Norah Jones

Norah Jones出生于音樂世家，父親是著名的印度席塔琴演奏家Ravi Shankar。在達(dá)拉斯的Booker T. Washington高中，學(xué)習(xí)鋼琴和表演的時候，她沉醉到了爵士樂中，結(jié)束了在北德克薩斯的兩年大學(xué)生活以后，Norah Jones來到了紐約，紐約的音樂氛圍令Norah Jones激動不已。在這里Norah Jones開始熱衷于一些出色的詞曲作者的作品，也是在這里，她逐漸形成了目前爵士鋼琴，創(chuàng)作型的風(fēng)格，并開始嘗試多種音樂風(fēng)格的融合。后來Norah Jones和詞曲作者Jesse Harris，以及貝斯手Lee Alexander組成了一支小樂隊，Norah Jones在樂隊中擔(dān)任主唱并兼奏鋼琴。2000年10月Blue Note Records為他們錄制了一張試音專輯《First Sessions》，Norah在專輯中盡情展示了自己的才華，在創(chuàng)作中她在源于爵士樂的曲調(diào)中加入了自己的激情，并用自己圓潤，柔美的嗓音打動了唱片公司，于是僅過了三個月Norah Jones正式簽約Blue Note Records，并于2002年2月26日發(fā)布了第一張專輯《Come Away With Me》。
Norah Jones獲得了2003年葛萊美最佳新人獎，《COME AWAY WITH ME》獲得了年度專輯獎，最佳流行樂演唱專輯，《Don't Know Why》獲得了年度最佳唱片獎，和最佳年度單曲獎，Norah Jones因《Don't Know Why》獲得了最佳流行女歌手獎。
1979年3月30日出生于美國紐約，擁有超齡的才華與甜美溫柔的歌聲。20歲不到便贏得著名爵士雜志《Down Beat》學(xué)生爵士獎的“最佳演唱”及“最佳編曲”獎。她的出現(xiàn)讓久未有驚喜的爵士樂壇，灌注了一絲青春活力。
一直以來，諾拉瓊絲都被歸類為爵士歌手，而在流行音樂掛帥的西洋歌壇，爵士是小眾音樂，但諾拉瓊絲改變了這一點，她的「遠(yuǎn)走高飛」專輯全球創(chuàng)下六百萬張的銷售量，在中國臺灣也有接近白金唱片（三萬張）的銷售數(shù)字，葛萊美獎入圍公布後，她的專輯更打敗眾多流行音樂，登上告示牌專輯榜的冠軍。
23歲的諾拉瓊絲去年發(fā)行首張專輯《遠(yuǎn)走高飛》為她贏得年度最佳唱片、最佳專輯、最佳新人、最佳流行女歌手、最佳流行專輯等五項個人大獎。此專輯還獲頒年度最佳歌曲、非古典類最佳錄音工程專輯以及非古典類年度制作人三個獎項。 在流行樂大量充斥東西方樂壇的情況之下，其他類型的音樂似乎成為樂壇中的弱勢族群，但這不代表這些音樂將因此而殆盡，仍有許多出色的音樂人默默作出好音樂，諾拉瓊絲就是一位將夢想付諸實現(xiàn)的歌手。 從小接受音樂的薰陶、15歲即主修表演、還曾連續(xù)兩年獲得Down Beat學(xué)生音樂獎"最佳爵士歌手的Norah Jones，擁有一副彷佛來自天上的好聲音。這位來自美國的年輕女孩，少了一份大都會的嬌縱世故，卻多了幾許清新古典氣質(zhì)，再加上她出色的琴藝、獨特的嗓音、以及創(chuàng)作才華，儼然成為本世紀(jì)初最閃耀的一顆新星。
Sultry vocalist and pianist Norah Jones developed her unique blend of jazz and traditional vocal pop with hints of bluesy country and contemporary folk due in large part to her unique upbringing. Born March 30, 1979, in New York City, the daughter of Ravi Shankar quietly grew up in Texas with her mother. While she always found the music of Billie Holiday and Bill Evans both intriguing and comforting, she didn't really explore jazz until attending Dallas' Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. During high school, Jones won the Down Beat Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist and Best Original Composition in 1996, and earned a second Best Jazz Vocalist award in 1997. Putting her vocal talents on the back burner, Jones worked toward earning a degree in jazz piano at the University of North Texas for two years before accepting a friend's offer of a summer sublet in Greenwich Village during the summer of 1999. Although she fully intended to return to college that fall, the lure of the folk coffeehouses and jazz clubs proved too strong and she soon became inspired to write her own songs. Jones appeared regularly with the trip-hop-electronica band Wax Poetic and assembled her own group around songwriters Jesse Harris (guitar) and Lee Alexander (bass), with Dan Rieser on drums.
In October of 2000, the group recorded a handful of demos for Blue Note Records and on the strength of these recordings, Jones signed to the jazz label in early 2001. Following an appearance on Charlie Hunter's Songs from the Analog Playground, Jones spent much of 2001 performing live with Hunter's group and working on material for her debut. Come Away with Me, recorded by Craig Street (Cassandra Wilson, Manhattan Transfer, k.d. lang) and legendary producer Arif Mardin (Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, the Bee Gees), was released in early 2002 and garnered much public attention. The combination of her striking beauty and the fact that she was the daughter of an internationally renowned musician placed Jones in the awkward position of defending her music from those who dismissed her as another pretty face (the same argument used by those opposed to Diana Krall) and/or another riding the coattails of her musical royal heritage (see Natalie Cole, Miki Coltrane, Corey Parker). Although not by any stretch a "jazz" album (the label chose to call it "jazz-informed"), it featured jazz guitarist Bill Frisell and session drummer Brian Blade, and indicated a new direction for Blue Note combining jazz aesthetics and talent with a pop sensibility. Come Away with Me eventually went multi-platinum, selling 18 million copies worldwide and winning Jones eight Grammy awards.
In 2004, Jones released her highly anticipated follow-up album, Feels Like Home. Pairing once again with producer Arif Mardin, Jones pursued a similar approach to Come Away with Me, mixing '70s singer/songwriter-style tracks with blues, country, and her own mellow take on piano jazz. In 2003, Jones played in a group called the Little Willies along with Lee Alexander (bass), Richard Julian (guitar/vocals), Dan Rieser (drums), and Jim Campilongo (guitar), playing covers of classic American music like Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. This one-off performance ultimately turned into sporadic shows at the venue whenever their individual schedules would allow, slowly incorporating original songs into their set along the way. In time, the Little Willies began considering the release of a live album, but instead wound up documenting their sound in the recording studio. Milking Bull Records issued the resultant self-titled album in March 2006. Late in the year the single "Thinking About You" announced her return to her solo career. It landed on the album Not Too Late, released in early 2007.