Norah Jones And Her Contribution To Jazz And Pop Music

Today, Norah Jones is known worldwide as a creative and influential musical artist, as she fuses the elements of jazz, pop, and other contemporary styles into her own unique sound. Jones is an American songwriter, singer, and pianist who introduced herself to the world in 2002 with the release of her famous album, “Come Away With Me”, ultimately landing her several Grammy awards and a flourishing career to come.

Norah Jones was born in New York City in 1979 into a musical family. Her father, Ravi Shankar, was a famous Indian musician and composer and her mother, Sue Jones, was a concert producer. Being born to parents who are musicians and have knowledge of the music industry, Jones was exposed to music at a young age and was encouraged to pursue her passion. Consequently, she became a child artist, she joined several smaller groups, such as the church choir, and landing many gigs due to her talent. Jones attended Interlochen Center for the Arts studying jazz during the summer to further her musical education, and eventually attended University of North Texas (UNT) to study jazz piano. Later on, she decided to release music to the public, gathering similar artists and producers such as, Jesse Harris, Jay Newland, Arif Mardin, and Craig Street, to help her realize her dream of creating a unique album.

The release of “Come Away With Me” resulted in Jones winning five Grammy awards, which is a huge success for a 23 year-old’s debut album. Despite her success, Norah Jones experienced several complications along the way, being a young artist who suddenly made it to fame. The first song on the album “Don’t Know Why”, is a more relaxed song, featuring Jones’s soft vocals with guitar. Her voice sounds sophisticated, as she focuses on her tone and the meaning of the lyrics. The tone and timbre that she creates emphasizes the meaning of the lyrics, drawing the listeners attention to each verse. The history of this song is interesting because Jones was not originally intended to sing it. Originally written by guitarist and colleague from UNT, Jesse Harris, recorded it with a violinist and released it unofficially on his website for sales about four years before the release of Jones’s album. When Jones and Harris met at UNT, the two then began working together and experimenting with different sounds, which led them to decide to re-record this song together. Initially, Harris did not think that her vocals were right for the song, but as soon as they began working on it, they were pleasantly surprised by the results and decided to continue. At this time, Jones was only 21 when they recorded the final version of “Don’t Know Why”, so it was a period of unknown territory and experimentation for her. She was bold enough to take artistic risks and liberties, deciding to open her debut album with this song. Eventually, this song became one of the most popular tracks on her album and was repeatedly featured on well-known radio stations across the country.

A catchy theme and memorable lyrics, this is a song that is distinctly “Norah Jones”, when one thinks about her as an artist. Since it was one of the very first pieces of music she released to the public, it is only natural that it would have this kind of effect in relation to her career, especially because it was such a worldwide success. In order to offer some contrast, “Seven Years”, is a slightly more upbeat song that “Don’t Know Why”, yet it still fits a similar theme. Jones focuses on her gentle vocals and is backed by guitar once more. This sets up the stage for some unity within the entire album, as she is able to combine different tempos and moods for the individual songs, but the album as a whole is still connected. The song opens with the lyrics, “spinning, laughing, dancing to her favorite song / A little girl with nothing wrong is all alone / Eyes wide open, always hoping for the sun”, where Jones is likely to being singing about herself. When she was writing these songs, she was still relatively young and exploring her own musicality and artistry. These lyrics can be interpreted to tell the story of a girl who is full of life and is trying to pursue her dream. However, she realizes that the world is challenging and intimidating, which is why she looks up at the sky with her “eye wide open”, hoping for some answer or a message from god; as Jones was very religious growing up and continues to practice her faith. For Jones, releasing this album in her early twenties was a big step for her musical career. It was no doubt daunting for her, it was like she struggled with the production in the respect that she did not know whether or not it would be well-received. Unbeknownst to her, the album would become an incredible success and would jump start her musical career.

Another well-known song included in this album is, “Turn Me On. ” In contrast with the two previous songs mentioned, this opens with Jones in her natural element, playing a jazz piano solo. Here, Jones features the muskier part of her voice, reminiscent of jazz musicians who began the jazz movement in the south. This song also features a catchy chorus, which is something unique to this song in particular on the album. Jones writes, “Like a flower waiting to bloom / Like a light bulb in a dark room / I’m just sittin’ here waiting for you to come on home and turn me on. ” Immediately, it is clear there is also unity among her lyrics in the album, making it truly unique and on the verge of a concept album. Jones frequently sings about a female, waiting to be taken away either by her aspirations or her love for a man. In this particular song, Jones’s lyrics are a bit more mature. This suggests that as the album goes along, jones continues to grow up and experience the world around her. In a way, this is also a coming of age song for her. This, again, fits the theme of the fact that it was the first album she ever released, and she also did it at a young age. In “Turn Me On”, she sings to a lover, stating that she is waiting for him to return and save her from the horrors of the world, or the darkness from which she suffers. When the character in the song is gone, she sits in the room, at his liberty to make her happy again and save her.

The entire album is named after one particular song, “Come Away With Me, ” suggesting that it was either Jones’s favorite song on the album or held a special place in her heart. Although it did not turn out to be the most popular song on the album, it is still remembered as one of Jones’s significant accomplishments, especially in reference to her Grammy awards. Once again, this song is very special in the respect that it features Jones’s unique, gentle vocals. Moreover, she sings with a reminiscent tone, perhaps in reference to the fact that this is about a long-lost dream or something that occurred a while ago but is still on her mind. In the music video, Jones is driving alone in a car along a road in the California desert as she sings. The wind softly blows her hair and she seems to be in a sort of trance, driving on autopilot, but still deep in thought. The song begins with the lyrics, “come away with me and I’ll never stop loving you. ” Now, it is evident that a major theme of this album is unrequited love. Just like the other songs, she seems to be singing to a lover or someone she misses, trying to convince him to travel with her on an adventure or take a journey. These songs are very appealing to the general public because everyone knows what it feels like to love someone and want to escape the horrors of the world with them. Therefore, Jones sings to a wide audience.

The entire album was recorded in New York City with Blue Note Records, a place where Jones first began her musical career. Having grown up in the city, it was a perfect place for her to build connections and experiment with different sounds. On the album, many other jazz musicians were featured, including Kevin Briet, Bill Frisell, Adam Levy, Adam Rogers, Tony Scherr and many more. This allowed Jones to be inspired by jazz and other contemporary artists who had already demonstrated musical success. Since she was trying to use the album to break into the music industry, it was a perfect idea to discover likeminded musicians and ask them to collaborate on this album. This also sparked Jones’ creativity in many ways, building up her confidence to perform these songs for larger audiences. She was able to create her own unique sound with the help of these jazz musicians because they provided her with the proper backup she needed when singing. Upon completion of this album, Norah Jones released it in 2002 and was unsure of how it would be received. She was overwhelmed with the positive reception and did not expect it to become so popular. She was soon awarded Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. Then, some of the individual songs on the album also received awards. As for reviews, Jones was written about in many well-known magazines, such as the Chicago Sun-Times and the Los Angeles Times. People were very impressed with her ability to release such a mature and popular album at a young age, which made her someone to watch among the coming years. This contributed to her overall success, making the songs frequently appear on the radio and setting the stage for her flourishing career. She then went on worldwide tours, enabling her to perform the songs for a public audience and gain overall exposure within the industry.

Today, the album “Come Away With Me” has sold over 27 million copies worldwide. Although it was released years ago, it is evident that Norah Jones’ sound is timeless. She has influenced many jazz and pop artists of her time as well as inspiring others to go for their dreams and aspirations, even at a very young age. Her story is one of unexpected success, but her ambition and talent shined through, making her an influential artist even today.