流行爵士小天后諾拉·瓊斯

Norah Jones was born in New York City in 1979. Her mother， Sue Jones， is a nurse and music promoter. Her father， Ravi Shankar， is a legendary and world-famous Indian musician. Shankar became widely known for his association with the Beatles and other Western musicians； he taught Beatles’guitarist George Harrison how to play the sitar， a long-necked Indian stringed instrument， of which Shankar is considered a master. As early as age three， Jones began showing a keen interest in music， closely watching her father when he played his sitar. At age five she began singing in her church choir. She learned to play several instruments in her youth， primarily studying piano.

Shankar and Sue Jones， unmarried when Norah was born， separated when she was still a young child. Sue took her daughter to live in Texas in a suburb of Dallas called Grapevine. Jones lived there for much of her childhood， having no contact with her famous father for ten years. Her musical influences during that time came from her mother’s record collection. She felt especially affected by the works of great jazz， soul， and blues singers. Jones also spent countless hours listening to recordings of musicals such as Cats and West Side Story.1

During her high school years at Dallas’s Booker T. Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts， Jones explored her developing passion for jazz. On her sixteenth birthday she gave her first solo performance， singing and playing piano at a coffeehouse on open mic night， when anyone brave enough can try his or her hand at performing for the public.2 During that period Jones also played in a band called Laszlo and tried her hand at composing jazz tunes. She earned recognition from the highly respected jazz magazine Down Beat， winning their Student Music Award （SMA） for Best Jazz Vocalist two years running and also winning an SMA for Best Original Composition.

After graduating from high school， Jones enrolled at the University of North Texas. She spent two years there， studying jazz piano3 and giving solo performances at a local restaurant on weekends. She also became reacquainted with her father， and the two developed a close relationship. The summer after her sophomore year Jones decided to head to New York City and try her luck making it as a musician there. Working in a restaurant during the day and performing in downtown clubs by night， Jones felt excited to be part of the city’s jazz scene， rather than just studying music in a classroom. She decided to stay in New York， forming a jazz trio， and also performing with other jazz groups.

On the evening of her twenty-first birthday， Jones gave a performance that connected deeply with a notable member of her audience. Shell White， an employee in the accounting department of the revered jazz label Blue Note， was so struck by Jones’s talents that she arranged for a meeting between the young singer and the label’s CEO， Bruce Lundvall. After meeting Jones and hearing her sing， Lundvall signed her to a record deal on the spot. Lundvall described the essence of Jones’s appeal： “Norah doesn’t have one of those over-the-top instruments. 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.”

Jones began her relationship with Blue Note by releasing a six-song EP4. When she began recording her debut full-length recording Come Away with Me in May of 2001， Jones showed a preference for a spontaneous style in the studio， aiming to capture the intimate and natural qualities of live performance.

Released in early 2002， Come Away with Me earned positive reviews. Music critics expressed appreciation for her distinctive voice and authentic， understated style. Many critics wrote of Jones as a promising new artist， a refreshing change of pace from the slick5 packaging of pop stars. Come Away with Me became so successful that it seemed to be everywhere： on the radio， on television， playing over the public address system in shopping malls. Jones recalled that she heard one of the album’s tracks in an unexpected place： “Once on a plane—you know how they play elevator music6 before you take off？—they played one of the songs.”

The “insanity，” as Jones frequently characterized the buzz surrounding her debut， seemed to reach a peak when the album was nominated for eight Grammy Awards. In February of 2003， the album won all eight awards. Among Jones’s victories were trophies for Album of the Year and Best New Artist. Jones began to feel overwhelmed，“I felt like I was in high school and all the popular kids were in the audience and were， like， ‘What’s she doing up there？’ I felt like I had gone in a birthday party and eaten all the cake before anyone else got a piece.” So she retreated from the spotlight. She preferred the idea of being a member of a group rather than a solo star， “Deep down， in my gut， all I want to be is part of a band.” Jones sought a quiet and low-key lifestyle， unexpected for such a young musician.

When work began on a follow-up album， Feels Like Home， many music-industry insiders speculated that it would take a miracle for the second album to sell as well as the first. Such predictions did not faze Jones. Her primary focus was the music； she was eager to branch out on her second album and explore different styles， having shifted away from jazz and toward country in her listening habits and writing. For Feels Like Home， Jones took a greater role in the songs’ composition， writing or co-writing six of the album’s thirteen tracks. Released in early 2004， Feels Like Home was snapped up by one million buyers in its first week， resulting in an instant rise to the number one position on Billboard’s album chart.

Millions of fans find Jones to be a breath of fresh air in a stale pop landscape. She is a musician who has sought success but not necessarily stardom， and who seems more likely to share the spotlight than grab it for herself. At a time when young pop singers belt out every note with over-the-top passion， Jones opts for subtlety， understanding that a low-key voice stripped to its essence can pack a greater punch than one bellowed out at top volume.7 She may prove to be the most natural singer of her generation.

諾拉·瓊斯1979年出生于紐約市，她的母親蘇·瓊斯是個(gè)護(hù)士兼音樂愛好者，她的父親拉維·香卡是個(gè)傳奇人物，一個(gè)世界知名的印度音樂家。他因與披頭士和其他歐美音樂家的交往而名聲大振；他教過披頭士樂隊(duì)的吉他手喬治·哈里森如何演奏西塔爾琴（一種長(zhǎng)頸印度弦樂器），香卡被普遍認(rèn)為是演奏西塔爾琴的大師。瓊斯早在三歲時(shí)就開始表現(xiàn)出對(duì)音樂的濃厚興趣，當(dāng)父親彈奏西塔爾琴時(shí)她總是全神貫注地看著。五歲時(shí)，她開始在教堂的唱詩(shī)班演唱。青年時(shí)期她學(xué)習(xí)演奏了幾種樂器，主要是學(xué)習(xí)鋼琴。

諾拉出生時(shí)香卡和蘇·瓊斯還未結(jié)婚，而當(dāng)她還是個(gè)小孩兒的時(shí)候，兩人就分開了。蘇帶著女兒來(lái)到得克薩斯州達(dá)拉斯郊外的格雷普韋恩生活。瓊斯大部分童年時(shí)期都生活在那里，和她著名的父親十年來(lái)都沒有聯(lián)系。那時(shí)，她音樂方面所受的影響來(lái)自于母親的唱片收藏，特別是受到了著名爵士樂、靈魂樂及藍(lán)調(diào)歌手的作品的影響。瓊斯還花大量時(shí)間聽諸如《貓》、《西區(qū)故事》等音樂劇的唱片。

在達(dá)拉斯布克·華盛頓學(xué)院主修表演和視覺藝術(shù)的高中時(shí)期，瓊斯挖掘了她對(duì)爵士樂的熱情。16歲生日時(shí)，她首次獨(dú)自演出，在開麥之夜（任何一個(gè)有足夠勇氣的人都能為公眾表演）在一家咖啡館演唱并演奏鋼琴。那段時(shí)期，瓊斯還在一個(gè)名為“拉佐羅”的樂隊(duì)里演奏，并嘗試創(chuàng)作爵士樂曲。她得到了備受尊崇的爵士樂雜志《重拍》的認(rèn)可，連續(xù)兩年榮獲學(xué)生音樂獎(jiǎng)最佳爵士樂歌手獎(jiǎng)，并且獲得了學(xué)生音樂最佳原創(chuàng)獎(jiǎng)。……