On April 12, nine-time GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter Norah Jones will release Begin Again, a collection of singles that gathers seven eclectic songs that Jones has recorded over the past year with collaborators including Jeff Tweedy and Thomas Bartlett. Begin Again, which is available for pre-order now, will be released on 12” vinyl, CD, and as a digital album. Hear the new song “Just a Little Bit,” which was produced by Jones and features her on vocals, piano, and organ along with Brian Blade on drums, Christopher Thomas on bass, Dave Guy on trumpet, and Leon Michels on tenor saxophone.
Last year, following the 2016 release of her acclaimed album Day Breaks—and the extensive promotional campaign and world tour that accompanied it—Jones quietly returned to the studio with the sole intent of following her muse down creative pathways without any expectations or boundaries. Reveling in the joy and spontaneity of music-making with a true spirit of openness, Jones got together with various friends for brief, largely-improvised sessions to collaborate and experiment.
“I felt inspired to record and try different things,” Jones says, adding that the idea was to make it “quick and fun and easy and low-pressure. It’s a great way to collaborate with other people. Just a day or 3 in the studio and that’s it.”
“I try to go in with a few clips of voice memo ideas to have a jumping off point,” she explains. “With each session the little ideas were definitely with those particular musicians in mind, but the hope is to always create in the moment and with each session there were songs that came out of nothing. I was very open and had no real expectations as far as direction, but each session has exceeded my expectations. It’s been so fun and I feel very inspired right now and love all the different directions this is going.”
The singles Jones began releasing last summer ran the gamut from riveting electronic experiments to starkly acoustic folk ballads to organ-and-horn drenched soul songs. With the addition of three more previously unreleased songs, Begin Again presents seven snapshots of creativity from one of the music world’s most versatile and consistently intriguing artists.
The track listing for Begin Again is as follows:
2. Begin Again
3. It Was You
5. Uh Oh
6. Wintertime
Jones has announced Summer 2019 North American tour dates following a tour of Australia and New Zealand in April. The first leg of the North American tour will kick off on the East Coast in Pittsburgh on June 18 and includes appearances at jazz festivals in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Saratoga Springs. The tour’s second leg heads out West beginning July 14 in Cheyenne, Wyoming followed by an evening at Colorado’s famed Red Rocks with the legendary Mavis Staples. The tour will also bring shows to Utah, Montana, and Washington state before concluding with Jones’ debut appearances in Alaska. Visit norahjones.com/tour for ticket info.
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