Jones red hot at Grammys

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By David Segal
Washington Post

Norah Jones won every category for which she was nominated at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday. Associated Press

Not only is Norah Jones new to the business, she plays the sort of slow-burning and jazzy ballads that haven't breathed the thin air at the top of the charts for a very long time. She wears cocktail dresses, not thongs and halter tops. The core of her audience is pushing 50.

Even her label sounded shocked this week.

"It's stunning," said a jubilant Cem Kurosman, a spokesman for Blue Note Records. "None of us here had any idea this was going to happen."

Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising" was looking like one of the most perfect Grammy-grabbing machines in pop history. The album has it all: serious themes, strong sales and a beloved artist long overdue for the most prestigious trophy in the music industry.

So: Just how did Norah whup The Boss?

Start with some history. The Grammys have always tended to skew old, which is to say their 15,000 voters favor music aimed at adults rather than kids. That's why Steely Dan's forgettable "Two Against Nature" beat Eminem's far superior "Marshall Mathers LP" for best album in 2001. It's why, last year, the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack, a collection of old-timey country tunes that country-format radio wouldn't touch, defeated U2's "All That You Can't Leave Behind."

Though Jones is about 30 years younger than Springsteen, her primary audience — at least the one she found initially — is grayer. MTV didn't play the video for her single, "Don't Know Why," until six months after its release. Springsteen's music was in heavy rotation right away.

When Grammy voters aren't asking, "Which of these albums is my speed?," they're asking, "Which album sold the most?" Here, the edge again goes to Jones. In the United States, 3.6 million copies of her debut have been sold, about double the sales of "The Rising."

"When academy voters feel like they have a combination of massive success plus a quality album, that's a pretty potent combination," said Sean Ross of Airplay Monitor, a publication that tracks radio.

But the most important element might be timing. Grammy nominations are announced in early January, with the deadline for voting in mid-February. That, by glorious chance, coincided with the crescendo of Jones' gradual, yearlong march up the charts. On Jan. 25, her album took the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts and stayed there for three weeks, just as the academy was picking winners.

"The Rising" was actually released months after "Come Away With Me," in late July, but it was immediately seized upon by every newspaper, magazine and TV show in the country. Perhaps by voting time, The Boss was a story everyone had heard too many times. Jones, by contrast, was a fresh, not to mention beautiful, face in January.

You won't find "The Rising" in the Billboard Top 100 this week. Jones' album, on the other hand, stands at No. 3.

"Bruce wasn't top of anyone's mind at that point," said Tom Calderone, MTV's executive vice president, of the Grammy voting period. "You hate to (make a decision) on that, but people vote on what they remember, the last thing they heard."

Jones' momentum was built slow and steady. Her album sold a mere 10,000 copies in its first week. Then came a series of late-night talk-show performances — she's done the "Tonight" show three times now — each one causing a noticeable spike, though hardly a stampede. She was profiled on National Public Radio, toured with Dave Matthews over the summer, and was finally added to MTV's lineup around the same time.

She became a hit on smooth-jazz stations (Kenny G), then adult-contemporary radio (Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt), and most recently on Top-40 stations. She had started off as a hit with adults, and gradually word spread to younger listeners. Profiles in Seventeen and YM magazines helped. By the time she showed up on "Saturday Night Live" in December, she was on her way to No. 1.

"It's been a very consistent slow burn, plateau after plateau," says Blue Note's Kurosman. "Everyone gets a boost during the Christmas shopping season, but she went up during that time and then never came down."

And now what? In Grammy physics, a sky-high victory often portends a backlash. "Entertainment Weekly" critic Ken Tucker dubbed her "terribly over-rewarded."

Jones' defeat of legend Bruce Springsteen "could lead to critical resentment," says Grammy historian Paul Grein. "I'm sure there were people in her camp who were thinking, 'Uh-oh.' She might have been better off if Bruce had won best album."

"Come Away" has sold 3.5 million copies and could steamroll toward 10 million, "making this album that much harder to follow," Grein says. "I hope it doesn't bury her. She's already shown she can defy odds, so maybe she'll find a way to break the Grammy jinx."

Geoff Mayfield, Billboard's director of charts, says Jones could follow the trajectory of Bonnie Raitt or Tina Turner, whose Grammy bonanzas yielded enduring boosts in stature and sales clout.

In addition to boosting sales of her "Nick of Time" album, Raitt's 1989 coronation "set up the rest of her career," Mayfield says.

Jones' mother lode is likely to spark a sales spike for "Come Away," No. 3 in "Billboard" this week. Santana's eight-Grammy jackpot in 2000 triggered a 166 percent jump for "Supernatural" the next week.

"People will plunk down money this week to find out what the fuss is about," Mayfield says. Longer-term success "will depend on what she comes up with next, which would have been scrutinized anyway. ... It's refreshing to see this quiet little record that didn't fit any format find an audience."

That audience grew with Sunday's 24.9 million Grammy viewers. She'll gain more exposure with the release this week of DVD "Norah Jones Live in New Orleans," and a U.S. tour that kicks off June 6.

USA Today contributed to this report.