FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
Part Eighty-Eight: Norah Jones
___________
ON 30th January…
Norah Jones’ third studio album, Not Too Late, is fifteen. It is a superb and underrated album. Having sold over fifty million albums through her career, there is no doubting the success of Jones. She is an artist that I have loved ever since her debut album, Come Away with Me, arrived in 2002. In fact, that huge-selling album turns twenty on 26th February. Before recommending her four finest albums, an underrated gem and her latest studio album, AllMusic provide some helpful biography:
“When Norah Jones arrived in the early 2000s, it appeared as if she was the torchbearer for two traditions on the verge of disappearing: sophisticated vocal jazz designed for small, smoky clubs and the warm, burnished sound of the Southern California singer/songwriters of the early '70s. Come Away with Me, her 2002 debut -- conspicuously released on the revived Blue Note imprint -- hit this sweet spot and resonated with millions of listeners, turning Jones into an unexpected star. Instead of cultivating this niche, she soon proved to be quietly adventurous, which perhaps shouldn't have been a surprise for a musician trained in piano and ensconced in New York City's jazz clubs. As the 2000s gave way to the 2010s and 2020s, she incorporated daringly modern musical elements into her albums, which increasingly veered toward adult alternative pop, all the while spending time with side projects where she sang country, punk, and jazz, an indication of her expansive taste and skill, qualities that didn't diminish as her career progressed.
Born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar to the musician Ravi Shankar and concert producer Sue Jones in Brooklyn, New York, Norah moved to the Dallas suburb of Grapevine after her parents separated in 1986. At the age of 15, she enrolled at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, heading to Michigan's Interlochen Center for the Arts for summer camp. When she was 16, she changed her name to Norah Jones, around the same time she began playing solo gigs in the Dallas area. Her first national notice arrived when she was granted several DownBeat Student Music Awards, taking home Best Original Composition and Best Jazz Vocalist in 1996, repeating the latter win in 1997. For a while, she majored in jazz piano at the University of North Texas, during which time she first encountered singer/songwriter Jesse Harris. One of her musical projects during this period was singing in a jazz combo called Laszlo, a group who performed original material by guitarist Jerome Covington; Laszlo recorded several tracks, which were later released in 2007 as the album Butterflies.
Jones moved to New York City in 1999 and after arriving in Manhattan, started working lounges and clubs. She assembled her own group -- one that featured Harris, along with bassist Lee Alexander and drummer Dan Rieser -- while also sitting in with the adventurous jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter and trip-hop group Wax Poetic (she appeared on the latter's eponymous 2000 album for Atlantic). Blues and jazz songwriter Peter Malick discovered Jones singing at the club the Living Room and hired her to sing several of his songs, along with a few covers, during studio sessions in late summer 2000. These would be released as New York City in 2003, after Jones became a star, which happened swiftly over the course of the next few years.
During the autumn of 2000, she recorded a series of demos, which got the attention of Bruce Lundvall and Brian Bacchus at Blue Note; they signed her after a live showcase in January 2001. After recording with Jay Newland, Jones entered the studio with producer Craig Street that May, switching to a collaboration with Arif Mardin in August. Highlights from these three sessions were combined for Jones' debut, Come Away with Me, which appeared in February of 2002.
Initially, Come Away with Me was a modest success, debuting at number 139 on the Billboard album chart. Over the course of the year, however, it gained considerable momentum, thanks in no small part to the single "Don't Know Why," which became a runaway hit at adult contemporary radio, reaching number four and staying on the recurrent play chart, while peaking at 30 in the Top 40. Come Away with Me reached the top of the Billboard charts in January 2003 as part of a run on the charts that lasted 164 weeks -- a sign, like its 2005 diamond certification from the RIAA, that the album found a massive audience. Jones' appeal was cemented at the 2003 Grammy Awards, where she took home five big awards: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Pop Vocal Album. (Jesse Harris also won Song of the Year for "Don't Know Why" and Arif Mardin snagged Producer of the Year.)
Her stardom established, Norah Jones reunited with Mardin for her second album, Feels Like Home. Debuting at number one on Billboard upon its February 2004 release, along with many other charts around the world, Feels Like Home didn't replicate the success of Come Away with Me, but its success was still remarkable: it was certified platinum four times in the U.S., selling over 12 million copies around the world. It also earned Jones a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for its single "Sunrise," in the same ceremony where she won Record of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals Grammys for "Here We Go Again," a duet with Ray Charles.
