Music Review: ... Featuring Norah Jones by Norah Jones

Fans of Norah Jones or easy listening coffee shop music will love ... Featuring Norah Jones. I knew I would enjoy this cd, but didn't realize how fun it would be to hear Norah's jazzy music and voice in combination with other great artists including Willie Nelson, The Foo Fighters, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles and many more!

While many people are saying that this cd is very eclectic, with songs ranging from Old Country to Pop, I think the album stays true to the Norah we have come to enjoy. She has put her Norah style (jazzy nightclub voice with piano) to some really great songs.

This is my favorite time of year, and as such, my new favorite song is Baby It's Cold Outside. It is the PERFECT holiday song, especially as it is here, sung by Willie Nelson and Norah Jones. It simply puts me in the perfect holiday mood! Don't get me wrong, all the songs on the cd are great, but given my holiday mood, I could listen to this song over and over all day, and I would have picked up the cd for this one song alone.

Not sure the cd is for you? Head over to Amazon where you can listen to clips of each song. I've spent plenty of nice relaxing afternoons working and listening to ... Featuring Norah Jones... so I hope you'll join me and enjoy the cd as much as I do.



... Featuring Norah Jones
by Norah Jones
Blue Note Records (November 16, 2010) ~ 18 tracks
Music / Pop/ Vocal Pop / Easy Listening

Edition Reviewed: Promo CD ~ Review copy received courtesy of One2One Network, my opinion is my own, and for sharing it, I have been given a chance to win a gift certificate. I am an Amazon Associate, and if you follow an Amazon link from my blog and make a purchase, I will earn a very small amount that will go toward funding my book obsessions!



Perfect For: Background music for dinner party, party, drinks, etc. Background music at coffee shop, restaurant, business party/dinner. Great overall easy listening cd for relaxing, cooking, driving, etc.

Album Tracklisting:
1. Love Me - The Little Willies
2. Virginia Moon - Foo Fighters featuring Norah Jones
3. Turn Them - Sean Bones featuring Norah Jones
4. Baby It's Cold Outside - Willie Nelson featuring Norah Jones
5. Bull Rider - Norah Jones and Sasha Dobson
6. Ruler Of My Heart - Dirty Dozen Brass Band featuring Norah Jones
7. The Best Part - El Madmo
8. Take Off Your Cool - Outkast featuring Norah Jones
9. Life Is Better - Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones
10. Soon The New Day - Talib Kweli featuring Norah Jones
11. Little Lou, Prophet Jack, Ugly John - Belle & Sebastian featuring Norah Jones
12. Here We Go Again - Ray Charles featuring Norah Jones
13. Loretta - Norah Jones featuring Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
14. Dear John - Ryan Adams featuring Norah Jones
15. Creepin' In - Norah Jones featuring Dolly Parton
16. Court & Spark - Herbie Hancock featuring Norah Jones
17. More Than This - Charlie Hunter featuring Norah Jones
18. Blue Bayou - Norah Jones featuring M. Ward

About the Artist: (from her Facebook Page - edited for quicker reading)

"For this record, I just had a sound in my head," says Norah Jones. "I wanted the grooves to be more present and heavy. And I also just wanted to do something different—I’ve been hanging with the same group of musicians for a long time, and I thought it was a good time for me to work with different people and experiment a little."

The result of these experiments is the multiple Grammy Award-winner's new album, The Fall. The album is an exciting evolution from her previous three releases, which have sold a combined 36 million copies worldwide.

...

Over the course of her three multi-platinum albums—2002’s eight-time Grammy Award-winning Come Away With Me, 2004’s Feels Like Home, and 2007’s Not Too Late, each of which topped the Billboard album charts—Jones has established a strong identity based around her sultry vocals and jazz-informed, piano-driven pop style. On The Fall, however, in addition to the added emphasis on rhythm, Jones brings her own guitar playing front and center in the sound.

...

Norah Jones is the first to say that she has changed a great deal since she first moved from Texas to New York City at age 20, dreaming of being a jazz singer. Bouncing between jazz gigs and shows at the singer-songwriter haven The Living Room, she started writing songs "sitting on the bed in my little apartment on Thirteenth Street." An introduction to Blue Note Records head Bruce Lundvall eventually resulted in her first album, the diamond-selling Come Away With Me.

...

One benefit of her spectacular success was that Jones was approached to collaborate with a wide range of artists, from Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Ray Charles to OutKast’s Andre 3000, Q-Tip, and Andy Samberg's comedy group The Lonely Island. Being exposed to all of these different sounds and methods helped Jones open her mind toward new ways to create her own music.

Read more on Norah's Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/norahjones
* Website: http://bit.ly/norahsite
* Facebook: http://on.fb.me/norahFB
* YouTube: http://bit.ly/norahYT

About the Album: (from the One2One Network Newsletter)

Norah Jones' new album, …Featuring, is a star-studded collection of the multi-platinum selling, multi-Grammy Award winning singer’s musical collaborations from the past decade.

