From: John Book (johnbook9_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 2003-01-16 23:08:50
--- t-bird <djtbird1_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
> i think the question is really, how did they (the
> label) *get* that kind of selling power? diana
> krall
> (also on blue note?) has been mining similar
> territory
> for years (has she even gone gold?)
She used to be on Impulse, but they wanted to keep
Impulse as a reissue label, so they moved her onto
Verve.
> why did the
> sales dept. go into overdrive on this new artist
> (norah) who has no track record (if i'm wrong,
> someone
> please educate me)?
The first time I heard of the name was when I went to
Anoushka's website. In fact the photo is still there,
of the two sitting down, with their backs to the
camera, and you see their tattoos. It said "Anoushka
and her sister, Norah".
Later on I was looking for some jazz, and came across
someone named Norah Jones. She only had one CD out,
the EP, but that was it. All of a sudden her album
came out, and boom. I bought it because it was
getting a buzz already, plus I can generally trust
Blue Note for good music anyway. Then I read the Ravi
reference, looked at the cover and I could see it. A
few months previous, I had just finished reading the
Ravi Shankar autobiography, "Raga Mala", and he talks
briefly about having a daughter with someone in New
York, but he was not there for her during her
childhood or upbringing. He states that this young
woman is wanting to become a musician herself, but she
did not want to jump on that bandwagon of being the
child of someone famous, so she had asked her father
to not mention her. When Norah's CD came out, it took
me awhile to make the connection, but I realized that
she was the woman in her father's book.
> ok, so she's ravi's daughter,
> but
> he's nowhere on the record, and she's one of many
> (anyone remember anoushka? ravi's actually *on*
> that
> record).
On one of them, at least, as she has three, and her
most recent one is nominated for a Grammy.
In Indian classical music circles, Anoushka isn't
looked upon as someone serious, due to the long
training a musician has to go through. It seems they
almost see her as privledged because of her father, so
it seems the stigma exists in other forms of music
too. With that said, her style is very similar to her
dad, but I saw her perform in Seattle two years ago
(one of the best concerts I've ever been to) and she
is developing her own style, and it's something she's
going to continue to do, regardless of who created
her.
If you look at it that way, it's no wonder Norah Jones
doesn't want to bring her father up. I'm sure it's
more personal than that, but I think it has worked
very well for her. On the other hand, Ravi Shankar is
a huge fan of jazz music (John Coltrane didn't name
his son Ravi for nothing), and has said on record that
he is very proud of the accomplishments Norah has made
for herself, and wishes her much success.
> it's not like it's some new music (see st.
> germain--even though we all knew about him years
> ago),
> she's not better than diana (who i'm not that crazy
> about, either), and the sort-of
> jazzy-folky-country-ish stuff she did reminds me of
> cassandra wilson's "new moon daughter"--ok, finally
> one i dig!!
You're right. It is nothing more than lounge jazz,
but for me if it is done well, I'll listen. I like
her album, but I hope she will continue to write her
own lyrics, as she only had a hand in two or three
songs on COME AWAY WITH ME.
Hell, the Cassandra Wilson album had India.Arie too,
which could've easily been a selling point, but the
entire album should've outsold Norah's easily.
> so without saying anything unduly mean-spirited, i
> don't get the runaway sales of norah's cd--i don't
> think it's her (from what i hear, she's not that
> charismatic, performance-wise).
And now we dig deeper. I like her music a lot, but I
also like Karin Plato. Anyone familiar with her? Her
voice is far better than Krall's, and from what I
hear, she is a great performer too. I like Krall, but
after awhile I wanted to hear something different. I
came across Plato's cover of Jobim's "Someone To Light
Up My Life" and I was like damn, I have to buy the
album, so I did. It falls along the lines of what
Krall and Jones are doing too, a laid back, lounge
style, but her voice was far better than both. In a
better world, Karin Plato would be getting a Grammy.
But the question is, what is the Norah Jones secret?
Before the album came out, I started seeing the Alicia
Keys comparisons. I'm not sure if this was of Blue
Note's doing, or the media, but I guess they saw a
beautiful singer, and a piano. They made the link,
and it began that way. I don't know if Blue Note's
marketing scheme was to cash in on the "female
musician" trend (Keys, Michelle Branch, Vanessa
Carlton), but I think they initially wanted to fit her
in that way.
It's hard to believe that Blue Note "did not expect
the sudden success" of her album, but when your albums
generally sell less than 10,000 copies a crack, it
would be a shock. What did the Billboard article say,
that Norah Jones' album sold 100,000+ copies last
week. Keep that in mind now, that's last week. Her
album has sold 2.5 million already, and as we approach
February, you know it will hit 4 million easy. That's
almost more than the sales of the entire Blue Note
catalog.
But in truth, I think Blue Note expected some level of
success with Norah Jones, but it has gone much further
than they had hoped.
I also think the major push came from Capitol Records,
who have been looking for an artist to cash in with,
since their success level in the last few years has
been non-existent. If it was Blue Note in itself,
Norah Jones would've sold 15,000 tops. One could say
Blue Note took advantage of Capitol's clout, but I
think Capitol took advantage of what they had, and
blew her up. Young, beautiful, and she plays the
piano... it was probably Capitol's way of having their
own version, without her carrying the Capitol name.
Blue Note = jazz + that makes her different. They
succeeded.
p.e.a.c.e.
-John Book
http://www.john-book.com
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