BPD old-timer Trisha22 checks in:
With a tour supporting her 2009 album The Fall, singer Norah Jones showed us why she's so refreshingly tough to pigeonhole.
Although limited to a relatively short 22 rather delicate, dreamy songs, Jones was able to display her old-school country side in the encore, a somewhat pop-leaning style early on and a lot of jazz-tinged nuggets in the middle.
Backed by a five-piece band, Jones - decked out in a black dress and thick red belt -- opened the roughly 95-minute show with I Wouldn't Need You off the latest release, a song with bits of blues, pop and country neatly packaged together. Meanwhile Tell Your Mama was a slightly roots-y, Tom Waits-like effort in the vein of Sinkin' Soon, another quirky keeper doled out halfway through the show.
Veering between playing electric guitar and swaying behind a keyboard in the early portion, Jones seemed to hit her stride with Chasing Pirates, one of the more up-tempo selections which had the singer ending the tune with a pirate's "arrrrgh."
Spending time in the back with her was a complete joy. She told me "Ya know that quirky song Man Of The Hour? It's a tune dedicated to a dog."
Overall, there were few dogs in terms of filler material and when Jones was seated at her upright piano she shone. This was particularly apparent during a smart, jazzy reworking of Hank Williams' Cold Cold Heart and the tender ballad Back To Manhattan. The Williams cover wasn't the only one Jones offered up. A nice take on The Kinks' Stranger wrapped up the main set while Love Me - an Elvis staple on the album by Jones' other side project The Little Willies - definitely hit the mark.
Acknowledging she would play much of The Fall (11 of the 14 songs in fact), Jones doled out early favorites like the sultry, soothing Come Away With Me, Sunrise and Don't Know Why with such a delicate delivery it could've put many to sleep.
For the encore, Jones and guitarist/vocalist Sasha Dobson stood around a lone microphone for Neil Young's Tell Me Why before additional band members gathered round for How Many Times Have You Broken My Heart. The one-two combination proved why Jones would just as easily fit on a bill with Willie Nelson as she would with Diana Krall.
What else can I say? I had one helluva great time.
Glad to hear it Trisha22.
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