Come Away with Me and Feels Like Home painted Norah Jones as a singer/songwriter with a torchy bent, but she began to dismantle that stereotype swiftly by returning to off-beat collaborations. The first of these was the Little Willies, a cosmopolitan country group that also featured her rhythm section of Alexander and Rieser. The busman's holiday began playing NYC gigs in 2003 and became a semi-regular concern over the next few years, finally releasing The Little Willies album in 2006. Later that year, Jones returned with "Thinking About You," her first solo single since Feels Like Home.
"Thinking About You" was the cornerstone of Not Too Late, the 2007 album that was her first to include only original material. Debuting at number one on Billboard -- and many other charts around the world, including those from the U.K. and Canada -- the LP wound up earning two platinum certifications from the RIAA. A few months after the January release of Not Too Late, Jones made her silver-screen debut in Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival that year.
During 2008, Norah Jones busied herself with El Madmo, a cheeky indie rock trio with bassist Daru Oda and drummer Andrew Borger. The group released an eponymous album on Team Love that May. El Madmo ushered in a period where Jones frequently collaborated with alternative and indie rock musicians. This could be heard on The Fall, a 2009 album that was her first written and recorded without bassist/songwriter Lee Alexander (the pair parted ways professionally following a romantic breakup). Working with producer Jacquire King and featuring a new batch of collaborators, including co-writers Ryan Adams and Will Sheff, the record debuted at number three and was certified platinum by the RIAA. Its leadoff single, "Chasing Pirates," peaked at number 13 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, her best placement since "Don't Know Why."
A compilation of previously released musical collaborations called ...Featuring Norah Jones appeared in November 2010; it peaked at number 29 on Billboard. In 2011, Jones contributed to Rome, the neo-spaghetti Western rock opera by Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi. This led to Jones hiring Danger Mouse as the producer for her fifth album, Little Broken Hearts, which appeared in April 2012, just after the January release of the second album from the Little Willies, For the Good Times. Little Broken Hearts debuted at number two on Billboard.
Jones next teamed up with Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong to remake the classic 1958 Everly Brothers album Songs Our Daddy Taught Us. Recorded in nine days with bassist Tim Luntzel and drummer Dan Rieser, the ensuing Foreverly was released in 2013. The following year, Puss N Boots -- an Americana trio Jones formed with Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper in 2008 -- released their debut album, No Fools, No Fun, on Blue Note Records. Jones returned to her solo career with her sixth solo album, Day Breaks, in October 2016. Produced by Jones, Eli Wolf, and Sarah Oda, the jazzy pop of Day Breaks hinted at her Come Away with Me beginnings; it entered the Billboard charts at number two.
During the course of 2018, Jones spent time in the studio with a variety of collaborators with the intent of releasing one new song per month. The first of these, "My Heart Is Full," appeared in September 2018. By the end of the year, she released the seasonal "Wintertime," which was co-written by Jeff Tweedy. These recordings were collected on Begin Again, a compilation that came out in April 2019. A pair of singles, "How I Weep" and another collaboration with Jeff Tweedy called "I'm Alive," arrived in early 2020 ahead of the summer release of her seventh full-length effort, Pick Me Up Off the Floor. Consisting of leftovers from the sessions that produced Begin Again, Pick Me Up Off the Floor was released in June 2020; it debuted at 87 on Billboard's Top 200.
Jones released her first live album, the Grammy-nominated 'Til We Meet Again, early in 2021. Comprised of performances recorded between 2017 and 2019, the set included a version of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" that was performed in tribute to the recently deceased Chris Cornell. Later that year, she released her first holiday album, I Dream of Christmas, which featured a mix of originals and beloved seasonal songs”.
Almost twenty years since her debut single, Don't Know Why (a cover which Jones made her own), arrived, Norah Jones has risen to become one of the most popular and loved artists in the world. It looks as though she will continue to make music for many more years. Here are my recommendations regarding the Norah Jones albums…
YOU need to own.
