Thurs, Jan 3, 2002
Norah Jones
Sculler's Jazz Club
Cambridge, MA
Every once in a while a young voice screams so loud that it makes itself known throughout the land. A voice that lends a comforting hand, a smile, or a weary shoulder to lean on. Something different, yet like deja vu, so familiar that you feel like you have heard it before. Sometimes the voice is an instrument; either new, or played in a way that you have never heard. Something so sweet that you try not to think about it because your thoughts are so loud that they interrupt the music. The artist is Norah Jones has this voice.
I first learned of Norah through the Charlie Hunter CD release party show which took place on September 25 of 2001, at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City; two weeks to the day after the worst day in modern American history. The smoke still had not settled, literally. People were scared and uneasily united. In the middle of all the uncertainty came the voice of an angel. Smokey and soft, heavy with mental imagery, but so breathy and light that you thought the words were coming out of her mouth and floating away, never to return...
Last night, Ms. Jones brought her newly signed trio to the Sculler's Jazz Club. Consisting of Norah Jones (piano and vocals), Jesse Harris (acoustic and electric guitar) and Lee Alexander (bass), the band can best be described as textural and ambient with more of an emphasis put on chords and fills than sharp contrast and changes. One of the strong points of the group is Norah's ability to tell a story, which is basically what writing songs is all about. She can transport the listener to another place and time or leave you wondering about a line that she sang until after she is done... when you finally realize what she meant. Her playing enduces mostly bittersweet longing. Mature beyond her 22 years, Norah is an old soul who I look forward to catching up with as much as possible. The future is bright with possibilities.
Shawn Dos Santos
Go See Live Music!
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