The 18 songs on the album include cool cameos, collaborations and duets with such legends as Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, and Dolly Parton, and with 21st Century icons from OutKast to the Foo Fighters.

The tracks on …Featuring span Norah’s entire career and reveal her astonishing musical versatility, from jazz to country, hip-hop to rock.

Shutterfly For The Holidays! Create Your Own Holiday Cards, Photo Books and More (Photo Gifts Are GREAT For Family!)

One of my new favorite gifts for the holidays (especially for family) are photo gifts (take a peak at a few of our Christmas cards from years past!)!

To me, photo cards and gifts are thoughtful and serve to share joy with others. For the past few years I've tried to keep the immediate family (especially grandparents) in touch with the lives of our kids (and us of course) by sending them photo creations at Christmas instead of gifts that are often thoughtful but unwanted. SO... bring on the photo books, key rings and holiday cards!

I love to send and receive photo holiday cards. It is fun to share a special moment from our year with everyone, and it is a blast to see those special pictures and moments from friends and relatives who send out photo cards for the holidays.

Now that I have your attention, I'll tell you my BIG secret! I use Shutterfly to make all my photo creations and gifts easily and quickly!!

Why am I telling you about Shutterfly? I have been a huge fan of Shutterfly for about five years, and create photobooks and other photo items every year (not to mention the ease of having pictures printed and mailed to me, or using the 1-Hour photo service at Target via my Shutterfly Account). Also, by sharing my experiences with you here on Wendi's Book Corner as a blogger, I'm going to get 50 free holiday cards... I can't wait!

So want to create your own holiday card this year?

Check out some of these great links... cards are quick, easy, and help you send personalized holiday greetings to your friends and family!

· Christmas cards

· holiday photo cards

· birthday invitations

· calendars

· Christmas invitations

· Christmas gift tags

And just let me add that the cards are great for more than just Christmas cards! They are also great for...

• Birthday Invitations
• Thank you cards (just take a picture of your kid/s and/or family, create the cards, then let everyone add their own "Thank You" signature to the card with a colorful pen or crayon)
• Just Moved notices
• Home Party Invites
• Baby Announcements

Every year Shutterfly comes out with great new designs, and this year they are even better than ever with so many designs to choose from, including some with overlays that look amazing and add layers to the cards. So far, my favorite holiday designs this year are Holly Frame and Peppermint Bliss - what are your favorites?

About Shutterfly: (from their site)

Company Highlights

Founded in December 1999, Shutterfly is an internet-based social expression and personal publishing service. Shutterfly is headquartered in Redwood City, CA with manufacturing facilities in Phoenix, AZ and Charlotte, NC. Shutterfly is publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol SFLY. Shutterfly offers free online photo storage, and has never deleted a photo. Millions of customers have billions of pictures on Shutterfly. The Shutterfly flagship product is its award-winning photo book line, which helps consumers celebrate memories and tell their stories in professionally bound coffee table books. The winter holidays are the peak season at Shutterfly. Popular gift ideas include personalized photo books, holiday cards and calendars. Timeline In Spring 2010, Shutterfly announced the integration of the Simple Path photo book creation experience with Facebook, which allows Facebook users to access their photos and their friends’ photos to create premium quality photo books in minutes. Shutterfly was ranked number one in the "best photo book" category by TopTenREVIEWS.com in January 2010. In April 2009 Shutterfly introduced a new free photo sharing iPhone App that gives customers the power to upload, view and share their Shutterfly photos while on-the-go. The application, also compatible with the iPod Touch, is available free of charge at the Apple App Store. Followed by the initial launch of Designer Stationery in 2008, Shutterfly expanded their photo and non-photo stationery line with new coordinated suites of personalized Baby and Wedding Stationery in early 2009. At the end of 2008, the number of Shutterfly’s transacting customers totaled in 2.8 million people. Shutterfly customers placed more than 7.6 million orders in 2008. In September 2008, Shutterfly launched the Storyboard™ Tool which makes it quick and easy to organize and add pictures to a photo book. Users simply choose the photos they want to include in their book and the Storyboard Tool automatically chooses a suitable layout to fit the number and orientation of their photos. In August 2008, Shutterfly launched Shutterfly Share sites, a service that combines the best of photo sites, blogs, and social networking in a way that allows customers to easily connect and collaborate with friends and family in a safe and secure environment. In February 2008, Shutterfly launched Shutterfly Gallery, a community platform for sharing and connecting with others. This new Shutterfly social network leverages the power and enthusiasm of the viral Shutterfly community, allowing customers to creatively inspire one another by sharing their photo books online and exchanging comments about their experiences.

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post in response to a TwitterMoms RAMBO alert, making me eligible to get 50 free Shutterfly Holiday Cards. You can learn more about Shutterfly at http://www.shutterfly.com.