Norah Jones grabs Grammys
Norah Jones, the daughter of Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, cemented her reputation as the hottest newcomer on the US music scene by winning a fistful of trophies at the 45th Grammy Awards on Sunday.
Norah Jones, the daughter of Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, cemented her reputation as the hottest newcomer on the US music scene by winning a fistful of trophies at the 45th Grammy Awards on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Grammy debutante, who was virtually unknown a year ago, won in all of the five categories for which she had been nominated, including Album of the Year, the evening’s top honour.
Her haul meant that Jones had tied Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys for most Grammy wins by a female artist in a single evening.
The foundation for her triumph was her hugely successful debut album Come Away With Me — a collection of old and new torch songs sung in a sultry jazz-pop vocal style that sold six million copies worldwide.
Jones also won for Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
“I just want to say that at a time when this world is really weird, I feel really blessed and really lucky to have had the year I’ve had,†Jones told the star-studded audience during one of her many appearances on the stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
“I never ever thought that the music I made would become popular music, so this is amazing,†she said.
Come Away With Me also earned best engineered album and producer of the year honours, while the album’s best-selling single Don’t Know Why won the prestigious Best Song of the Year Grammy for its writer Jesse Harris.
“This song was recorded at a demo and I can’t believe what’s happened to it. Who knew? Not me,†Jones said.
Jones, who cites Billie Holliday, Otis Redding and Nina Simone among her major influences has a soft, sultry style that defies easy categorisation, slipping from jazz to pop with a dose of country.
Ironically, Jones thought she was avoiding instant fame and megabucks when she signed with Blue Note Records, a tiny jazz label founded in 1939 whose top sellers up to now have been John Coltrane and Bobby McFerrin.
The Texas-raised New Yorker was so stunned by the success of Come Away With Me that she reportedly approached the head of Blue Note and requested that he stop promoting the album lest it was overplayed.
Jones’s music blood is not limited to Ravi Shankar. Her mother is longtime New York concert producer Sue Jones.
Despite the success of her album, some critics have suggested that the hype surrounding Jones has been overblown and accuse her of being more style than substance.
They point out that she relies primarily on outside songwriters and impressionistic covers of standards such as Hank Williams’ Cold Cold Heart and the old Patti Page hit “Tennessee Waltz.â€
AFP
The 23-year-old Grammy debutante, who was virtually unknown a year ago, won in all of the five categories for which she had been nominated, including Album of the Year, the evening’s top honour.
Her haul meant that Jones had tied Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys for most Grammy wins by a female artist in a single evening.
The foundation for her triumph was her hugely successful debut album Come Away With Me — a collection of old and new torch songs sung in a sultry jazz-pop vocal style that sold six million copies worldwide.
Jones also won for Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
“I just want to say that at a time when this world is really weird, I feel really blessed and really lucky to have had the year I’ve had,†Jones told the star-studded audience during one of her many appearances on the stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
“I never ever thought that the music I made would become popular music, so this is amazing,†she said.
Come Away With Me also earned best engineered album and producer of the year honours, while the album’s best-selling single Don’t Know Why won the prestigious Best Song of the Year Grammy for its writer Jesse Harris.
“This song was recorded at a demo and I can’t believe what’s happened to it. Who knew? Not me,†Jones said.
Jones, who cites Billie Holliday, Otis Redding and Nina Simone among her major influences has a soft, sultry style that defies easy categorisation, slipping from jazz to pop with a dose of country.
Ironically, Jones thought she was avoiding instant fame and megabucks when she signed with Blue Note Records, a tiny jazz label founded in 1939 whose top sellers up to now have been John Coltrane and Bobby McFerrin.
The Texas-raised New Yorker was so stunned by the success of Come Away With Me that she reportedly approached the head of Blue Note and requested that he stop promoting the album lest it was overplayed.
Jones’s music blood is not limited to Ravi Shankar. Her mother is longtime New York concert producer Sue Jones.
Despite the success of her album, some critics have suggested that the hype surrounding Jones has been overblown and accuse her of being more style than substance.
They point out that she relies primarily on outside songwriters and impressionistic covers of standards such as Hank Williams’ Cold Cold Heart and the old Patti Page hit “Tennessee Waltz.â€
AFP