______________
The Four Essential Albums
Come Away with Me
Release Date: 26th February, 2002
Label: Blue Note
Producers: Arif Mardin/Jay Newland/Norah Jones/Craig Street
Standout Tracks: Cold Cold Heart/Feelin' the Same Way/Come Away with Me
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=102288&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1JvoMzqg04nC29gam4Qaiq?si=nh10DcVTR9O45BgjR2UN3w
Review:
“Norah Jones' debut on Blue Note is a mellow, acoustic pop affair with soul and country overtones, immaculately produced by the great Arif Mardin. (It's pretty much an open secret that the 22-year-old vocalist and pianist is the daughter of Ravi Shankar.) Jones is not quite a jazz singer, but she is joined by some highly regarded jazz talent: guitarists Adam Levy, Adam Rogers, Tony Scherr, Bill Frisell, and Kevin Breit; drummers Brian Blade, Dan Rieser, and Kenny Wollesen; organist Sam Yahel; accordionist Rob Burger; and violinist Jenny Scheinman. Her regular guitarist and bassist, Jesse Harris and Lee Alexander, respectively, play on every track and also serve as the chief songwriters. Both have a gift for melody, simple yet elegant progressions, and evocative lyrics. (Harris made an intriguing guest appearance on Seamus Blake's Stranger Things Have Happened.) Jones, for her part, wrote the title track and the pretty but slightly restless "Nightingale." She also includes convincing readings of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart," J.D. Loudermilk's "Turn Me On," and Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You." There's a touch of Rickie Lee Jones in Jones' voice, a touch of Bonnie Raitt in the arrangements; her youth and her piano skills could lead one to call her an Alicia Keys for grown-ups. While the mood of this record stagnates after a few songs, it does give a strong indication of Jones' alluring talents” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Don’t Know Why
Feels like Home
Release Date: 10th February, 2004
Label: Blue Note
Producers: Arif Mardin/Norah Jones
Standout Tracks: What Am I to You?/Those Sweet Words/The Prettiest Thing
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=102290&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/42vTuluCgTkgavQGzbMuvG?si=TzW2CFkgRY-2q0aHmUnnJg
Review:
“For a woman with such blatant name recognition, Norah Jones is incredibly equitable when it comes to incorporating her band members’ writing. In part, this good deed will ensure a steady stream of publishing royalty income to the musicians who helped get her to the top. But it also answers several critics who speculated that Jones might not be much more than a pretty face with a pretty voice who happens to play a nice piano. Many of the hit songs on Come Away With Me were written by either Jesse Harris or Jones’s boyfriend and bass player Lee Alexander. On Feels Like Home, Jones seeks to silence her critics immediately with the opening standout single “Sunrise”, which she and Alexander penned together. The title of the tune lasts all day, giving Jones ample time to serenade her listeners. She suggests Billie Holiday with her voice here, which is complemented by acoustic guitar picking by Kevin Breit so fine it doesn’t seem real.
It should go without saying that each track on Feels Like Home receives the attention of Norah Jones’s exquisite voice. While many critics of the album complain about the slow pace of the music, relegating it to little more than background music, it’s hard to believe that they were paying attention. There simply isn’t another singer working in pop music now that holds a candle to Jones. You can throw her up against Britney or Beyoncé, Xtina, or Mariah — any of the so-called divas who can “really” sing — and she blows them all away. All the rest sound like all the rest compared to Jones’ divine instinct for harmony and inflection. Of course, there are tracks on Feels Like Home where Jones proves herself especially exceptional. “Carnival Town” is a fine standout, with Nashville-style harmonizing that will place you on top of your convertible’s backseat on a balmy summer evening, sipping lemonade and welcoming the sunset.
“Be Here to Love Me” is a Townes Van Zandt cover from his early album Our Mother of the Mountain that Jones resurrects with the help of the Band’s Garth Hudson on accordion and a string section that’s gone electric. With the heart of a country girl, Jones lends enough soul to this classic that you wish she’d make good on her promise to record an album of standards and favorites. Hudson performs again on the album, joined by former band mate Levon Helm on “What Am I to You?” The quality of Jones’s voice resonates far beyond the mere 24 years she’s been on earth. Here, she melts you with buttery sultriness that simply defies age.
