CHRISTMAS SONGS
I Dream of Christmas by Norah Jones
- INTRO: ‘Jolly’ Jones’ Christmas Dreams
- REVIEWS: All About Jazz, AllMusic.com, Pop Matters
- PLAYLISTS: On Spotify and YouTube
‘JOLLY’ JONES’ CHRISTMAS DREAMS
An intimate and superb collection of well-interpreted covers and originals
Always adaptable and innovative, singer Norah Jones lends her smokey voice and skilled piano play to a seasonal collection for the first time – I Dream of Christmas. No surprise that the versatile musician presents a well arranged and engaging set – six smart interpretations of standards plus an equal number of originals.
Highlights include a jaunty White Christmas, a sultry Run Rudolph, a moody Winter Wonderland and an excellent rendition of the Vince Guaraldi Charlie-Brown-classic – Christmas Time is Here.
The album is getting great reviews. You can check some of them out below.
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REVIEWS
ALL ABOUT JAZZ MAGAZINE
Norah Jones: I Dream of Christmas
BY JIM TRAGESER / All About Jazz
With Tony Bennett‘s retirement, the mantle of legitimate straight-ahead pop crooners is now firmly in the hands of subsequent generations: Harry Connick, Jr., Diana Krall and Norah Jones. Not pure jazz singers, of which there are numerous stellar examples, these singers are more in the Bennett-Sinatra-Fitzgerald mold, bringing a jazz sensibility to pop music.
It is in the area of seasonal Christmas music that the crooners have had perhaps their greatest influence. From Andy Williams to Connie Stevens, Nat King Cole to Perry Como, Peggy Lee to Al Jarreau, some of the most popular Christmas albums have come from artists whose background and training has provided them the ability to meld the elegance of jazz to a heartfelt holiday vibe.
Add Norah Jones to that roster, with her first all-Christmas album.
While she contributes six new originals here, it’s likely that her interpretations of the standards will determine the sales and reception of this album.
ALLMUSIC.COM ONLINE USER REVIEW
By Brandon Thede / Allmusic.com
It’s exactly how you wish a Norah Jones’ Christmas album to sound like. This is that album you buy on CD for the first time in 5 years because you know you’ll be playing it at least once a day all the way through December. It’s not a leap forward in some magical way. It feels classic in the way that Nat King Cole’s Christmas song’s do, or even maybe Elvis Presley’s. It’s her, in all her glory, very little else, giving the kind of performance that will have you saying to your grandkids 50 years from now, “That’s what Norah Jones’ sounded like”! She knows she’s a once in a lifetime talent, and she’s doing what once in a lifetime talents do- do away with “conventional popular songs”, and making music that cements their legacy and their uniqueness for years to come.
POP MATTERS ONLINE
Norah Jones Plays It Cool, Classic, and Timeless with ‘I Dream of Christmas’
By Peter Piatkowski / Pop Matters
Eight albums and almost 20 years into her career, and it’s somewhat surprising that it took so long for Norah Jones to release a full-length Christmas album. She recorded seasonal fare before, including duetting with legends Cyndi Lauper and Willie Nelson on holiday standards “Home for the Holidays” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, respectively, as well as a five-track Christmas EP with her alt-country side project, Puss N Boots. But she bided her time before putting out a Christmas LP. An artist like Norah Jones seems tailor-made for Christmas music, so it’s odd that she took so long, but the sweet and cozy I Dream of Christmas was well worth the wait.
Jones’ dreamy jazz-pop always felt somewhat nostalgic, and there’s also a feeling of a throwback with her Christmas debut. It recalls the Christmas albums of the 1960s by Peggy Lee, Doris Day, or Barbra Streisand. Christmas records are meant to be played in the background as a festive ambiance for holiday parties, romantic evenings in front of a crackling fire, or while trimming the tree. Jones does a fabulous job of putting together a collection of tranquil, restful tunes that will set the appropriately Christmasy mood.
