'''Norah Jones''' (born March 30 1979) is an American multi-Grammy Award winning pianist and singer-songwriter whose career was launched with her massively successful 2002 debut album ''Come Away with Me'', a contemporary pop album with a sensual, plaintive soul/folk/country tinge, that sold 20 million copies worldwide and received eight Grammy awards.
Education and Musical Influences
Norah Jones was born as '''Geetali Norah Jones Shankar''' in New York City, but later changed her name officially to Norah Jones at age 16. She is the daughter of Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar and Sue Jones, and is the half-sister of musician Anoushka Shankar, Ravi Shankar's daughter from his second marriage. She spent her childhood with her mother, who moved to Dallas, Texas, when Norah was four. She always liked the music of Bill Evans and Billie Holiday among others from the 'oldies' section, as she found the music intriguing and relieving. Norah has been quoted as saying, "My mom had this eight-album Billie Holiday set. I picked out one disc that I liked and played that over and over again. 'You Go To My Head,' that was my favorite..."
Jones began singing in church choirs, taking piano lessons, and even briefly trying out the alto saxophone. She attended Interlochen Arts Camp, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas, and the University of North Texas, where she majored in jazz piano, and won Best Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist (twice, in 1996 and 1997) and Best Original Composition (1996). In 1999, two years into the program, Norah left for New York City.
Career and Accolades
Jones played with numerous artists and bands including Wax Poetic and the Peter Malick Group. Jones performed quite frequently with guitarist Charlie Hunter in 2001 and appeared on Outkast's ''Speakerboxxx/The Love Below'' album in a duet with André 3000 in 2003. While Jones is best-known for her sultry-yet-powerful vocal style, often compared to that of Billie Holiday or Nina Simone, her abilities as a jazz pianist have likewise been celebrated. On January 19, 2003, Jones appeared as a guest on ''Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz'' on NPR performing jazz standards including "September in the Rain" and "I Can't Get Started", and later that year she appeared with McPartland again at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, performing more standards such as "Lover Man" and "Walking My Baby Back Home". She has performed at the New Orleans Jazz Festival in both 2004 and 2005.
Her debut album, Come Away With Me, debuted in February 2002 and was instantly celebrated for its blending of mellow, acoustic pop with soul and country. It hit #1