“Creepin’ In” finds Jones in a duet with legendary singer Dolly Parton, and together they provide the album’s most energetic performance. “Creepin’ In” also features more great acoustic guitar from Kevin Breit, and a steady rhythm section anchored by Lee Alexander’s bass. The song is followed by one of the album’s true highlights, “Toes”, which Jones sings herself like a lullaby spiritual. It’s deep and moody and yearning in a way that will change where you are at by the time Jones is done.
Jones decided to end the album by herself, with a cover of an old Duke Ellington song called “Melancholia”, to which she added lyrics and re-titled “Don’t Miss You At All”. With just Jones’s voice and her piano to take you out, she cradles you in loneliness and heartbreak. Her voice is spectacular, but again, she’s more than just a pretty voice. Years of study gave her a deep understanding of how to play jazz. She’s really a jazz musician who happens to have crossed over. This is the type of torch song that would have been just at home 50 or 60 years ago as it is today. To say that Jones is timeless at age 24 may be a bit of an overstatement. Here, she’s not trying to keep up with the Strokes or beat the sophomore slump. She’s just taking her time on a song for all seasons” – PopMatters
Choice Cut: Sunrise
Day Breaks
Release Date: 7th October, 2016
Label: Blue Notes
Producers: Norah Jones/Eli Wolf/Sarah Oda
Standout Tracks: Tragedy/Peace/Carry On
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=1069422&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7ampUMuhfCx0briKjYNKRQ?si=3gspybIPTiuPWG_2GO-YkA Review:
“One element on Day Breaks brings Jones back to her debut. She concentrates on her piano after working with guitar on many of her releases in between. In fact, she shows greater command of the instrument than before, presenting her solos and fills as equal to her melodies and vocals.
One through-line in Jones’ sound holds: She still operates on slow-burn, singing intimately while hushing the volume and measuring the pace. It’s a wee-small-hours-of-the-morning sound yet it’s far from sleepy. Amid that groove, Jones found a sensual new texture for her voice. There’s more smoke in her tone and her vibrato lingers longer, melting into her dexterous keyboard work. During “And Then There Was You,” Jones channels a young Diana Washington. In “Sleeping Wild,” she invokes the subtler tones of Ella Fitzgerald.
A role model for the arrangements seems to be Roberta Flack’s take on “Compared To What.” That’s especially clear on “Flipside, with its roiling piano and flinty bass.
Two classic jazz covers turn up: “Peace,” by Horace Silver,” where Jones swans over the melody, and “African Flower,” by Duke Ellington, where her piano creates a dreamy dialogue with Shorter’s painterly soprano sax. There’s one “off-message” cover: Neil Young’s “Don’t Be Denied,” which Jones punches up with jazzy horns. The original compositions prove equal to the covers, running from the swing of “It’s A Wonderful Time For Love,” to the bluesy reflection of “Tragedy.” Still, it’s the relationship between Jones’ voice and her piano that impresses most. Not since her entrancing debut has she sounded this engaged” – Entertainment Weekly
Choice Cut: Flipside
Pick Me Up Off the Floor
Release Date: 12th June, 2020
Label: Blue Note
Producers: Norah Jones/Jeff Tweedy
Standout Tracks: Flame Twin/How I Weep/Were You Watching?
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=1754536&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3pi6NXntLETosIkAuaZEhW?si=pU5ljQcnQMWUE6msMs26rA
Review:
“Rather than set out to record an album, Jones initially cobbled together a series of studio sessions as one-offs, expecting to come away with a few songs to round out the 2019 singles collection “Begin Again.” Even after releasing those songs, however, she found herself sitting with a surplus of material. It’s incredibly rare for “leftovers” to comprise a cohesive album, but “Pick Me Up Off the Floor” does just that.
Though stretching its borders from stormcloud blues to orchestral jazz pop to lithe Motown, the album is tied together by Jones’ ineffable ability to convey big emotions with simplicity. “How I weep, and I sleep, and I march, and I dance … but inside, inside I weep,” she pours out on the album’s opener. As the track ends, Jones’ heart is caught behind in brambles, the loss felt deeply, though the minimalist lyrics only hint at the story. Musically, the song counterbalances the existential weight with an evocative string arrangement from Paul Wiancko, curls of violin like birds darting through the sky, viola dropping like rain on growing flowers.
