Who can forget the image of a diminutive Norah Jones clutching five golden Grammy statuettes, including Album of the Year, for her 2002 debut Come Away With Me? Amazing and well-deserved, yes. But talk about pressure. Somehow, she has continued to thrive and produce exceptional music, subsequently recording with everyone from Ray Charles to OutKast to the Foo Fighters and Ryan Adams (and selling 35 million records along the way).
Despite being the daughter of Indian sitar icon Ravi Shankar, and the half-sister of British-born sitar player Anoushka Shankar, Jones' music is firmly rooted in pop and jazz. Her debut and its dazzling follow-up, Feels Like Home, were produced by Arif Mardin (house producer at Ahmet Ertegun's Atlantic Records for many years), known for his work with Bette Midler and Aretha Franklin, among others. Still, even with all the accolades and exceptional company she keeps, Jones remains humble and with a sense of humor: she gigs with the country-drenched Little Willies (comprised of her partner Lee Alexander and some longtime pals), and she's been known to perform undercover in a wig and fishnet hose as "Maddie" in the parody punk band El Madmo.
In 2007, Jones released her third studio album, Not Too Late, and contributed "Court and Spark" to Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters and "My Blue Heaven" to Goin' Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino. Watch for her big-screen debut in 2008, alongside Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Rachel Weisz in My Blueberry Nights, directed by Kar Wai Wong.
Provenance: Brooklyn, New York, though she grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Latest release: Not Too Late (2007)
© 2007 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
Norah Jones
