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Norah Jones Photos (by Danny Clinch)

More from Norah Jones

Not Too Late

Come Away With Me

The Little Willies

Amazon.com:
Norah Jones blew everybody away with her jazzy, country-tinged, Grammy-winning debut CD, Come Away with Me. On this recording, Jones doesn't mess with her trademark formula. Under Arif Mardin's cozy coproduction, Jones is supported by her writing partners, her Handsome Band, and some special guests (country legend Dolly Parton, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of the Band, and jazz drummer Brian Blade, to name a few). Jones's Texas-twanged vocals and her sparse acoustic and electric Wurlitzer piano lines enliven the CD's 13 tracks, from the light and lively single "Sunrise" to Tom Waits's "The Long Way Home" and the bouncy duet with Parton, "Creepin' In." Jones's soul-baring piano/vocal rendition of Duke Ellington's "Melancholia," retitled "Don't Miss You at All," proves she's a true Blue Note artist with unlimited potential. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Rating : - Norah goes a little country
On Feels Like Home, Norah Jones's sophomore album, she explored a more country-themed sound appropriate to her Texan roots and foreshadows her work with The Little Willies. The opening track Sunrise has percussion reminiscent of a horse's hooves clip-clopping away on some dusty trail straight out of an old Western, while What Am I To You flirts with blues that call to mind Norah's performance on Peter Malick's New York City. Be Here to Love Me is a beautiful slow waltz, while Creepin' In is a spirited, buoyant duet with Dolly Parton(!) laced with slide guitar. Long Way Home has a bouncy backing that reminds me of a jug band, while Humble Me is a steel-string guitar and Norah's soft croon. The remaining tracks capture the sort of laid-back (some critics called it "sopophoric") sound that Norah made famous on her debut Come Away with Me, albeit with more of a countryish edge (steel guitar, lilting country and western rhythms).

To be honest, I was working at a Barnes & Noble music department when this album was released, and I instantly took a dislike to it and tried to tune it out when we used it as in-store play. I wasn't terribly fond of the country overtones (country is one of the few musical genres that I can't stand, even though I live in Texas!), the songs weren't memorable, and there was a stylistic mismatch between the country tracks and Norah's other playing/writing style; Feels Like Home felt like it wasn't quite sure what it was trying to be. However, when I was recently on vacation and heard this played in a shop, I was drawn to it and decided to give it a second chance. I would place this second out of Norah's three albums so far (I really didn't like Not Too Late), and if you're a fan of country, you might like this more than I did. It does have some well-written songs and Norah's wonderful piano and voice to recommend it, but I still think that Norah's first album was her most versatile due to its seamless fusing of standards, country, and jazz. Feels Like Home felt less balanced overall.