Send "Norah Jones " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Norah Jones’ album ‘…featuring’ is a curious effort. It is a compilation album by the world’s most well known easy listening singer, (mostly) chronicling her collaborative efforts on other people’s records. The title, ‘…featuring’ is key here in that Jones is (almost) always, for the duration of these 18 songs, but a mere guest on an album that seems to bear her name. It is anomalous experience. What does it sound like to be a guest at your own party? The collection reveals that it is quite a variable affair. Although covering an expansive chronological stretch, the cuts here are by no means linear. Jones’ duet with Ray Charles, “Here We Go Again”, which won the Record of the Year Grammy Award in 2005, is preceded directly by her recent whiney collaboration with Scottish outfit Belle and Sebastian, “Little Lou, Prophet Jack, Ugly John” – a song that sounds something like an uninspired rip-off of a Sheryl Crow track from the early millennium. Neither is the collection generically fluid. It jumps from efforts within the country genre such as with the Little Willies number “Love Me” to the mawkish and incongruously placed Christmas tune “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with Willie Nelson, then to a dalliance with hip hop with the duo Outkast, on their track “Take Off Your Cool”. Obviously, Norah Jones is an artist whose interest traverses generic boundaries. Some fans may be unaware of her somewhat dichotomous ambitions, and as such, will relish having all of these songs in one place. Yet what this collection lacks is a coherent narrative progression. Binding these musical numbers is a uniform sense of lightness – Jones’ pitch perfect voice often pulls together divergent genres into a stream that can be described as maudlin and listenable. At one point, this goes terribly awry when the artist embarks on an imitation of a Joni Mitchell classic. It seems inexplicable. Why would anyone want to hear the angst taken out of Joni Mitchell’s immortal “Court and Spark”? Listening to Jones’ reproduction – emptied of the sentiment of the original – and buried in an extended seven-minute composition arranged by Herbie Hancock, is nothing short of cringe-worthy....full text |
| Blogcritics |
| Norah Jones is back on the scene with her latest release, ...Featuring, a compilation of duets, cameos and collaborations that draws from material going back to 2001. No filler here, just work she’s very proud of that deserves to be heard. Now maybe it’s just me but everything this women works on is gold. Her vocals can be soothing and calm or excited and emotional, yet overall outstanding and beautiful. Bottom line, her voice is unique, and she fits well with the people she chooses to work with. The collaborations on this new set cover a wide range of artists from all over the musical spectrum and there is never a dull moment. From the rolling opening piano and plaintive vocals on “Love Me” performed with her country side project The Little Willes, you know this is going to be a romp to remember. The pace slows and continues to show the path this record is taking as the lovely Miss Jones next teams up with Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl. Poor Norah thought this pairing would be her chance to rock but Grohl came in with the bossa nova ballad “Virginia Moon” that had "Norah Jones" written all over it. He does a good job at displaying his softer side. They carry this dreamy tune and sound awesome together. Sean Bones and Norah got to work on a movie together then teamed up to do a song for the soundtrack and the reggae-tinged “Turn Them” was the outcome. It is a popping little ditty that kicks off like a slow, sad song but turns to the island rhythms and sets sail on the pair’s breezy vocal talents. Another breezy combo is Norah’s most recent work, “Little Lou, Prophet Jack, Ugly John,” with Belle & Sebastian. This vocal effort is high on her scale and had her fearing she would sound like Minnie Mouse. No chance there as one more dreamy tune hits the ears and draws us into the lyrics of “a lifetime of dreaming that extends to the heart.”...full text |
| Slantmagazine |
| Norah Jones has nonetheless attracted an impressive, varied roster of A-list collaborators over the course of her career, and in what turns out to be a clever, revealing spin on the standard "greatest hits" package, Jones's latest album, …Featuring Norah Jones, collects 18 of the best tracks that have been borne from her collaborations and side projects. However familiar Jones's languid sense of phrasing and soothing vocal timbre may be by now, the album surprises as her most spirited, wide-ranging release to date. The lite jazz of "Baby, It's Cold Outside," a duet with frequent collaborator Willie Nelson, is the most predictable track here, a bit of Starbucks-ready background music that finds Jones and Nelson engaged in a playful call and response. "Here We Go Again," with Ray Charles, is a far more staid and less compelling recording, and it remains a completely WTF? winner for the Record of the Year Grammy award a few years back. It's easily the weakest track on …Featuring Norah Jones, which instead spends the bulk of its running time attempting to showcase the range of Jones's talents as a singer and arranger. To that end, the set is a success. Opening with the Little Willies's blues-inflected "Love Me," the album often emphasizes the heavy influence of traditional country and roots forms in Jones's music. "Bull Rider," a duet with Sasha Dobson, and a note-perfect live rendition of "Loretta" with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings both prove Jones's facility with those particular styles. Far less expected, however, are the tracks that allow her to serve as one hell of a hook girl to Q-Tip (on "Life Is Better") and Talib Kweli (on "Soon the New Day"). That Jones can actually sing on key puts her well ahead of the likes of Keri Hilson in that role, and that the productions on both of these proper hip-hop songs are smooth and uncluttered keeps them from sounding at all out of place alongside duets with Ryan Adams, M. Ward, and Dolly Parton....full text |
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