by Larry Katz
Friday, June 27, 2003
Got a crush on Norah Jones? Me, too. And we've got more company every day.
Since Jones trounced the competition at the Grammys, her debut album, ``Come Away With Me,'' re-ascended to the upper reaches of the Billboard 200, where it remains a fixture. Last week, its 68th on the chart, it passed the 7 million mark in United States sales and 14 million worldwide. Billboard also singled out ``Come Away With Me'' as last week's ``$ Greatest Gainer $,'' which means it enjoyed the largest sales jump of any CD in the country.
Why the ongoing surge? No doubt Jones' first tour as a headliner at large venues - she plays the FleetBoston Pavilion tomorrow - is stirring interest. But there's also something about Norah. Her voice is immediately seductive. (So are her looks, but let's not get into that.) She's a special kind of unaffected singer who wins devotees with an honest grace devoid of the look-at-me straining characteristic of the Celine Dion school of excess.
Fans who bought ``Come Away With Me'' early on - it was released in February 2002 - are eager for a follow-up. Jones' second CD won't arrive until sometime next year, but you can hear more of her now on other artists' CDs.
Jones has been generous in lending her voice to recordings by friends old and new. These cameos show an open, adventurous, still-youthful talent willing to experiment and stretch. In their variety, they also explain Jones' appeal. She's a little bit country, a little bit jazz, a little bit folk, a little bit pop - but she's not a chameleon. What her critics mistake for an overly mellow sameness is instead the mark of a unique stylist. No matter what or with whom she sings, you always know whom you're listening to:
The Living Room also is the place where the most satisfying of Jones' collaborations got its start. One night in 2000, Boston-bred musician Peter Malick walked into the club and caught Jones ending a set with ``Since I Fell for You.''
``I was blown away,'' Malick says from Los Angeles, a place he now calls home along with Boston and New York. ``I asked Norah if she wanted to do some blues gigs. She said, `I don't know if I know how to sing blues.' I said, `Believe me, you know how.' ''
Jones briefly toured with Malick's band and recorded six songs with him at Ducky Carlisle's South Boston in the summer of 2000. Shortly thereafter, she was signed by Blue Note, and Malick, lacking finances, was forced to shelve the project. By the time he resumed working on it, Jones was a rising star and her management company threatened legal action if he released his Jones tapes.
``Norah always told me to feel free to put them out,'' Malick says. ``Then the businesspeople got in the way.''
Now the businesspeople have relented, and ``New York City,'' an EP with six songs sung by Jones, arrives in stores July 8. Rather than a bunch of rough demos designed to exploit Jones and her fans, ``New York City'' is a polished set that showcases Jones tackling some smart material while showing some uncommon grit and a hint of a growl in her voice. Jones sings four smoldering Malick originals and two covers, with arrangements as concise as his pointed guitar work. She also covers Magic Sam's ``All Your Love'' and Bob Dylan's ``Heart of Mine.''
Anyone who's ever wanted to hear Jones raise her temperature from simmer to sizzle will welcome ``New York City.'' It showcases a Jones you haven't heard before, but one who's easy to recognize. No matter what the circumstances, there's no mistaking a true stylist.
