Come Away With Me (2002 and 2004) established Norah Jones as one of the most beloved female artists of this decade. These albums combined acoustic pop, jazz, and soul elements into powerful musical works.
Jones is a gifted pianist and singer. She writes her own songs while also covering iconic musicians like country king Hank Williams and jazz-pop composer Hoagy Carmichael.
Born in New York City
Norah Jones hails from New York City and is an nine-time GRAMMY award winner. She made an immediate impact upon entering the music scene with her debut album Come Away With Me in 2002; its mix of jazz and acoustic pop made it an instantaneous hit and earned several GRAMMYs as a result.
Feels Like Home, inspired by country music, was another smash success, selling over one million copies. Additionally, she appeared in Blueberry Nights movie and performed its theme song for Seth MacFarlane’s American Dad TV show.
Since then, she has produced albums and collaborated with other artists. Most recently she released Day Breaks in 2016. Anoushka Shankar is her half-sister; they currently reside in Brooklyn together with their husbands and children. Both remain extremely private regarding their personal lives, refusing to sell pictures of their newborn babies to magazines.
Raised in Dallas
Norah Jones was born in New York City but moved with her family to a Dallas suburb when she was four. Inspired by her mother’s extensive LP collection and oldies radio programming, Norah began singing church choirs by age five before beginning piano lessons two years later – she later picked up alto saxophone in junior high.
Norah signed with Blue Note Records and released her debut album Come Away With Me in 2002; this was met with great commercial success, leading to several Grammy Award nominations for her efforts.
This album featured jazz musicians such as pianists Lee Alexander and Jesse Harris, bassist Adam Levy and guitarists Richard Julian and Daru Oda – making for a perfect combination of jazz standards with romantic original compositions.
Norah has collaborated with numerous artists, such as rapper Q-Tip. Additionally, she was featured as a guest artist on Herbie Hancock’s 2007 release River: The Joni Letters; furthermore she appeared with Ryan Adams and Okkervil River (winning them both a Grammy in 2003 for their song Don’t Know Why) while appearing with them live as well.
Known for her sultry vocals
Norah Jones is one of those artists with a distinctive sound who can transcend genre boundaries and attract a wide audience, thanks to her sensuous vocals which create an ambience of sensuality and intimacy that draws listeners in her music.
Norah Jones first teamed with producer Arif Mardin on her 2004 album Feels Like Home to create an intimate set of jazz and blues tracks that displayed her vocal talent. On her next record The Fall (about broken hearts), Jones explored further musical possibilities while also experimenting with moody electric instrumentation on her third record Little Broken Hearts.
Norah Jones has made some subtle alterations to her sound on Visions, keeping it fresh while remaining true to herself and her trademark vocals and soothing guitar-driven vibes. Now with more country influences – from covering Townes Van Zandt songs such as “Wish You Were Here” by Tom Waits to offering her rendition of Tom Waits’ “Sinkin’ In”, Visions showcases Norah’s talents across genres.
Known for her collaborations
Norah Jones has collaborated with artists like Foo Fighters, Ryan Adams and Herbie Hancock – as well as performing on one song by A Tribe Called Quest.
Norah’s debut album was both critically and commercially successful, garnering critical acclaim and garnering strong sales figures. Her second effort, Feels Like Home was even more captivating and emotional; both albums were produced with finesse by Arif Mardin – known for his work producing iconic recordings such as Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Laura Nyro etc.
Norah explored the end of romantic relationships on her third album, The Fall (2009). This work included moody electric instrumentation reminiscent of rock and soul that hinted at rock ‘n’ soul influences. As with her previous work, The Fall marked a return to jazz-inflected sounds found on Day Breaks and Little Broken Hearts albums, as well as being her most recent collaboration with Danger Mouse (real name Brian Burton) entitled Little Broken Hearts which would become her fifth studio release.