One can't help being curious about the contents of Norah Jones' music collection after listening to her debut, "Come Away With Me". They would probably not be far off in assuming she grew up singing into various makeshift microphones around her household alongside the vocals of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell, and Sarah Mclachlan.
Despite the album's various jazz standards, one should not be so naïve to classify Norah Jones as a jazz singer. Hardcore jazz traditionalists, snobs, and academics may deny her jazz credibility for her folk infusion, however, her rendition of The Nearness of You would have made any of the songs predecessors proud. Regardless of how listeners may argue and classify the roots of her musical stylings, the consistent adjective in all of these debates should be "spectacular".
Jones succeeds in making listeners feel as though they are eavesdropping on an experience that ultimately, seems private. The innocence in her voice and purity of her instruments make adult listeners feel both pedophilic and guilty for falling in love with her.
Her voice stretches across a bed of lyrics like a full size sheet on king size bed - just barely making it and yet successfully pulling it off. We should reserve being more critical of lesser talents.
