Intimacy — The Norah Jones Effect
By Sepp Seitz ©2020
People show up in my life at certain times and I don’t quite know why. Norah Jones had been in my field of vision since the time I was looking for a version of “The Nearness of You” a few years back. Wonderful rendition and I could listen to it all day, but I never thought: ‘Ooh I have to listen to all her music.’ I don’t quite remember how one of the ‘Mini Concerts from Home’ that Norah has been doing since the beginning of the Pandemic crossed my path. The first one I ran across was one of the April ones.
After watching that first few minutes something shifted for me. but what was it? Here was a famous singer singing and playing the piano in her house. So what? My curiosity was piqued, but I couldn’t put my finger on it right away. So I watched some of her other minis and I became fascinated by what I saw and heard, in that order. No contemporary singer that I am aware of has as nuanced control of her voice as does Norah. She knows how to make you listen to the words with her styling and the instruments she plays do her bidding. But, then I am not telling the world or Norah anything new about her talent as a musician. The boatload of Grammys and world acclaim have already done that.
Then I re-watched some of the minis I had already seen before as well as some of the ‘official videos’. Why was I looking for something anyway and what was it? It is not my nature to be a ‘Fan’ but now I was on a quest. So, I browsed some of the public information about Norah’s career. The sheer number of performances over many continents is breath taking, but that is sort of like ‘Whew’, or blowing your breath up your nose. You had to have been there to really appreciate it, but no cigar yet.
I ventured out to write some comments on the Facebook or Youtube segments to show my growing appreciation. And, strangely enough, it was here in the comments section that the light bulb started to flicker on ever so slowly. Looking at the numbers of views, comments and shares makes the head spin. It was the expressions of gratitude, over and over and over that started me thinking: This is genius! Do what is in your heart and give it away. People who are in Pandemic lock-down or maybe could never afford to come to a concert now get a chance to see and hear Norah Jones, with fresh material and familiar songs, not just once but every week.
But there is more. Norah is now portable, like I’m tooling along in my 1978 Ford pickup and there is a little version of Norah singing on my phone on the dash. I know she’s singing in a lot of other places too, spreading joy.
How good is that?
So, after watching all those videos and listening to some of Norah’s interviews I got more dialed in on what’s really going on here: Intimacy. This word is primarily associated with romantic involvement. So how can it be that there is intimacy over the internet? And surely you say, the idea of thousands watching that precludes intimacy.
Avast! Let’s start at the beginning: The set. There is the piano, the chair, the lamp, the sofa in the background, some guitars. the TV in its alcove and the horse thing on the wall which disappeared somewhere along the way. Stuff you or I might have in our homes. This is tight nothing to distract you. Nothing screams: My first album won all those Grammys. And then there is Norah. Ah! We see her pretty much from the waist up, always right side, unless she is playing guitar. Then she faces the camera more. Sometimes she is more talkative sometimes more quiet, always beautiful. And if you’re watching closely you can see the emotions of the songs flicker across her face. But now we come to the meat and potatoes. The songs are punctuated by a look straight into the camera and “The Smile”. It’s not a big smile, but definitely a heart stealer. It’s the kind of smile that says: I welcome you into my world for a little bit “…and I’ll write you a song” Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. Intimacy. Just read all those comments and you’ll see it mentioned over and over, that smile. Sometimes the guitar and the piano collide, but with soothing strokes to both Norah makes sure there are no resentments. And then there are other smiles, like to the unseen peanut gallery on the floor or others off camera, all ever so spontaneous and so engaging. Norah at home. Intimacy.
And then there is the singing. Norah has appreciated over time as a singer and her mettle has been honed. She tiptoes in on a song and builds a cadence, then lets it rip so that the walls come down and then draws back to almost a soft whisper like a kiss. She sings from the heart. There is a raw, unfiltered energy here that you can’t get from a recording or even a concert. You can’t make this happen on command. No razzle-dazzle, no production value, no camera angles, just the artist up close. This is live. This is Life. This is intimacy.
The experience of these minis is: ‘Norah is singing to me. Norah’s smiling at me.’ This is intimacy. And when I say:”I love you Norah!” I speak for myself, but also know I’m speaking for thousands. “Thank you Norah.”
P.S. I am not in Norah’s employ, I just wanted to say thanks for the tremendous gift we are being given. Now go watch some of these minis either on FB or Youtube and see what I mean.