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DALLAS–After spending most of this year on the road, and seeing her career skyrocket within the past few months, singer/pianist Norah Jones came home to Dallas’ Majestic Theatre on Tuesday night, performing a concert that was equal parts exquisite singing, masterful playing and awkward charm.
Jones, a 23-year-old graduate of Dallas’ Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and former student at the University of North Texas, has floored critics this year with her debut effort, Come Away With Me, a gorgeous record that floats from jazz to country. Jones was a big draw at music-industry festival South by Southwest in Austin this year, but it’s only been recently that radio, and the fans who glom onto it, have discovered her.
At her sold-out show at the Majestic, Jones kept it simple. A candle and a few rugs were the only visuals. Her three-piece backup band — guitarist Adam Levy, drummer Andy Borger and bassist and Jones’ oft-songwriting collaborator Lee Alexander — was low-key as well, offering plenty of solos but solos done with light touches and airy tones; nothing flashy.
Jones wasn’t either. Alternating between a keyboard and a piano, she played as exquisitely as she sang. Notable moments included her gentle take on Nightingale, jazzy readings of Hank Williams’ Cold Cold Heart and The Band’s Bessie Smith and a deliciously haunting rendition of Seven Years. With its killer acoustics, the Majestic was the perfect place to appreciate the nuances of her smoky voice.
She admitted to having homecoming jitters. “I’m really nervous,” Jones said early in the show. “I have three former piano teachers out there. Maybe four.”
Much has been made of her stage presence — she hasn’t quite figured out how to interact with her audience, it’s been said. But Tuesday, she was casual and even playful, sharing humorous anecdotes with the crowd (“We went through Denton, and I got so excited. I was like, ‘Oh, it’s the Cracker Barrel!’ “) and comically interacting with her band (“You’re using the wrong set list!” she said to Borger); if anything, the banter was genuine — one more reason to champion her.
Malcolm Mayhew, (817) 390-7713 mmayhew@star-telegram.com