When daily life in modern America feels compounded by an endless array of issues and calls for hope, Jones’ songs pare away details to let the big moments speak for themselves. Walking the fine line between vague and blunt can be tricky, and “Pick Me Up Off the Floor” keeps itself squarely on the latter. Her lyrics aren’t refined and toiled over, but instead cut straight to the core, as if written directly after each painful moment. Album highlight “Heartbroken, Day After” sells both the angst and the yearning within words of each other. “Heartbroken, day after, our world is wasting away,” she offers, only to rebut herself, as if responding to the tears of the listener. “Oh hey, hey, it’s gonna be okay my little one / I promise we’ll find our way.” As angelic pedal steel guitar and backing vocals blur into a radiant corona, Jones’ voice boosts into another range: “Find a way out!” she calls, bursting out of the gloom.
It’s tempting to align that song and others under a banner of protest or response to the Trump presidency. “I’m Alive” is as simple and direct a statement of hope as many are capable of in this moment. Co-written by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, the song uses a nameless “she” as a stand-in for Jones herself and women around the world. “She’s crushed by thoughts at night of men / Who want her rights / And usually win / But she’s alive,” Jones exhales, the trademark smoke in her voice weaving through muscly piano, Tweedy’s choppy acoustic guitar and his son Spencer’s nimble drumming. “He screams, he shouts / The heads on the TV bow / They take the bait / They mirror waves of hate,” Jones adds — a straightforward yet no less affecting summation of the last few years in American politics.
Elsewhere, “To Live” digs into more oppression, but aches to break through. “To live in this moment and finally be free / Is what I was after, no chains holding me,” she sings over the gospel-tinted, horn-laden track. And though the solution to her pain may seem easy — love, right there in front of Jones’ face — there’s a revelatory power to the sway, and comfort in the conviction.
Other experiments leave behind the political sphere to push into more personal territory, though again leaving room for listeners to feel every word without the weight of distance or minutiae. “Flame Twin” slinks and burns like a breakup funk track, and “Heaven Above” (another Tweedy collaboration) rides Jones’ lithe piano and lapping waves of guitar into the sunset, looking up at the sky for signs of a lost love.
While it may not be soundtracking any marches or precisely match any singular breakup, Jones’ latest captures big-picture feelings of anxiety, fear, loss and hope. “Pick Me Up Off the Floor” is a cohesive journey reflecting both tragically and sweetly on the amorphous cloud of heartache that lingers in these moments of pain, offering a hand to help us out of the fog” – Variety
Choice Cut: I’m Alive
The Underrated Gem
Not Too Late
Release Date: 30th January, 2007
Label: Blue Note
Producer: Lee Alexander
Standout Tracks: Sinkin' Soon/My Dear Country/Not Too Late
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=102291&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6hpBCxDD4f45hI0UMvOggI?si=PssU1fx7T7KbGzObN6BqOQ
Review:
“Meanwhile Not Too Late moves the singer subtly but surely on from the first two records, even if making its most formulaic track, 'Thinking About You', the lead single looks like a conscious attempt not to scare the punters.
More typical is the opening 'Wish I Could', which sets those familiar creamy vocals against a sparse, daring backdrop of tinkling acoustic guitar and cellos, while a line like 'Love in the time of war isn't fair/ He was my man but they didn't care' lends its love-triangle narrative a sharp, contemporary twist.
A more explicit poke at the state of the States comes on 'My Dear Country', whose waltz-time piano and wry commentary might have sprung from the Randy Newman songbook. 'Nothing is as scary as election day,' opines Norah, before adding: 'Who knows, maybe the plans will change/ Who knows, maybe he's not deranged'. It's a polite, laconic kind of protest song, but protest nonetheless.
The darker, more mischievous mood at work is perfectly complemented by arrangements that are as inventive as they are austere. 'Broken' comes set to a murky string quartet. The aching 'Wake Me Up' shuffles along to little more than a ghostly steel guitar. 'Rosie's Lullaby', whose heroine is beckoned to eternal dreams by a crashing ocean (an echo of Jodie Reynolds's doomy 'Endless Sleep'), drifts past to a sultry electric piano.
Occasionally a more upbeat mood is struck - 'Sinking Soon' is an unexpected foray into Thirties jug band blues, with Satchmo-style trumpet and black-humoured Brechtian lyrics about sailing 'in a boat that's built of sticks and hay'. It's Norah, all right, but not as we know her.
