Norah Jones was the best-kept secret in the Blue Note catalogue. That all changed with the release of her first album, writes Tony Clayton-Lea.
The Blue Note record label is justifiably famous for its jazz nous and catalogue; it's home to some of the greatest names in jazz. It's also home to Norah Jones, to which one might reasonably respond with a querulous look and a shrug of the shoulders.
Ask Blue Note President Bruce Lundvall - the man who has met thousands of hopefuls, listened to thousands of demo tapes and who has signed only two acts on the basis of a cosy chat and an earful of their music - and you'll receive a different response.
"Norah doesn't have one of those over-the-top instruments," he recently informed Time magazine. "It's just a signature voice, right from the heart to you. When you're lucky enough to hear that, you don't hesitate. You sign it."
Norah Jones, the recipient of such praise, is sitting with a sullen smear on her face that wouldn't look out of place on the face of a nine-year-old who has just been ordered to tidy up her room rather than watch Dragonball Z. In fairness, 22-year-old Jones has had an arduous time of late: her début album, Come Away With Me, has garnered the kind of acclaim that hopefuls and record company presidents can only dream about. So she's being pushed to the max on the promotional treadmill, her spare time trimmed down, her schedules rearranged, her personality put out of whack.
Of course, it's also very interesting (and quite different from the norm) that she is putting on a vulnerable and not a brave face; it proves her ingénue status and conveys that while talking to people she ideally might not want to talk to is a personal trial, it's what she has to do to get her message across.
And that message is? "I'm not an intense person," Jones says, gradually relaxing into the chat. "I'm a really silly, happy-go-lucky one. It's funny, because the music doesn't really reflect that. I try to choose and sing songs I like and do them in ways I feel good about. That's what I'm trying to put across it's music and I hope you like it."
Like it we do. Come Away With Me is a rare début; it's infused with the spirits of Aretha Franklin, Patsy Cline, Bill Evans, Hank Williams and Nina Simone. Although it's on Blue Note, it's not strictly a jazz record (Blue Note, like any other brand label, loves a hit crossover artist).
Filtered through jazz hints (stand-up bass here, an offbeat drum there) is a mixture of commercial pop, arcane country and torch-cabaret. Top this off with a truly beguiling voice and you can understand why Norah Jones has quickly become one of the most hotly tipped artists of the year.
"I would imitate every singer I could," reveals Jones, the daughter of an Oklahoma nurse and Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar (about whom she refuses to comment). She grew up in Dallas, herself and her mother travelling across America in a Honda Civic, passing the time camping, fishing, skiing and hiking.
An alumnus of the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing & Visual Arts (Erykah Badu's alma mater), Jones pursued jazz piano at the University of North Texas. From there, it was a hop, skip and jump to Greenwich Village, waiting on tables during the day and singing jazz standards at night.
"I loved singing along to other people's music, and by the time I was 15 I had a Sarah Vaughan song I imitated to death," she says. "It was a live version of My Funny Valentine - you can't even tell it's that song, it's so amazing. I tried to get it down because her vibrato is so different. Same with Billie Holiday's vibrato - it was so strange."
Jones agrees that her own style hasn't yet fully developed, her individuality still a few clicks away from people's reference points of cover versions. "It's still going, but I really started to get a feel for what I was doing a couple of years ago. I was playing jazz at gigs, and started writing songs, hanging out with songwriters. I realised I really liked playing acoustic guitar and different songs. It's more original material that no one has heard before instead of covers.
"Pigeonholing? Naah, I don't care - people will pigeonhole you no matter what you do, or at least they're going to try. So far I've had a lot of luck with it, because people tell me they can't pigeonhole me! That's cool. But ultimately it doesn't matter how people describe me."
So the obvious one of Patsy Cline mixed with Bill Evans doesn't annoy her? "Those are artists I've very much been influenced by and love," she responds. "It really doesn't matter; whatever people hear is fine by me. If they really think it sounds like that, then whatever. I don't, but it's fine. I'd much rather be compared to those people than somebody else.
"What is really inaccurate is being compared to Joni Mitchell. [Not guilty, m'Lud; although she does list Mitchell's Blue among her favourite albums] That is so much a burden. She's a genius; so don't compare me to her because if you do you're bound to be disappointed."
JONES'S initial sullenness is now a thing of the past. Perhaps we caught her on a bad day. Later that night, in what can adequately be described as her natural habitat, we see her performing live. It is clearly the best way for Jones to reach us. "It's getting better and better, and it's something you have to get used to," she says of her live performances. "I was nervous initially, not scared or couldn't move, but on the way there. If we don't get better then what's the point?"
Despite her optimism, she's clearly feeling the pressure of all those plaudits that have come her way, perhaps too quickly. "Quit talking it up or people are going to get sick of me. It's been disturbing at times, but it's also exciting, flattering and cool."
As for people's expectations of her, Jones is refreshingly honest: "I don't care if they're disappointed. I only feel pressure if I put pressure on myself. Nobody at the label, my mom, nobody I'm related to, puts that pressure on me. I try not to, as well, except sometimes it doesn't work."
Come Away With Me (Blue Note/EMI) is currently on release