NORAH JONES: "Pick Me Up Off The Floor"

Original released on CD Blue Note B003179702

(US 2020, June 12)

Once she came to the end of the promotional cycle for 2016's Day Breaks, Norah Jones decided to challenge herself by recording a series of swift sessions with a rotating cast of collaborators. The intention was to release the results quickly, issuing them as a digital single at a time, and Jones followed through on this plan, releasing a new song every few months throughout 2018. These tunes were rounded up on 2019's "Begin Again", but that wasn't the end of the project. Jones cut a number of songs during these sessions that were unreleased but not forgotten by the singer/songwriter. She kept listening to the rough mixes, eventually coming to the conclusion that these tracks would make a strong album of their own accord. "Pick Me Up Off the Floor" proves her instincts were correct. Lacking the purposeful digressions of "Begin Again" - an album where the digressions were the entire point - "Pick Me Up Off the Floor" is a tighter affair than its companion record, firmly rooted in the after-hours jazz-folk-pop hybrid that's Jones' calling card. Some of the cohesion may be due to how a good chunk of the album is anchored by her standby drummer Brian Blade, but it's also true that this record's collaboration with Jeff Tweedy is the amiably rambling "I'm Alive," a number that is firmly stationed within Jones' wheelhouse. The same could be said about "Pick Me Up Off the Floor" in general. There are accents and flourishes that distinguish the tunes - "Flame Twin" is charged by curlicues of guitars and smears of organ, "To Live" is graced by muted horns straight out of the Big Easy - but as a collection of songs, "Pick Me Up Off the Floor" winds up emphasizing how Jones slyly and elegantly synthesizes a pop sensibility with a jazz execution, a fusion that is comforting yet relies on her idiosyncratic twists. This blend of warmth and invention is what's so appealing about "Pick Me Up Off the Floor": the shape may seem familiar, but the construction of the songs and the inventiveness of the performance keeps it fresh and surprising even after the first listen. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

NOTE: Search for the Gatefold Paper Cardboard Sleeve, with two bonus tracks. The size of this special edition (18 X 18 cms) is identical to the old 45 r.p.m., and I think that's the way all CDs should be presented in the future. No more plastics and a size which let you read confortably the notes and the lyrics. This edition of "Pick Me Up Off the Floor" has a libretto inside with all the credits and lyrics. Congratulations to Blue Note! 

WILLIE NELSON Live With Friends

Original released on CD Lost Highway B000045302

(EU 2003, June 24)

For his 70th birthday gala, Willie Nelson decided to celebrate by inviting a cast of musical stars to join him in duets on a televised concert. In keeping with Nelson's eclecticism, only a few of the famous participants are country artists (Shania Twain, Toby Keith, and old pal Ray Price). How much is added to his classic "Crazy" by guests Diana Krall and Elvis Costello (then-hot celebrity couple of the moment) is an open question; what's really important is the well-deserved recognition Nelson receives from the musical world's biggest names. If you're a hardcore Willie fan, you've probably already got a couple of earlier live versions of, for example, "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," but part of "Live and Kickin'"s purpose is to expose fans of Nelson's duet partners to the magic they've been missing out on for many decades. In that, it's a success. (John Bush in AllMusic)

NORAH JONES: "...Little Broken Hearts"

 

Original released on CD Blue Note 509997.31548.2.2 

(EUROPE 2012, May 1)

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. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

NORAH JONES: "Not Too Late"

 

Original released on CD Blue Note 0946.3.74516.2.5

(US 2007, January 30)

