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Norah Jones
- Feels Like Home (Blue Note)
Released: February, 2004
At first, I was upset.
You see, you’ve got to understand. My wife, who thinks my taste in music
runs a little too…middle-of-the-road, was the one who first brought Norah
Jones to my attention.
It was the Spring of 2002, and she was listening to one of those
smooth-jazz channels on the cable television. She yelled from the living
room, “Hey honey! This sounds like something you’d like!”
She was right. I think she liked it too, but the more important fact was
that lots and lots of other people did, and many of the people who voted
for the big award in the recording industry (can I actually say “Grammy*”
without all sorts of disclaimers down at the bottom of the page?) did,
too.
So my first reaction to “Feels Like Home” was something like this. “HEY!
This isn’t the sweet, sultry Norah Jones I thought I was going to hear!”
Scrambling for the liner notes, now, I’m listening to “Sunrise” – the
first cut – saying, “This sounds like country! Heck, Dolly Parton is on
one of the cuts!”
Exactly.
I was ready for Dolly by the time she showed up – on “Creepin’ In.” Yeah,
my toe was tapping, and the part of me that (who?) worked for a country radio station for a
couple of years was seriously into it.
It dawned on me as I sat down to write this, what I was
feeling. It was serendipity – the joy of finding something unexpected.
Look at Norah Jones’ repertoire at All Music. It consists of one early
disc I don’t own, five releases of “Come Away With Me,” and this new disc.
There isn’t enough of her stuff out there to say, “This is what Norah
Jones sounds like.” She’s still finding her way, I think. It’s a fun album
to listen to – and I’m guessing I’ll like it more a month from now.
“Sunrise” is clearly the hit. I thought “Creepin’ In,” with Dolly, was
great fun. The last cut on the disc, “Don’t Miss You at All,” is a winner,
too.
Don’t buy it with any expectations, other than the cut or two you may have
already heard.
You don't want to miss the
serendipity.
Allow for some serendipity.
 
Two-and-a-half microphones (out of four)
- Doug Boynton
(02/10/04)
* Oops. I said it. |
