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Norah Jones Live DVD

By Chad Bowar

After dominating the 2003 Grammy Awards, Norah Jones has released a live DVD, Live In New Orleans. The 23 year old won all 8 categories in which she was nominated, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.

It’s been a rocket to the top for the Texas raised singer in the past couple of years. The daughter of musician Ravi Shankar, Jones grew up and attended the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas. While she listened to the pop and country music her mom and grandparents liked (such as Aretha Franklin and Willie Nelson, respectively), she was bitten by the jazz bug, studied piano then majored in jazz piano at North Texas State University. But in the summer of 1999, Jones took a trip to New York City and never moved back. Instead she hooked up with some local songwriters, began writing tunes and performing at small clubs. An EMI employee approached Blue Note Records, best known for its legacy of jazz recordings, with Norah’s demo in 2000 and she was signed soon after in January 2001 by the label’s president Bruce Lundvall.

She began recording her debut album in May of 2001. She worked initially with producer Craig Street, and then with the legendary Arif Mardin.

On working with Mardin, Jones said, “I was nervous at first. I didn’t want some amazing producer who’d done all these famous records to come in and have me be scared to tell him what I thought. But Arif is the nicest guy in the world, very easygoing. He was there to keep my act together and make sure I got a good record…I never thought I’d have a record like this—I thought it would take at least five years before I’d reach that point. This is really the record I wanted to make.”

Come Away With Me was released in February of 2002. The accolades starting rolling in immediately. She was heralded by Rolling Stone as one of ten “Artists to Watch” in 2002, and Entertainment Weekly singled her out as one of the coming year’s “Brand New Heavies.” In addition to universal critical acclaim, the jazz, country, folk, and pop influenced CD also was a best seller, selling over 5 million copies worldwide so far and making it to number 1 on the Billboard Album Chart. And with the attention the 8 Grammy Awards will bring, it’s destined to sell millions more.

From its beginning, Come Way With Me’s success has relied on the songs and Jones’ subtle delivery instead of a build-up of hype. She cracked the Billboard Top Ten pop charts on her own terms and has been touring non-stop since the CD’s release. She’s also made some new musical friends along the way, including Prince who invited her to open an acoustic guitar showcase he presented at his Paisley Park Studios (she called it “a just-pinch-me-I-can’t-believe-we’re-here moment”) and Willie Nelson, who invited her to open his shows at his four-night stint at The Fillmore in San Francisco (she labeled it “the highlight of my life [because] he’s one of my big heroes”).

In August of 2002, Jones performed in front of a sell-out crowd at the House of Blues, captured on her first DVD release, Live In New Orleans. It features ten songs from Come Away With Me, including the smash hit single “Don’t Know Why”, as well as a couple of covers and 2 previously unreleased songs.

Here’s the track list for the DVD:

1. Cold Cold Heart
2. Nightingale
3. One Flight Down
4. Seven Years
5. Feelin’ The Same Way
6. Comes Love
7. Something Is Calling You
8. Come Away With Me
9. What Am I To You
10. Painter Song
11. Lonestar
12. I’ve Got To See You Again
13. Bessie Smith
14. Don’t Know Why