Norah Jones was born on 30 March
1979 in New York City, to legendary Indian musician
Ravi Shankar, and grew up in Texas with her mother,
Sue Jones. Norah explored jazz while studying Performing
and Visual Arts at Dallas' Booker T. Washington
High School where she won the Down Beat Student
Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist and Best Original
Composition in 1996, and earned a second Best Jazz
Vocalist award in 1997.
Norah studied jazz piano at the University of North
Texas for two years before accepting a friend's
offer of a show in Greenwich Village during the
summer of 1999. Although she fully intended to return
to college, the lure of the jazz clubs was too strong
and she soon became inspired to write her own songs.
Norah appeared regularly with the band Wax Poetic
and formed her own group around songwriters Jesse
Harris (guitar) and
Lee Alexander (bass),
with Dan Rieser on drums.
In October 2000, the group recorded several demo
tapes for Blue Note Records and in early 2001, Norah
signed to Blue Note. Her debut album, Come Away
With Me, which was released in early 2002, gained
much public attention. The album went multi-platinum,
selling 18 million copies worldwide and earned her
eight Grammy Awards.
In 2004, Norah released her next album, Feels Like
Home, mixing '70s style songs with blues, country,
and her own mellow take on piano jazz.
