I chose the performance of Norah Jones, “Live from Austin TX, (ACL),” released in 2008. It features vocals, piano, drums, guitars, trombone, and double bass. The concert took place in the big hall, and there were many people there. I felt like the part of the audience while listening to it online. I expected to listen to a highly professional jazz performance, and the concert did not disappoint me.
Come Away With Me features the solo on the guitar, which makes it sound profound. This music is dynamic, and the melody moves towards its culmination, after which it calms down. Those Sweet Words have a stable rhythmic pattern throughout the composition. It reminds me of the pulse that unites all parts of the song and makes it sound jazzy. This song is very melodic, and the cadences emphasize this effect.
The bass guitar player Lee Alexander wrote The Sun Doesn’t Like You. The vocalist sings about the time passing by at this moment, which creates this imagery. The song’s lyrics are melancholy, and the musical arrangement emphasizes this feeling. At the same time, the transitions from minor to significant tonality make it sound optimistic in some parts.
Norah Jones sings Not My Friend expressively, while the accompaniment creates a mild background for her voice. The composition is comparatively short and has a strange form without distinctive choruses.
Thinking About You has the traditional structure of the jazz song with verses and choruses. The singer repeats the refrain, and the guitar plays solo between them.
Be My Somebody features jazzy harmonic modulations that create a distinctive sound. Other musicians sing in unison with Nora Jones in choruses in this song. The peculiar detail is that the scat singing technique that Nora Jones uses is especially evident in this piece.
Rosie’s Lullaby is performed in a slow tempo and a mild manner. Pianissimo requires caution from the performers, and they seem to try hard not to play quickly and loudly. I especially enjoyed this composition because it is very delicate in its sound.
Sunrise is an optimistic and comparatively quick song. The guitarist plays chords that emphasize tonality, while the vocalist’s part is different from it. Nora Jones performs the solo on the piano, an example of jazz improvisation.
Sinkin Soon w/ J. Walter Hawkes features the double bass and trombone, making its sound different from the previous songs. The way the trombonist plays the instrument is very original to make the sound discontinuous. I enjoyed this performance because it showed the high professionalism of all musicians, and it was very authentic.
Not Too Late starts from the chords that remind the child’s song, but then it continues as a different composition. It is performed in the moderato tempo, and its sound is smooth.
I liked the melody, exciting rhythm, and the harmonic sequence at the beginning of My Dear Country. The first part of the song is performed only by the vocals and the piano. The peculiar point is that the tempo changes throughout the composition, creating motion.
Nora Jones plays the acoustic guitar in Little Room, and the song is relaxed. It reminds me of a folk song by its rhythm and sound, especially its last cadence: the voice and the guitar play in unison in some Broken parts.
The style in Long Way Home and Creepin In w/ M. Ward is the same and reminds us of folk music. The accompaniment repeats the stable sequence of chords.
In Hands-On The Wheel w/ M. Ward, Nora Jones also makes her voice more hoarse in this composition to emphasize the jazzy sound. The use of crescendo makes it incredibly expressive, even though the piece is performed in a slow tempo.
Nora Jones sings with the guitarist in a duet in Blue Bayou w/ M. Ward. It makes it my least favorite song because it lacks emotions.
Don’t Know Why is a short composition where the drummer emphasizes weak beats, creating a pulsing rhythm.
This performance allowed me to watch jazz multi-instrumentalists who perform jazz professionally. Norah Jones sings and accompanies herself on the piano, which creates the unique atmosphere of the jazz concert. All performers were professional multi-instrumentalists who made the show smooth. Listening to this concert was a wonderful experience that helped me to relax, feel the beat, and enjoy the images that this music created in my mind.