The Beauty of Song, Part Six: Norah Jones

Noarh Jones is a revered pop singer and musician who has been defying odds and expectations since 2002, when her debut album Come Away With Me was released.

The daughter of concert promoter Sue Jones and the revered sitarist Ravi Shankar, Ms. Jones was destined for a career in music, and fortunately she had the chops to blunt criticism of nepotism in the record business.  Come Away With Me, featuring the single "Don't Know Why," was a huge hit that in 2003 yielded Ms. Jones five Grammys: Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year,  Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for "Don't Know Why"), and Best New Artist.  The last award should have been the kiss of death for her career - after all, the Starland Vocal Band won the 1977 Best New Artist Grammy - and when Come Away With Me went platinum ten times over, it raised the stakes for Ms. Jones when it came time to follow it up.

She did not disappoint, releasing Feels Like Home in 2004  to generally positive reviews and enjoying another hit single with "Sunrise."  Her success as an adult-contemporary artist irked some critics, though, as they found her blend of folk and jazz boring.  They didn't expect anything much from her going forward.  But her group the Little Willies, which featured her on piano and vocals and with singer Richard Julian, guitarist Jim Campilongo, bassist Lee Alexander, and drummer Dan Rieser, was another surprise. The Little Willies did a few originals and old country and blues songs in their 2006 debut album, and it proved Ms. Jones as being more than just a balladeer for record buyers who hated contemporary twenty-first century pop music. on drums. 

Ms. Jones' 2007 album Not Too Late showed a growing confidence in her songwriting, as she was beginning to write more of her tunes.  She pretty much left the doubters doubting their own judgement.  The Fall, from 2009, continued in that vein. 

Norah Jones has remained active in the 2010s, releasing two more solo albums and participating in a second Little Willies release in 2012 (which featured covers of songs from Willie Nelson and Loretta Lynn, among others).  She's collaborated with artists ranging from Dolly Parton and Bonnie Raitt to the Foo Fighters and Wyclef Jean.  Having just turned forty, she still has many years of music ahead of her.