Norah Jones is a longtime friend of Austin City Limits, so we’re always happy to have the Texas native back on our stage. For her fourth visit, the nine-time Grammy Award-winner performed selections from her latest album Day Breaks, alongside choice gems from her multi-platinum 2002 breakout debut Come Away With Me. Critics have hailed the jazz-inflected Day Breaks as a kindred spirit to the landmark Come Away With Me, expanding on its bestselling sound by incorporating the musical influences she’s absorbed since her breakthrough.
Jones and her five-piece band took the stage for the title track of Day Breaks, its gentle funk underpinning her melancholy lines about “raining in my heart.” Making the debt to her debut explicit, she then went into the overtly jazzy “I’ve Got to See You Again,” from Come Away With Me. Joined only by bassist Josh Lattanzi and drummer Greg Wieczorek, Jones performed an elegant take on Horace Silver’s standard “Peace.” Guitarist Jason Roberts and keyboardist Pete Remm came back to the stage for a return to Come Away via the light, folky “Something is Calling You,” enhanced by flautist Jacob Duncan. Jones and band, with guest steel player Dan Iyeta, then essayed a countrified take on Neil Young’s classic “Don’t Be Denied,” another cut from Day Breaks. Duncan returned on sax for “Burn,” an ethereal epic that took full advantage of Jones’ underrated piano skills.
Jones strapped on a guitar and reached into the catalog of Puss N Boots, her alt.country side band, for the two-stepping “Hey You.” Iyeta returned to the stage as Jones moved to her electric piano for the soulful ballad “Rosie’s Lullaby,” then it was back to the guitar for “Nightingale,” a widescreen tune from Come Away With Me highlighting Roberts’ rocking guitar solos. She returned to her signature grand piano stylings for the jazzy pop tune “Tragedy” and the lovely piano ballad (with pedal steel enhancement) “Humble Me.” She went back to Day Breaks for the smoky “Sleeping Wild,” before really digging into her jazz training for a stunning cover of Duke Ellington’s “Fleurette Africaine” (“African Flower”), humming the melody with Duncan’s alto sax in tow.
The rest of the band came back for the galloping rocker “Flipside,” before ending the main set with “Carry On,” a bluesy ballad with gospel organ that’s tailor-made for a set-closer. The crowd showed its appreciation, even more so when Jones returned, acoustic guitar in hand, with Lattanzi on double bass, Roberts on resonator guitar and Wieczorek on portable snare. The quartet pulled a surprising cover out of its collective hat: the Grateful Dead’s “Ripple,” reimagined as a folk classic. It was a fitting way to bring a gorgeous show to a close, and we can’t wait for you to see it when it airs this fall on your local PBS station.