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"Record companies are basically looking at the short-term win, but what about long-term catalog development? What about having someone who can still sell records for you 20 years from now? Hopefully, Norah will."

HIGH ON NORAH

Blue Note Records President Bruce Lundvall on Norah Jones' Feels Like Home

The first Norah Jones album caught everyone by surprise. How do you walk the line this time between hype and letting the world know the record is coming?
We’re doing a lot of television advertising, but we’re not saying this is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s going to be Norah as an artist with a new album. We have to use a certain amount of sensitivity because she’s opposed to too much hype. It’s the follow-up album and people will be judging if it’s as good as the first one. This is going to be a very successful record, but I don’t expect to sell more than the first one. How could anything sell more than 17 million worldwide? But that’s not the objective. We want to have an artistically successful record that sells on its own merit. We’re very enthusiastic about it. It may sell less; it may sell more. I can’t predict that.

The album offers a more eclectic batch of songs stylistically.
It’s a good step forward. It travels a broader perspective. But it’s on her terms. And everything she does is on her terms. There’s a country element, which isn’t surprising, considering she is from Texas. The songs are wonderful and stay in your head. Her voice is as good, if not better, than it’s ever been. I can’t go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without singing these songs, and that’s one of the natural things about her. She is consummate. I’ve fallen in love with the record. I think it’s better than the first one. But I guess I’m hyping you on it.

Will radio be more of an element on this album? Can she get Pop airplay?
Let’s see. She’s an artist that may have changed the perception of what should be on Top 40. I have a feeling the public is longing for this record. Radio will have to address the issue of an acoustic artist with good songs, very simple… and maybe that’s what people want. I think they might.

Does Norah’s success point to an audience that still purchases CDs?
That may be part of a total matrix of what’s been happening. The fact that someone came along and made something that was acoustic, beautiful and romantic, and flew in the face of everything going on at radio, might have something to do with it. To say it had something to do with 9/11 or any other zeitgeist-type event isn’t the full story. It’s just Norah. She’s a unique artist, and artists can change perceptions. The artist is in the vanguard, and then the public catches up. When you least expect change to take place, it can happen. People respond to artistry. And that’s what our business has always been about. People who are marketing confections come and go; the real artists stay.

You don’t see the kind of patience that develops an artist like Norah, even though she broke through with her first album.
We absolutely should. Record companies are basically looking at the short-term win, but what about long-term catalog development? What about having someone who can still sell records for you 20 years from now? Hopefully, Norah will.

As the rest of the industry painfully contracts, you’re in the midst of one of your most successful periods ever.
The artists I’ve had the most success with are originals… Bobby McFerrin, Willie Nelson, Cassandra Wilson, Norah Jones. Of course you want your artists to have long-term careers. I think there’s an audience out there that’s looking for quality. Whether it’s Norah, Josh Groban, Diana Krall, Joshua Bell or Sarah Brightman. It’s an adult audience, but now Norah has reached out to a younger fan base as well.

So you remain bullish on the record biz?
The record business is nothing more than really wonderful artists that move us forward. It’s not about us. We’re all just middlemen between the artists and the public. What is this business about after all? Talent! I’m betting on people like that. The great ones can sustain you through good times and bad.

Does Norah’s reticence to promote herself hurt her?
I think it endears her to the public. There is absolutely no glitz about her at all—no piercings, no tattoos. She’s not glamorous in that sense. She’s elegant. She is who she is. And I love that about her. She’s believable. As a singer and as a person. It’s not at all contrived.

The record is very intimate, no-frills, a down-to-earth album.
It’s very much what she wanted. We went through a lot of songs, and these are the ones she chose. She and [producer] Arif [Mardin] have a great bonding. Some things that are a little more rhythmic. It’s a well-chosen, well-balanced, well-sequenced record.

The release date around the Grammys was intentional.
We wanted to put it out between the Grammys and Valentine’s Day. And she delivered on time without a lot of pressure. Well, some pressure… But it’s her record. My only input was suggesting she include "Don Miss You At All," her version of Duke Ellington’s instrumental "Melancholia," which she had written lyrics for and performed in concert.

One of your big objections with the music business is the pigeonholing of artists.
I hate it. I’m not looking for the next Norah Jones. I’m looking for the next artist who sounds like themselves. Every artist is different. Are we in the music business or the marketing business? It’s such bullshit. I can’t tolerate it. When I was first turned on to Norah, I expected another Diana Krall. A woman who played the piano and sang. But Norah was nothing like her. Narrowcasting is bothersome to me. Because the real ones jump out. Even if they all don’t sell millions of records. But we need career artists. As a culture, not just a business.