Music Review: Norah Jones, Day Breaks

As she did back in 2001 with her second album Come Away with Me, Norah Jones is channelling the classic jazz artists who first inspired her.

How was she to know that that album would transform her life beyond belief.

In the interim Norah Jones has recorded four more albums, none of them really reflecting the approach of Come Away with Me, until now at least.

She has experimented with a clutch of other artists, and often moved away from the piano stool to play guitar.

So, with Day Breaks we return to the format of that successful album, and once again Norah has uncovered the mother lode.

The album is rich in subtle and not so subtle reminders of the artists who inspired and influenced her in the first place, like Billie Holiday, and especially jazz piano maestro Bill Evans.

Burn, the opening track, features the soprano sax legend Wayne Shorter while she also covers Neil Young's Don't be Denied, Horace Silver's Peace, and Duke Ellington's Fleurette Africaine.

Most songs are approached in a minimalistic way with Jones on piano, bass, drums, and a very tasty counter punch to her keyboard playing through a Hammond B30 organ. It's a heady mix.

On And then there was you and Sleeping Wild, along with the title track the sound expands to include a cello and string line-up arranged by Dave Eggar.

Yes, Norah Jones has matured. She's now married with two young children, but it's a joy to hear an album that's focused on what she does best.

Again it's no wonder the genre box tickers will have trouble in placing her sound.

Is it jazz, is it pop. Forget that argument. This is exceptionally fine music that Norah Jones is in full command of.

Rating: 5/5 stars