Soft Soul

Perhaps in some far-off place, they have words to describe a voice like this. But after trying for three days here in the good old U.S. of A., I'm still coming up short. Call it heavenly, honey-dipped, sultry, smoldering or whatever--let's just say Norah Jones' voice is one of the more beautiful things you could ever hope to fall upon your ears. Her voice sounds as if she's been loved and left for dead too many times to count, yet somehow survived with her pipes intact.

She's only 22, but her voice alone could probably get her a discount at the movies and cheap coffee at McDonald's.

Jones is no breathy siren who sits back while the real musicians do the work, despite her vocal talents. On Come Away With Me, the first thing you notice--besides that voice--is the lilting piano, played by Jones herself. Softly brushed drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitars round out the 14 tracks, with organ, slide guitar and violin making occasional guest appearances. The three songs penned by Jones (particularly the title track) are strong, but some of her best vocal work comes on her cover of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart", a soft, pseudo-country tease that retains the twang in all the right places.

Since its release last week, Come Away With Me has been getting major buzz from all sides. Writers at The Washington Post and The Boston Globe have already hailed her as prodigy material. Rolling Stone listed her as one of the top 10 artists to watch in 2002. And she's already done the obligatory gigs on Jay Leno and Craig Kilborn.

But before all the buzz hit, her label (the jazz-oriented Blue Note) was having trouble deciding how to market her CD. They worried that since it wasn't as jazzy as their typical offerings, it wouldn't sit well with their traditional fan base.

So far fans seem to be having no difficulty with Jones' sound, but it's true that her style is difficult to classify. It's not quite jazz, not quite country and definitely not quite happy enough to be called pop. Maybe it's tough to market music that doesn't fit into one category, but then again, maybe that's what good music is all about these days--making sounds for which we have no words.