Norah Jones - Come Away With Me (2002)

An immediate classic. One of my favorite albums of the last ten years and a great spring/early summer album. I'm always amazed how I'm suddenly relaxed upon hearing the first few notes of the opening track. That downward chromatic line is so simple yet sublime. While Jones deserves much of the credit for this album's success, I don't think we should overlook the contributions of guitarist/songwriter Jesse Harris (note to self: check out Harris' solo stuff). Also, producer Arif Mardin deserves credit for getting out of the way. I love the sparse arrangements, Jones' voice and her penchant for playing piano like Floyd Cramer. I often make fun of the Grammy awards on this blog, and deservedly so, but they got it right when they awarded this Album Of The Year and gave Jones the cursed Best New Artist award. The album has sold over 20 million copies and spent 153 weeks on the Billboard 200. It's good stuff.

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone (★★★½): "a quietly captivating triumph of torch song."
• Billboard: "elements of country, soul, jazz, blues, folk, and pop coalescing into one gorgeous whole."
• PopMatters: "The music is unique enough to stand on its own, without need for a genre label, and for that reason it feels fresh."
• Entertainment Weekly: "Her voice is supple and precise, her touch on piano lovely."

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #1 (4 weeks between Jan 25 - Mar 15, 2003)

Tracks: The opening track is three minutes of bliss. The rest of the album doesn't come close to that track, but they sure try. I suppose an argument could be made that there's not much variance in style or tempi here, but to me, that's part of the charm. I don't skip any tracks. The ending couple of The Long Day Is Over followed by a cover of Hoagy Carmichael's The Nearness Of You is - well, I can't imagine a better ending for this album.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In 2002, my Sunday morning routine included watching CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood while drinking a pot of coffee, followed by some time on the back porch (more coffee) before heading to church. Back then, Bill Flanagan of VH1 would contribute to the program every so often. One Sunday in 2002, Flanagan contributed a segment about the five new albums he was looking forward to hearing in the car (on cassette!) that summer. This CD was on his list and, after playing a video clip of Don't Know Why, he said this about the album:

We spend a lot of the summer in the city, too, and you want music for parties on the roof and watching fireworks on the river. The first CD by a singer named Norah Jones is going to be playing at a lot of dinner parties this year. It’s a beautiful, precocious record by a young singer-pianist with a lot of jazz influences. It’s already creating a big buzz, and it’s already stirred up a little backlash among purists who protest that it’s not a real jazz album. To which I say, "OK. It’s not a real jazz album. You go sit in the corner with your headphones and listen to Albert Ayler and leave the rest of us alone."

I ordered the album from Amazon that afternoon. Unfortunately for those who ride in my truck, Jones and I share similar vocal ranges which makes it easy for me to sing along with these songs.