Norah Jones: Live in New Orleans
September 2003 Reviewed by: Doug Schneider Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

The way Norah Jones is being hyped you’d swear she’s the first female jazz singer ever to appeal to a wide audience. Obviously, that’s not true, and undoubtedly her current superstar status will cause some to dismiss her. But she is a bright, energetic, and talented performer who’s gained a significant foothold in a day that’s dominated by female singers who aren’t so much musicians as they are "performers." Jones doesn’t dance (at least not to her own music), doesn’t do movies, and doesn’t have a trendsetting hairstyle. She’s cute, mind you, and undoubtedly that’s helped her appeal, but there’s more to her than that. No one can deny that Come Away with Me -- the 2002 Blue Note CD release that took her from nowhere near any launch pad to somewhere past Pluto -- is a catchy jazzy-pop album that’s far and away better than most of what dominates TV music stations and the radio today.

Capitalizing on her rapid success, Norah Jones’s Live in New Orleans DVD is a quickie-concert taped at the House of Blues in New Orleans on 24 August, 2002. The total running time is 67 minutes and the extras are slim -- an encore presentation of "Tennessee Waltz," the music video for the song "Come Away with Me," and a slight two-page booklet insert that likely won’t even be noticed as you snap out the disc. It’s the 14 concert tracks that you’re really paying for -- and at a modest price.

With no surprise, most of the songs included here are from Come Away with Me. There are some additional titles, though, like "Something is Calling You" from her 2001 First Sessions CD, the debut set that almost everyone overlooked, as well as some additional tracks that are included on the Japanese CD release of Come Away with Me.

Jones and "Her Very Handsome Band" play the tracks well. They improvise slightly, but generally stick to the format, giving the audience precisely what they want. And while Norah Jones doesn’t necessarily rev up a stage like Britney Spears, I think most will find her refreshing. Her between-the-songs banter is lightweight, but she comes across as a sweet, shy underdog swept into superstardom. You can’t help liking her.

The picture quality is quite good in a bright, flamboyant, shot-on-video kind of way. There’s certainly nothing objectionable about the image quality, and there’s plenty I can praise. It’s the sound, though, that impressed me most. Included are 5.1 and two-channel soundtracks, and you’ll undoubtedly listen to the 5.1 most often. No, the DVD soundtrack doesn’t sound quite as pristine and natural as the Come Away with Me CD, but it still sounds very good, having a rich, weighty, and vibrant character that retains excellent clarity in the crucial midrange. The one downfall is that the engineers were heavy-handed on the LFE channel, forcing me to lower the output of my subwoofer to compensate. On the bright side, the surround mix is engrossing. It’s so good, in fact, that oftentimes when I want to hear her music now I opt for the DVD over the CD for the involvement it provides.

As a fan of Norah Jones, I highly recommend Live in New Orleans. The DVD is not earth-shattering, and it’s certainly not feature-rich, but it’s fairly priced (Amazon’s list price is $14.98), the music is good, and Jones is enjoyable to watch. If you like the Come Away with Me CD, you’ll certainly enjoy this DVD.

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