Norah Jones
2004-06-12
Kongresshaus
Zurich, Switzerland
SETLIST:
Disc 1
Turn Me On
Nightingale
Those Sweet Words
What Am I To You
Something Is Calling You
Stay With Me [Keith Richards]
In The Morning
Carnival Town
Don’t Miss You At All
Painter Song
The Long Way Home
Don’t Know Why
Creepin’ In
Above Ground
Sunrise
I’ve Got To See You Again
Come Away With Me
What Would I Do [Ray Charles]
Encore
Seven Years
Life Is A Carnival
The Midnight Cafe’s Notes
Norah Jones’s debut album Come Away With Me was a surprise smash hit. It was a beautiful mix of jazz, soul, folk, and the blues all entwined in Norah’s stunningly beautiful vocals. Her next two albums followed suit with lush productions and a gorgeous sound. For my money, Not Too Late is one of the prettiest albums ever made.
In 2009, she released her fourth album, The Fall, and with it she changed her signature sound. She strapped on a guitar for some songs, played an electric piano for others. The beat was more danceable, the songs more pop-oriented. She’s continued this trend, more or less, for the rest of her career (so far)
I’m not against an artist chasing their muse and going in different directions, and I do like a lot of those songs, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss that early sound. Truth be told, I’ve kind of lost sight of what she’s done lately. I didn’t even know she released Visions in 2024. She does have a podcast I like, where she plays along with various artists she likes and has lovely chats.
I’ve seen her in concert a couple of times. Both shows were wonderful, but definitely well into her more “pop” phase. This show was recorded just a few months after the release of her second album, Feels Like Home.
This is with the Handsome Band, and they sound really good. I can already feel some strains of her longing to branch out from the gorgeous piano jazz she’s locked herself into for the time being. On several songs, the band stretches out just a little bit, doing little jams before returning to the song. There are some nice guitar solos and big drums, but it still maintains that beautiful sound.
It begins with a lovely “Turn Me On.” It isn’t quite as gorgeous as the studio cut, but it’s still spellbinding. From the first notes, you can tell this is a band really gelling. They are locked in, totally in sync.
“Nightingale” and “Those Sweet Words” continue the magic. That later gives us a lovely little jam.
Norah tries a little German but mucks it up. She’s quite chatty throughout the proceedings but doesn’t seem to get much response from the crowd. I may be wrong in that, as this is an FM source and maybe the mics just didn’t pick up much crowd noise. But her responses to them do seem to indicate they aren’t very responsive. Admittedly, her chatter is pretty awkward, something she admits at one point, noting she’s a musician, not a conversationalist. Which is charming in itself. She does seem to be having a good time.
“What Am I To You” is a rollicking little number. She’s brought out that electric piano, and the guitar is really good. It has an incredible groove and the whole band is really into it. This is pure joy to my ears.
“Carnival Town” and “Don’t Miss You At All” come back to sounding like the albums. Norah calls this the piano bar section of the show. “Painter Song” has this wonderful Spanish-sounding guitar.
They then move into what Norah jokingly calls her “cowboy songs.” “Creepin’ In ” is one of my favorite Norah songs, and she plays it with gusto, and it is so much fun. “Sunrise” is terrific. “Come Away With” is so sultry it makes my knees weak.
She does a lot of cover songs throughout, from Ray Charles to The Band to Tom Waits’ “The Long Way Home.” They are lovingly played. I especially like the Waits cover, and how she replaces his gruff vocals with her beautiful ones, yet still maintains the song’s integrity. She’ll close the show out with The Band’s “Life is a Carnival,” which she calls “About as rock and roll as we get.”
This show has been bootlegged a few times. This is the source that I have.
Source: Swiss analog FM broadcast (SR DRS 3)
Equipment: Technics Tuner ST Z55L
Transfer: Creative Sound Blaster Extigy > Exact Audio Copy > Trader’s Little Helper
Generation: WAV (16bit/44.1kHz) > FLAC (Level 8)
Some notes:
– Live broadcast, complete
– Normalized
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