There are, arguably, one or two lapses in judgment, but even they stem from artistic ambition. The coy 'Little Room' is too cutesy for comfort (with bad whistling), while 'Until the End' peters into incoherence after a promising Dylanesque opening ('You got a famous last name, but you're not to blame').
Mostly, though, the risks pay off. The credit is not all Ms Jones's. Lee Allen, her beau and bassist, is at the production helm of the pair's recently built studio, and co-writes on several tracks, as do other members of the 'Handsome Band' entourage. There's a lot of musicality in play, albeit deceptively subdued. It's Norah's album, nonetheless, and what a clever, winning evolution of her talents it is” – The Observer
Choice Cut: Thinking About You
The Latest Album
I Dream of Christmas
Release Date: 15th October, 2021
Label: Blue Note
Producer: Leon Michels
Standout Tracks: Christmas Don't Be Late/Blue Christmas/Winter Wonderland
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=2338762&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/60SJnVimx7BPaZz2nec9vO?si=3OpCDoHmQkixMfpDmU4kGw
Review:
“A mixture of Christmas classics and originals, I Dream of Christmas is thoroughly elegant, the equivalent of a flute of Prosecco. The tunes that Jones penned fit comfortably with the standards because she gets why so many Christmas songs feel evergreen: she wraps her languid, purring voice around comforting and inviting arrangements. Though I Dream of Christmas is being released during the second holiday season during the pandemic, the album is refreshingly lacking in angst or melancholy. Instead, there’s a restorative chumminess and winking flirtatiousness that belies the troubled times in which we live.
In keeping with the cool, sexy tone, Jones eschews the more melancholic Christmas tunes like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and instead goes for poppier lighter fare. When looking to contemporary carols, she turns to Ross Bagdasarian’s novelty classic “Christmas Don’t Be Late”, made famous by the high-pitched vocals of Alvin & the Chipmunks. Instead of hewing to the song’s original 1960s pop arrangement, Jones slows down the swinging tempo, remaking the comedy carol into a saucy, torchy chanteuse number.
Jones visits another animated holiday classic, covering Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmas Time Is Here” from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Guaraldi’s original sounds like something Jones would record, so her take is pretty faithful, with her sinewy vocals taking the place of the chirping children’s choir of the older song. The song has been recorded many times and it enjoys a reverence which leads most renditions to be close to Guaraldi’s. Jones’ version doesn’t reinvent anything, but so much of Christmas is about the familiar (especially now) that it feels appropriate she doesn’t do anything too radical.
Other classics on I Dream of Christmas do benefit from Jones’ special touch. Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” is a recast of a rock and roll number to a simmering, sensual midtempo tune. Jones takes the “blue” from her take on “Blue Christmas” and turns Elvis Presley’s soulful pop ballad into a languorous bluesy dirge. And the usually-sprightly “Winter Wonderland” is turned into an idiosyncratic, curious carol, complete with ghostly synths and steel guitars that lend an almost-Hawaiian feel to the song.
Two tunes represent the Great American Songbook on this set, and both get relatively straightforward interpretations by Jones. Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” has been revisited so many times that it seems nearly impossible to do anything radical with it. Jones doesn’t try. Instead, she offers a fine rendition. Her take on Frank Loesser’s “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” is similarly faithful to the original, the steel guitar giving the song a soupcon of country and western affectations. Still, like with the Berlin number, this song has been covered too many times for any novel interpretations of it anymore.
Of the originals, the opening number, “Christmas Calling (Jolly Jones)”, is remarkable because it captures the kind of timeless loveliness of the classics on the record. It could be the arrangements that stick to the jazz-pop that make the song feel as if it were written by Guaraldi in the 1960s as well as Jones’ charming vocal performance. However, the song is a beautiful pastiche of a contemporary jazz-pop and Christmas pop with an eye toward those swinging Christmas records of the 1960s. It’s a rare contemporary Christmas song that sounds like a Christmas standard (akin to Mariah Carey’s Phil Spector homage “All I Want for Christmas (Is You)”.
I Dream of Christmas feels like a soothing salve on what seems like another troubled holiday season. The record is a wonderful soundtrack to the upcoming festivities and should be on the playlist of everyone’s Christmas party” – PopMatters
Choice Cut: White Christmas