Recoils from fame usually aren't as subdued as Norah Jones' third album, "Not Too Late", but such understatement is customary for this gentlest of singer/songwriters. "Not Too Late" may not be as barbed or alienating as either In Utero or Kid A - it's not an ornery intensification of her sound nor a chilly exploration of its furthest limits - but make no mistake, it is indeed a conscious abdication of her position as a comfortable coffeehouse crooner and a move toward art for art's sake. And, frankly, who can blame Jones for wanting to shake off the Starbucks stigmata? Although a large part of her appeal has always been that she sounds familiar, like a forgotten favorite from the early '70s, Jones is too young and too much of a New York bohemian to settle into a role as a nostalgia peddler, so it made sense that she started to stretch a little after her 2004 sophomore set, "Feels Like Home", proved that her surprise blockbuster 2002 debut, 2Come Away with Me", was no fluke. First, there was the cabaret country of her Little Willies side band, then there was her appearance on gonzo art rocker Mike Patton's Peeping Tom project, and finally there's this hushed record, her first containing nothing but original compositions. It's also her first album recorded without legendary producer Arif Mardin, who helmed her first two albums, giving them a warm, burnished feel that was nearly as pivotal to Jones' success has her sweet, languid voice. Mardin died in the summer of 2006, and in his absence, Jones recorded "Not Too Late" at the home studio she shares with her collaborator, bassist and boyfriend Lee Alexander. Although it shares many of the same sonic characteristics as Jones' first two albums, "Not Too Late" boasts many subtle differences that add up to a distinctly different aesthetic. Jones and Alexander have stripped Norah's music to its core. Gone are any covers of pop standards, gone are the studio pros, gone is the enveloping lushness that made "Come Away with Me" so easy to embrace, something that "Not Too Late" is most decidedly not.

While this might not have the rough edges of a four-track demo, "Not Too Late" is most certainly music that was made at home with little or no consideration of an audience much larger than Jones and Alexander. It's spare, sometimes skeletal, often sleepy and lackadaisical, wandering from tunes plucked out on acoustic guitars and pianos to those with richer full-band arrangements. Norah Jones has never exactly been lively - part of her charm was her sultry slowness, ideal for both Sunday afternoons and late nights - but the atmosphere here is stultifying even if it's not exactly unpleasant. After all, unpleasantness seems to run contrary to Jones' nature, and even if she dabbles in Tom Waits-ian carnivalesque stomps ("Sinkin' Soon") or tentatively stabs at politics ("My Dear Country"), it never feels out of place; often, the shift is so subtle that it's hard to notice. That subtlety is the biggest Achilles' heel on "Not Too Late", as it manifests itself in songs that aren't particularly distinctive or performances that are particularly varied. There are exceptions to the rule and they all arrive with full-band arrangements, whether it's the lazy jazz shuffle of "Until the End," the country-tinged "Be My Somebody," or the wonderful laid-back soul of "Thinking About You." These are songs that not only sound full but they sound complete, songs that have a purposeful flow and are memorable for both their melody and sentiment. They would have been standouts on "Feels Like Home", but here they are even more distinctive because the rest of the record plays like a sketchbook, capturing Jones and Alexander figuring out how to move forward after such great success. Instead of being the end result of those experiments, the completed painting after the sketch, "Not Too Late" captures their process, which is interesting if not quite compelling. But its very release is a clear statement of artistic purpose for Jones: its ragged, unfinished nature illustrates that she's more interested in pursuing her art than recycling "Come Away with Me", and if this third album isn't as satisfying as that debut, it nevertheless is a welcome transitional effort that proves her artistic heart is in the right place. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

    

NORAH JONES - "The Fall"

Original released on CD Blue Note EMI C370

(US 2009, November 16)

With "The Fall", Norah Jones completes the transition away from her smooth cabaret beginnings and toward a mellowly arty, modern singer/songwriter. Jones began this shift on 2007's "Not Too Late", an album that gently rejected her tendencies for lulling, tasteful crooning, but "The Fall" is a stronger, more cohesive work, maintaining an elegantly dreamy state that's faithful to the crooner of Come Away with Me while feeling decidedly less classicist. Some of this could be attributed to Jones' choice of producer, Jacquire King, best-known for his work with Modest Mouse and Kings of Leon, but King hardly pushes Norah in a rock direction; "The Fall" does bear some mild echoes of Fiona Apple or Aimee Mann in ballad mode, but its arrangements never call attention to themselves, the way that some Jon Brion productions do. Instead, the focus is always on Jones' voice and songs, which are once again all originals, sometimes composed in conjunction with collaborators including her longtime colleagues Jesse Harris, Ryan Adams, and Will Sheff of Okkervil River. In addition to King's pedigree, the latter two co-writers suggest a slight indie bent to Jones' direction, which isn't an inaccurate impression - there's certainly a late-night N.Y.C. vibe to these songs - but it's easy to overstate the artiness of "The Fall", especially when compared to "Not Too Late", which wore its ragged ambitions proudly. Here, Jones ties up loose ends, unafraid to sound smooth or sultry, letting in just enough dissonance and discord to give this dimension, creating a subtle but rather extraordinary low-key record that functions as a piece of mood music but lingers longer, thanks to its finely crafted songs. (Thomas Erlewine in AllMusic)

