Norah Jones & the Handsome Band: Live in 2004 (2004 TV Special) User Reviews

Hauntingly mellow and beautifully understated...

[johnfos · 9/10 · 9 June 2005]

I've been buying a few DVD concert videos and this is one of my favourites...

Some of Nora Jones' most popular songs are on this DVD: "Don't know Why (I Didn't Come)" and "Come Away with Me" are my favourites. There are a total of 20 or more songs altogether and the instrumental line-up on stage is constantly changing, which makes for a nice variety of sounds.

The music is mellow and understated, at least until Dolly Parton comes on for her guest spot and sings "Creepin' in''! I have to admit that I never thought I'd see Nora and Dolly singing together, but then this concert was in Nashville, and so some country music didn't seem out of place.

We all know Nora Jones is a great vocalist whose voice slides effortlessly from note to note. But I was struck by how good a jazz pianist she is as I watched this concert. She really has a lovely light touch... very smooth...

The industrial metal influences are hard to ignore.

[fedor8 · 3 August 2008]

If you're an apathetic yuppie seeking for more soothing sounds, i.e. sonic drowsiness designated to keep you emotionally dead (or if you're a tone-deaf victim of the latest media-frenzy hype), you should check out this wonderful live VD release. It is so calm it will put both you and your Wall Street insignificant other right to sleep. Norah Jones is ideal for that. Her gentle voice, so placid it's barely audible, combined with listless instruments so softly stroked by her sleepy "handsome" band, make for an experience so mild that it barely exists. Calling Norah's music "mellow" would be tantamount to saying it's death metal.

This VD was initially titled "Calm Silence", but Di(l)do had already taken that title for her upcoming album. Utilizing her distinctive whisper-singing technique, Norah displays her entire musical spectrum, which ranges from soothing jazz to restful blues, tinged with a mere 1000-pound speck of pop. Indeed, so seamlessly do the tracks flow into one another that one doesn't even notice those three-second breaks between the songs. This ethereal VD, just like her CDs, is like one long note of silent tenderness. The music is like a drowsy bee humming joyfully in fields covered with semi-dead flowers – and all of this happening about 1500 km away from you. Can you hear it? Nearly. Almost. And that is the beauty of it. Oh, blissful apathy... Oh, noiseless non-existence...

A song that truly stands out on this must-burn VD – well, it doesn't so much stand as lie down and sleep for a week - is "...". "..." is such a tender little pop/jazz ballad that it can't even be heard properly in the first 20-30 attempts, hence its elusive non-title. After the 31st listen you might hear something, but that could just as well be a hallucination (or your cat purring). It isn't for no good reason that they also call Ms. Jones "The Queen Of Silence".

Get it. Buy it. Obtain it!!!! It is honest music, mass-produced and packaged by music conglomerates, but it does come from the soul, and the soul is quiet as we all know (and craves your cash). Quite frankly, this kind of music is so honest it hurts. Yes, even silence can inflict pain on your ear-drums.

For more of my music-rants: http://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Fedor8/1