Following a massive 55-city North American Tour in support of her quadruple platinum selling FEELS LIKE HOME, Norah Jones's historic ride continues with the release of an amazing DVD. Filmed in August 2004 at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium, the concert film includes performances of most of the songs from FEELS LIKE HOME as well as hits from her landmark debut album COME AWAY WITH ME, and choice covers. Special Guests include Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, and Richard Julian.
Norah Jones's growth as a performing artist since she burst on the scene in 2002 is apparent on Norah Jones and the Handsome Band: Live in 2004, her second concert DVD (following Live in New Orleans, released in '03). The gifted singer-pianist-songwriter is still something of a reluctant headliner; personable if not exactly effusive (and seemingly bemused by the adulation), she's self-effacing and winningly unpretentious onstage. That goes for the music as well, as Jones and her empathetic band (now including guitarist Robbie McIntosh, formerly of the Pretenders and Paul McCartney's band) put on a tasteful, understated show at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. Songs from her second CD, Feels Like Home, are favored, along with a version of the Grammy-winning "Don't Know Why" that's received with near-reverence by the audience. Jones's choice of cover material, including tunes by John Prine ("That's the Way the World Goes 'Round"), Tom Waits ("The Long Way Home"), and Gram Parsons ("She," which is among the several bonus tracks; other extras include two videos and three "mini-documentaries"), is also admirable, but it's when her various guests show up that the show approaches genuine transcendence. Among them are Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, who harmonize beautifully with Jones on Townes Van Zandt's "Loretta," and the indefatigable Dolly Parton, whose duet with Jones on bassist Lee Alexander's bluegrass-flavored "Creepin' In" is the undisputed highlight of the show. Radiant, ebullient, and in great voice, Parton is a star, and Norah defers to her accordingly. The only problem comes when Jones and company have to pick up where Parton left off, and in truth, it takes them a while to recover. --Sam Graham
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Not what I was looking for:
I was looking for more blues/sultry but got a lot of pop country mixed in there with Dolly Parton and others joining the concert.
this is an excellent earlier nora jones concert,:
I have seen her live onstage and this is an excellent revisit of that.also,there are several extras and some funny outtakes that are quite nice.I especially liked the extra interviews where the band members talked about their instruments and lives,super!
She's hypnotic:
Norah is truly a gifted performer. This is not her best DVD, but I do enjoy watching her perform.
Wierd band members:
Norah is great in the concert, however theres a few picky things that I found annoying. Her band is really annoying, dont get me wrong they can play their instruments alright, but they get really annoying to watch. The guitar player especially. Also in a bunch of songs the entire band did not need to play, however no one was left out, so there are extra musical parts that are extremely unneccesary and actually make the songs worse. Example, The long way home would have been 100 times better if it were Norah... more info
