbye
3. Little Broken Hearts
4. She's 22
5. Take It Back
6. After the Fall
7. 4 Broken Hearts
8. Travelin' On
9. Out on the Road
10. Happy Pills
11. Miriam
12. All a Dream
shedding that jazz label
beautiful voice
coulda used some more pep
track 9 before any Little Willies kicked in
nice Jools Holland clip, as always
1.5 from me and a converted 2.1 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Say Goodbye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynjYnKkXhbU
released May 1st, 2012
Bio - from allmusic
Sultry vocalist and pianist Norah Jones developed her unique blend of jazz and traditional vocal pop with hints of
bluesy country and contemporary folk due in large part to her unique upbringing. Born March 30, 1979, in New York
City, the daughter of Ravi Shankar quietly grew up in Texas with her mother. While she always found the music of
Billie Holiday and Bill Evans both intriguing and comforting, she didn't really explore jazz until attending
Dallas' Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. During high school, Jones won the Down
Beat Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist and Best Original Composition in 1996, and earned a second Best
Jazz Vocalist award in 1997. Putting her vocal talents on the back burner, Jones worked toward earning a degree in
jazz piano at the University of North Texas for two years before accepting a friend's offer of a summer sublet in
Greenwich Village during the summer of 1999. Although she 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.
Jones 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. Following an appearance on Charlie Hunter's Songs from
the Analog Playground, Jones spent much of 2001 performing live with Hunter's group and working on material for her
debut. Come Away with Me, recorded by Craig Street (Cassandra Wilson, Manhattan Transfer, k.d. lang) and legendary
producer Arif Mardin (Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, the Bee Gees), was released in early 2002 and garnered
much public attention. The combination of her striking beauty and the fact that she was the daughter of an
internationally renowned musician placed Jones in the awkward position of defending her music from those who
dismissed her as another pretty face (the same argument used by those opposed to Diana Krall) and/or another riding
the coattails of her musical royal heritage (see Natalie Cole, Miki Coltrane, Corey Parker). Although not by any
stretch a "jazz" album (the label chose to call it "jazz-informed"), it featured jazz guitarist Bill Frisell and
session drummer Brian Blade, and indicated a new direction for Blue Note combining jazz aesthetics and talent with
a pop sensibility. Come Away with Me eventually went multi-platinum, selling 18 million copies worldwide and
winning Jones eight Grammy awards.
In 2004, Jones released her highly anticipated follow-up album, Feels Like Home. Pairing once again with producer
Arif Mardin, Jones pursued a similar approach to Come Away with Me, mixing '70s singer/songwriter-style tracks with
blues, country, and her own mellow take on piano jazz. In 2003, Jones played in a group called the Little Willies
along with Lee Alexander (bass), Richard Julian (guitar/vocals), Dan Rieser (drums), and Jim Campilongo (guitar),
playing covers of classic American music like Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. This one-off
performance ultimately turned into sporadic shows at the venue whenever their individual schedules would allow,
slowly incorporating original songs into their set along the way. In time, the Little Willies began considering the
release of a live album, but instead wound up documenting their sound in the recording studio. Milking Bull Records
issued the resultant self-titled album in March 2006. Late in the year the single "Thinking About You" announced
her return to her solo career. It landed on the album Not Too Late, released in early 2007. The Fall arrived in
2009, followed in 2010 by ...Featuring Norah Jones, a collection of musical collaborations. The following year
Jones was asked to provide some vocals for Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) and and Italian composer Daniele Luppi's
spaghetti western project Rome. Burton returned the favor in 2012 by producing and co-writing the songs on Jones'
fifth studio album, Little Broken Hearts.
Album Review - from allmusic
Exorcizing the ghost of a failed relationship via the time-honored tradition of the breakup album, Norah Jones
luxuriates in beautiful misery on Little Broken Hearts. Liberated by the separation but not quite ready to let it
go, Jones achieves a curious subdued tension here, dressing unadorned confessionals in softly stylized studio noir
created with the assistance of producer Danger Mouse, who collaborated with her the year before on the collective
Rome. Seeming opposites -- the classicist meets the futurist -- Jones and Danger Mouse are well matched, as both
artists are not as set in their ways as their individual reputations would suggest. Jones began to drift away from
the jazzy sophistication of Come Away with Me when she released the quietly adventurous Not Too Late way back in
2007, the year after Danger Mouse broke into the mainstream via Gnarls Barkley. In the ensuing half decade, the
singer/songwriter continued to dabble in different sounds and styles while the producer streamlined his electronic
eccentricities, leaving them to meet at the crossroads of Little Broken Hearts, where he wrings out the pathos in
her songs. The songs themselves hold little mystery -- all motivations are laid bare, there are no twists in the
melodies or detours hidden within the structure -- so all the mystique derives from a production that amplifies the
themes. Occasionally, Danger Mouse piles on his signature murk a little too thickly, weighing down such spare sad
songs as "She's 22" and "Miriam," yet his aural tapestries often lend the tunes a lilting melancholy they require
and add dimension to the album's poppier moments ("Happy Pills," "Say Goodbye"). Conversely, by placing so much
emphasis on the stylish ever-shifting surfaces of its production, Little Broken Hearts never quite sinks in
emotionally. Norah Jones may be pouring her heart out but it's been given an elegantly detailed sculpture that
camouflages her pain. Listen closely and its evident, but it takes effort to ignore the alluring haze and hear the
songs that lie beneath.
Track Listing
1. Good Morning
2. Say Goodbye
3. Little Broken Hearts
4. She's 22
5. Take It Back
6. After the Fall
7. 4 Broken Hearts
8. Travelin' On
9. Out on the Road
10. Happy Pills
11. Miriam
12. All a Dream
