Norah Jones - Picture In A Frame (2002)

When 22 year old Norah Jones submitted her debut album 'Come Away With Me' to her record label in 2002 it was rejected, as they were expecting something more along the lines of the demos that they'd heard from their newest young signing. Jones was a big fan of Cassandra Wilson's 'New Moon Daughter' album, and wanted a similar sound on her first record, so initial recording sessions had been carried out at Allaire Studios in Woodstock, New York with a dream collective of musicians, including Rob Burger on accordion and organ, guitarists Bill Frisell and Kevin Breit, bassist Lee Alexander, and Brian Blade and Kenny Wollesen on drums, all under the direction of producer Craig Street, who had produced Wilson's album. Jones still rates some of those early recordings, and thinks that they could have easily been on the album with a little spit and polish, but in the end most of the songs were scrapped, and just under half of them were re-recorded with the label's suggestion of producer, Arif Mardin. The version of the album that was eventually released cherry-picked the best moments from three different sources, with 'Don’t Know Why' and 'Turn Me On' coming from demo sessions recorded when she secured a demo contract with Blue Note, while 'Seven Years', 'Feelin' The Same Way' and 'The Long Day Is Over' came from the 21 songs recorded for the Street-produced set, and nine songs were recorded or re-recorded with Mardin, who added a burnished veneer of sophistication without subtracting from the freshness that had characterised the demos. When 'Come Away With Me' was released in 2002 it kick-started a career that was to fascinate the world, and introduce one of the great voices of our time. The album continued to gain popularity, eventually becoming a global phenomenon, reaching the top of the charts in 20 countries, selling nearly 30 million copies and scoring eight Grammy Awards in 2003. With the recent release of the 20th Anniversary box set, we can now hear most of those Street-produced sessions, and get an idea of what the album could have sounded like if the record company hadn't decided to go for a smoother sound with Mardin at the helm.   

Track listing

01 Picture In A Frame
02 Peace
03 What Am I To You
04 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
05 Come Away With Me
06 A Little At A Time
07 Turn Me On
08 What Would I Do
09 I've Got To See You Again
10 Painter Song
11 One Flight Down
12 Nightingale
13 Fragile