Customer Reviews

Norah Jones: Live in New Orleans

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Norah Jones recently swept up the Grammys, winning all five awards she was up for including Record & Album of the year. All were well deserved and on the heels of that success, she picked the right time to release her first DVD. It's from a performance from July, 2002 at The House of Blues in New Orleans and it captures the essence of her music. The show is cool and laid back, and a throwback to vintage stylings as is the DVD's direction. The camera work lingers on Ms. Jones and her band for long moments, allowing the viewer to soak in each performer's image. We get long close-ups and not the usual herky-jerky, fast cuts of most concert films. The concert contains almost every song from her lone album, Come Away With Me as well as some choice covers including a standout version of The Band's "Bessie Smith". For fans of Ms. Jones, the DVD is great companion piece to her award winning album and an excellent concert film.

NOTE: There are two extras on this DVD that aren't mentioned on the Amazon.com discription - an encore of "Tennessee Waltz", and the music video for "Come Away With Me"

Norah Jones is one of those great music success stories - blessed with talent (and looks), seriously approach to her art, and knowing of her strong points. All of these factors, and more, come together in this live show.
Recorded at the House Of Blues in October 2002, Norah and "The Very Handsome Band" don't stray too far from what worked so successfully on her incredible debut. Most of the songs from "Come Away With Me" are presented, along with 4 tunes added for this show.
This is a very quiet show, which allows the focus to remain on Norah's gorgeous singing and wonderful piano playing. Favorites like "Don't Know Why", "Nightingale" and "One Flight Down" sound great in a live setting (as if there would be any doubt). If you are a fan of the album, you'll truly enjoy this show.
Of the four new tunes, Norah is at her vocal best on "Bessie Smith", a wonderful blues tune with great drum work by Andrew Burger. "Something Is Calling You" is a beautiful song as well, with an excellent bass line. And the version of "Tennessee Waltz" which Norah uses for an encore sounds much sadder than many versions of this song, but works wonderfully.
This is truly step 2 in the making of a major star - with a new album (supposedly) coming this fall, this DVD makes a nice in-between step for those of us that have been captured by Norah's talent. You won't have a moment's disappointment watching this show, but definitely catch her live this summer if you have a chance.

A fun, sweet Norah Jones performance coupled with out-of-this-world audio quality makes this modestly priced DVD a must buy. You get to hear most of the songs from Norah's "Come Away With Me" CD, plus a couple of other good pieces. Extras include the "Come Away With Me" music video and an encore song from the main concert this DVD chronicled. Actually it would have been better if the main concert just flowed right into the encore, as I'm sure it did in real life. Here, Norah says good night, the credits roll, the picture fades to black, and we're sent back to the main menu. Then, when you click on the "encore" icon in the extras section, we're right back in New Orleans with Norah back on stage performing "Tennessee Waltz" (a great rendition, by the way). Yes, it's a small point, but that extra clicking around was needless and broke the flow of the performance a bit. Also, some of the lighting was harsh (Norah has what looks like a blue electrical sheen on her face all through one song, which was kind of annoying), and with an excessive amount of fading from one shot to another, the direction drew attention to itself and came off as distracting. But in the end all these things qualify as quibbles, as the musical performance itself- aided by the DVD's excellent sound- is subtle, nuanced, sensual, and very sweet. Norah is the real deal, a fact that comes through clearly on this DVD.

If you already have Norah's fantastic debut album, then this DVD should be next on your shopping list. Recorded at the House of Blues, Norah (and her band) gives an excellent and intimate performance. Fans will rejoice with the inclusion of some non-album tracks, including Comes love, Bessie Smith, Something is calling you, What am I to you?, and the concert encore Tennessee waltz. Along with these you get many of her much loved songs including the likes of the superlative Don't know why, Come away with me, One flight down and many more. It's a shame songs like Shoot the moon and Turn me on aren't here, but hey...you can't have everything.

Picture quality is excellent - very crisp, vibrant colors, and full screen. Sound is equally impressive. Unfortunately the DVD is a little low on extras; you get the aforementioned concert encore (though why this is separated away from the main concert is beyond me) and one music video, for "Come away with me". Why didn't they include some of her other videos though?.

Nevertheless, and minor criticisms aside, this is a great first DVD of one of the most promising new artists in years. If you love her debut album then there's no reason why you shouldn't love this as well.

If you like Norah Jones, you will love this DVD. There are several songs on this DVD that aren't on her latest CD, such as Comes Love, Something is Calling You, What Am I to You, Bessie Smith, and Tennessee Waltz (which is only available from the Bonus Features section). The DVD has Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2 channel sound as the options. The sound and video are very good, about the same quality as some of the better MTV Unplugged DVD's (excluding the Eagles Hell Freezes Over). The video is full screen and is very sharp and clear, with a lot of close-ups of Norah. My only complaint is that's it's rather short at only 67 minutes, I wish she would've added a few more tracks from some of her other live performances.