NORAH JONES: The Second Album

Original released on CD Blue Note 7243.5.84800.0.9

(EU 2004, February 10)

It may be far too obvious to even mention that Norah Jones' follow-up to her 18-million-unit-selling, eight-Grammy-winning, genre-bending, super-smash album "Come Away with Me" has perhaps a bit too much to live up to. But that's probably the biggest conundrum for Jones: having to follow up the phenomenal success of an album that was never designed to be so hugely popular in the first place. "Come Away with Me" was a little album by an unknown pianist/vocalist who attempted to mix jazz, country, and folk in an acoustic setting - who knew? "Feels Like Home" could be seen as "Come Away with Me Again" if not for that fact that it's actually better. Smartly following the template forged by Jones and producer Arif Mardin, there is the intimate single "Sunrise," some reworked cover tunes, some interesting originals, and one ostensible jazz standard. These are all good things, for also like its predecessor, "Feels Like Home" is a soft and amiable album that frames Jones' soft-focus Aretha Franklin voice with a group of songs that are as classy as they are quiet. Granted, not unlike the dippy albeit catchy hit "Don't Know Why," they often portend deep thoughts but come off in the end more like heartfelt daydreams. Of course, Jones could sing the phone book and make it sound deep, and that's what's going to keep listeners coming back.

What's surprising here are the bluesy, more jaunty songs that really dig into the country stylings only hinted at on "Come Away with Me". To these ends, the infectious shuffle of "What Am I to You?" finds Jones truly coming into her own as a blues singer as well as a writer. Her voice has developed a spine-tingling breathy scratch that pulls on your ear as she rises to the chorus. Similarly, "Toes" and "Carnival Town" - co-written by bassist Lee Alexander and Jones - are pure '70s singer/songwriting that call to mind a mix of Rickie Lee Jones and K.D. Lang. Throw in covers of Tom Waits and Townes Van Zandt along with Duke Ellington's "Melancholia," retitled here "Don't Miss You at All" and featuring lyrics by Jones, and you've got an album so blessed with superb songwriting that Jones' vocals almost push the line into too much of a good thing. Thankfully, there is also a rawness and organic soulfulness in the production that's refreshing. No digital pitch correction was employed in the studio and you can sometimes catch Jones hitting an endearingly sour note. She also seems to be making good on her stated desire to remain a part of a band. Most all of her sidemen, who've worked with the likes of Tom Waits and Cassandra Wilson, get writing credits. It's a "beauty and the beast" style partnership that harks back to the best Brill Building-style intentions and makes for a quietly experimental and well-balanced album. (Matt Collar in AllMusic)

NORAH JONES Debut Album

Original released on CD Blue Note 7243.5.32088.2.0

(EU 2002, February 26)

Norah Jones' debut on Blue Note is a mellow, acoustic pop affair with soul and country overtones, immaculately produced by the great Arif Mardin. (It's pretty much an open secret that the 22-year-old vocalist and pianist is the daughter of Ravi Shankar.) Jones is not quite a jazz singer, but she is joined by some highly regarded jazz talent: guitarists Adam Levy, Adam Rogers, Tony Scherr, Bill Frisell, and Kevin Breit; drummers Brian Blade, Dan Rieser, and Kenny Wollesen; organist Sam Yahel; accordionist Rob Burger; and violinist Jenny Scheinman. Her regular guitarist and bassist, Jesse Harris and Lee Alexander, respectively, play on every track and also serve as the chief songwriters. Both have a gift for melody, simple yet elegant progressions, and evocative lyrics. (Harris made an intriguing guest appearance on Seamus Blake's "Stranger Things Have Happened".) Jones, for her part, wrote the title track and the pretty but slightly restless "Nightingale." She also includes convincing readings of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart," J.D. Loudermilk's "Turn Me On," and Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You." There's a touch of Rickie Lee Jones in Jones' voice, a touch of Bonnie Raitt in the arrangements; her youth and her piano skills could lead one to call her an Alicia Keys for grown-ups. While the mood of this record stagnates after a few songs, it does give a strong indication of Jones' alluring talents. (David R. Adler in AllMusic)

NORAH JONES - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?