Norah Jones has carved her own unique space in music. Known for her soothing voice and piano playing skills, Norah has collaborated with artists from diverse musical genres.
After touring her highly-regarded debut album Come Away With Me, she reunited with its musicians to record its follow-up, Feels Like Home. Recorded at Bearsville Studios in upstate New York, it resulted in an album both refined and expansive in sound.
She was born in Fort Worth, Texas
Norah Jones is a multi-platinum Grammy winning singer-songwriter and pianist. Her debut album, Come Away With Me, featured contemporary jazz and folk influences that earned critical acclaim – selling over one million copies and garnering five Grammy awards in its first year alone! Additionally to solo albums released, Norah has also recorded with musicians like Herbie Hancock and Q-Tip for collaborations as well as solo releases.
Her musical talents were apparent from an early age. She sang in church choirs and took piano and voice lessons before attending Interlochen Arts Camp and Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas. At 16 she legally changed her name from Geetali Norah Jones Shankar to Norah Jones by dropping any Indian elements in it.
After graduating, she moved to New York City where she found great success in the music industry. Her signature blend of traditional vocal pop and jazz influenced many musicians as well as becoming involved with numerous social justice issues.
She studied at the University of North Texas
Norah Jones attended the University of North Texas for two years, majoring in jazz piano and singing with their Jazz Singers ensemble before leaving to pursue her dreams in New York City.
At first, she focused primarily on acoustic pop with her band until 2002 when her debut album Come Away With Me was released and was met with critical acclaim – this album featured both acoustic pop and jazz influences that proved popular with listeners and critics.
Norah Jones remains active as both an album producer and collaborator with other artists. Her most recent release, Not Too Late, featured only songs she composed or co-composed herself; the album debuted at No.1 in over twenty countries and featured legendary producer Arif Mardin’s (Cassandra Wilson, Manhattan Transfer and K.D Lang among many other). Additionally, Norah has an artistic resume including acting and directing credits, having appeared in films by directors like Kar Wai Wong and Peter Malick.
She moved to New York City
Norah Jones moved to New York City in 1999 and quickly immersed herself in its jazz scene, fronting Wax Poetic before establishing herself at local folk coffeehouses. An unexpected meeting with Jesse Harris (later to write her greatest hit) resulted in future collaborations; additionally she performed with touring Ryan Adams & The Cardinals.
In 2004, she achieved international acclaim with her song Feels Like Home, which reached number one on charts worldwide. Since then she has added layers to her music, such as working with Foo Fighters and Willie Nelson as well as founding an old-school country band known as The Little Willies. Additionally she appeared in Wong Kar-wai’s 2007 film Wrath of God as well.
Norah Jones’ latest release, Come Away With Me, showcases her talents as both singer and pianist. Produced by veteran Arif Mardin (known for arranging classic recordings by Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Billie Holiday among many others), the disc features vocals by Jones alongside piano accompaniment from Lee Alexander, drummer Dan Rieser and guitarists Adam Levy and Jesse Harris from her core group of bassist Lee Alexander, drummer Dan Rieser as well as Adam Levy and Jesse Harris playing instrumental parts on guitar as well.
She released her debut album Come Away With Me in 2001
At a time when the music industry was rapidly shifting, Norah Jones’ debut album came as a breath of fresh air: an intimate acoustic pop album which offered classic Great American Songbook standards and country tunes with unhurried intimacy.
Originaly released in 2002, this album became an instantaneous success and went on to win five Grammys – making history by winning both album of the year and record of the year awards in a single year!
Norah’s album was produced by a team of jazz musicians, marking an important step for her and Blue Note Records.
The album became an instant classic, selling over 20 million copies worldwide and winning multiple Grammy awards. Norah continued with successful albums like Little Broken Hearts before teaming up with producer Leon Michels of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings fame on her latest project Visions.