Come Away With Me (album)

Come Away with Me is the debut album of pianist and singer Norah Jones, released by Blue Note Records on February 26, 2002. Recording sessions for the album took place at New York City's Sorcerer Sound Studio and Shokan's Allaire Studios in 2001.

The album's critical and commercial success was a breakthrough for Jones in 2002, as it reached the top of the Billboard 200 chart and several jazz charts. The album also topped many critics' "albums of the year" lists and gathered major music awards in the process, including eight Grammy Awards. Following initial sales, Come Away with Me was certified diamond by the RIAA on February 15, 2005 having shipped over 10 million copies in its first three years of release. and has sold more than 26 million copies worldwide.

Composition
Come Away with Me is a mellow, acoustic pop album with soul and country overtones. It also incorporates blues, jazz, and folk styles. Bobby Dodd of All About Jazz writes that, although the album features jazz standards, jazz purists and academics "may deny [Jones] jazz credibility for her folk infusion". Jones' guitarist Jesse Harris and bassist Lee Alexander wrote most of the album's songs, which feature simple melodies and progressions.

Commercial performance
In the United States, the album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #139 and reached the top of the chart after one year. In total, the album was on the Billboard 200 for 161 weeks and has sold 10,910,000 copies. The album sold approximately 26 million copies worldwide. It was certified platinum from the Recording Industry Association of America on August 22, 2002. It went on to sell over ten million copies over the next year, and on February 15, 2005, was certified as a diamond record by the RIAA.

In Germany, the album debuted just at No. 37, nevertheless it stayed a total of 141 weeks on the official German Albums Chart and it managed to reach No. 2 in its 37th week on that chart, where it stayed for 4 weeks. In the end, Come Away with Me sold 750,000 copies, reaching 5× gold, being her most successful album in that country and one of the longest-staying album on the German Albums Chart.

Polyphonic HMI's "Hit Song Science" software predicted the album's success months before its release, contradicting skeptical executives.

Critical reception
Come Away with Me received acclaim from most music critics. It holds an aggregate score of 82/100 at Metacritic. The album received 3.5 out of 4 stars from both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Los Angeles Times. Allmusic's David R. Adler wrote that, "while the mood of this record stagnates after a few songs, it does give a strong indication of Jones' alluring talents." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice cited it as "the most unjazz album [Blue Note] has ever released" and criticized that "Jones's voice dominates the record" because "her main writers are pretty anonymous", although he found it to be a "sincere" and "exemplary biz success story in which the good guys win."

Accolades
The album won eight awards (Jones won five of the awards) at the Grammy Awards of 2003, including "Album of the Year", as well as "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year" for "Don't Know Why". Although she was happy about her success, Jones felt bad about sweeping the Grammy Awards. In an interview for 60 Minutes, Jones told Katie Couric:

"I felt like I went to somebody else's birthday party and I ate all their cake. Without anybody else getting a piece. That's how I felt."

- Norah Jones

Rolling Stone ranked Come Away with Me at number 54 on its list of the 100 Best Album of the Decade.

Musicians

 * Norah Jones – vocals, piano (1, 3, 5–7, 9–14), Wurlitzer electric piano (4)
 * Lee Alexander – bass (1–13)
 * Jesse Harris – acoustic guitar (1, 5, 6, 9, 11–13), electric guitar (1)
 * Kevin Breit – acoustic guitar (2, 4), National guitar (2), electric guitar (4, 13)
 * Adam Levy – electric guitar (3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12), acoustic guitar (8, 10)
 * Adam Rogers – guitar (7)
 * Bill Frisell – electric guitar (13)
 * Dan Reiser – drums (1, 5, 7, 11)
 * Brian Blade – drums (2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12), percussion (2, 9)
 * Kenny Wollesen – drums (13)
 * Rob Burger – pump organ (8), accordion (10)
 * Tony Scherr – slide guitar (8), acoustic guitar (8)
 * Sam Yahel – organ (Hammond B-3) (6, 7, 11)
 * Jenny Scheinman – violin (9, 11)
 * Arif Mardin – string arrangement (11)

Awards
Grammy Awards