This is the sort of DVD that you really only need to listen to in order to enjoy it. This is not a knock on it, but just a comment on the style of music and the presentation of the concert footage. The feature is an hour long performance by Norah at the House of Blues in New Orleans. She has a backing back, but the show is pretty much just Norah at the piano. She does some cover songs as well as stuff from her album "Come Away With Me". She also mentions that some songs are only on her previous EP, which she expects that most people do not have.

If you have listened to her album, you have a pretty good idea what to expect from this DVD. She doesn't talk much between songs, usually only to introduce the next song or to say who she is covering on a song. This may be a good thing if she doesn't have anything interesting to say, it would only detract from the performance. This is a fairly low key performance, but her playing is amazing. Norah Jones is a very gifted musician with a beautiful voice.

The only comment I have in closing is that while I really enjoyed listening (and watching) to this DVD, I don't think it is something that I would watch very often. I'm glad that I rented it, but it isn't worth purchasing (for me).

I bought this DVD the day after Norah Jones swept the Grammys, and I wasn't sure what to expect. As a performer she is talented and warm, but refreshingly reserved. Unlike most celebrities who use their moments in the spotlight, Miss Jones seems intent on keeping herself to, well, herself. Good for her.
She's got talent, poise, and she's easy on the eyes. Original songs will come in time, and if she continues doing excellent covers, great. (Personally, I'd like to hear her version of Peggy Lee's "Fever.") I was impressed by her band as well - especially the lead guitarist. The DVD is well done, spare on the features, and sound quality is better than average.

Norah Jones may not have the keyboard proficiency of Dianna Krall nor the polished vocal range of Sade but she has what the others don't have - eight Grammys. Whether the Grammy was a one-hit-wonder glitch or a confirmation of her talents is a moot issue.

What is obvious in this New Orleans performance is her artistry -- no embellishments, just simplicity and grace. Norah exudes femininity which is sometimes hard to convey in a jazz setting; her voice, oftentimes soulful and melancholic, comes across intimately in Lonestar, Bessie Smith, The Painter Song and the surprise encore Tennessee Waltz. Her now familiar "Don't Know Why" and "Come Away with Me", performed live, are enough reasons for having this DVD.

In the musical world where artistic integrity are often compromised, it is nice to have for more than a 'brief shining moment' a lone star like Norah Jones.

I'm going to make this one short. This DVD is very very very intense. It is incredible that Norah and her band are able to execute so agressively at such a low stage volume. It blows me away. The film is okay and it's fun to watch, but I am very captivated by the ability and talent of the group to deliver such intensity at subtle levels. I wish more groups in the popular music arena would be able to deliver such stellar results. The engineering is pretty damn good, and even though the songs are 'quiet' and 'subtle', i recommend that you crank the hell outta this DVD and listen to the subtle nuisiances. The upright bass is captured nicely. The drums are killer as well, I'm a fan of the sound they captured. Good job guys! Not to mention, I enjoy the way Norah has a knack for her slinky timing. I would die to hear more keyboardist have the ability to 'slide' in time the way she does. Kudos Norah! You have won my applause. Your talent makes me sick, but in a good way. I don't want to step out on a limb, but I think the timing and execution of the band as an ensemble is pretty stellar... maybe for Norah it is genetic to have an aptitude for a good internal clock, having a dad who is a sick tabla performer. Her drummer is very expressive as well, he uses some mallets and his brush work is creative and I think the engineering of this DVD does it capturing his style and technique justice... Hell, the whole band is damn good and I am glad i picked this one up. (...). Like I said crank this DVD up and let it roar, you will learn a lot about intensity and how it is possible to play quiet and intense. It would be a great learning tool for younger musicians and if i was still teaching music, I would probably use this as a reference. All I can say is this is one intense group and getting to see them up close and observe them utilize thier instruments is pretty damn cool.

Let me iterate again... Even though this ensemble might not appear to have the testicular fortitiude of a group such as Korn (i know its like comparing apples and oranges he he)... I would argue and suggest that those not usually atune to 'quiter' music take note and realize that this performance is actually more intense than the majority of groups in popular music. Maybe it has something to do with the BlueNote connection... i dunno...
just my two cents, since everyone else has great comments...

Beautiful vocals meet beautiful instrumentals for a night at the House of Blues! What more could you want? Many of the live versions on this DVD are cleaner than the album versions. The sound quality is outstanding and the video is, of course, DVD-crisp. The songs which are not on the album are exceptional. Bessie Smith and Tennesee Waltz (the Encore) are worth the price alone!

P.S. For all the reviewers who are talking about Ms. Jones sweating....it's not sweat! It's sparkly stage makeup. I know this because my sister was a ballet dancer and still wears the stuff....