Norah Jones
Come Away With Me

THE REVIEW

The Blue Note has been responsible since 1939 for compiling the best jazz catalog available. Recording for this current branch of EMI is a true guarantee mark. If that wasn't enough, sometimes the DNA itself can vouch for an artist. And if that genetic heritage was passed on to you by someone named Ravi Shankar, well, everything adds up. And if you add to this a lot of healthy stage experience, between music academy in Texas and the venues of Greenwich Village in New York, then you might think that all the ingredients are there to record some excellent music. Norah Jones is all this and perhaps even more.

A musical talent built over time, without burning bridges. She founded her band (which was later expanded and renamed "Handsome") with bassist Lee Alexander, guitarist Jesse Harris, and drummer Dianno Rieser. In 2001, "First Sessions" was released, an EP featuring six tracks, four of which would appear on this debut album the following year. Purists of the genre will say that it's not jazz. Many will claim, with the usual holier-than-thou attitude, that this album is shamefully commercial. Let's say it right away, we are not in front of Billie Holiday or even the queen of "Scat," Ella Fitzgerald. We are facing a young woman who, with much effort, managed to put together a series of well-crafted pieces, to masterfully interpret the pieces written for her by Harris and Alexander, and to reinterpret, even reinvent, as in the case of Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart," the three covers present on the album. Norah's crystal-clear talent is audible in every track of an album that reaches its peak in songs like "Don't Know Why" (written for her by Jesse Harris), "Lonestar" (written by Lee Alexander), the alluring "Nightingale," and especially "Come Away with me," perhaps, to date, the most beautiful track she has ever written herself. A soothing, "nocturnal" voice that manages to be both intense and sweet. An album that is a godsend for all compilers of romantic comedy soundtracks, because that is what it is, a collection of romantic songs.

We are not in the presence of a jazz masterpiece (although the sales of this album, which quickly entered the Top 40 of the best-selling albums of all time, will allow the aforementioned purists to continue enjoying Blue Note's work), but it doesn't matter; this is a very enjoyable album, to listen to in the evening, perhaps keeping the volume in the background. Norah manages to thrill, in an era of dummies artificially constructed to sell, she is the product of herself and her class, never vulgar, never over the top. The music (it may please or not... it's a matter of taste), with her, is always in the first place. She will never again reach the compositional heights of this album, which will remain the best of her decade-long production. Every work she produces will have as a common denominator a style and a taste that are absolutely refined, and an excellent knowledge of the best North American musical tradition, from jazz to folk, and even passing through blues. Her indisputable preparation will lead her to search, even in this musical heritage of hers, for always new solutions (sometimes successful, sometimes less so). To those who need only a cover face, endless legs, and a stunning tan to stay at the top of sales charts, Norah responds with music, and that alone!