It's no secret that contemporary jazz-inspired singer/songwriter Norah Jones has music in her blood (mostly gravitating from her fingers). The daughter of world-renowned musician Ravi Shankar, Jones had hints of music penetrating through her body from the very start, but it is her ability to encapsulate the side of her that so naturally croons jazz music that has brought the young starlet to center stage.Born in New York City but raised by her mother in Texas, Jones lived a fairly normal childhood. She attended the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, and it was here that she started exploring the likings of jazz music. Always a fan of Billie Holliday and Bill Evans, Jones took her jazz influences to the extreme in high school, winning several high school awards for her jazz performances. After high school, Jones attended the University of North Texas for jazz piano until a friend introduced her to the coffeehouses and jazz clubs of Greenwich Village in 1999. It was here that Jones found her calling, and she ended up ditching her college dreams to pursue the wide world of music at her own pace.Jones eventually assembled her own group with guitarist Jesse Harris, bass player Lee Alexander and drummer Dan Rieser, and the quartet released demos for Blue Note Records in 2000. She signed with the jazz label in 2001, and worked with Charlie Hunter's group while writing songs for her debut album, 2002's Come Away With Me. Though not a full-blown jazz album, Come Away With Me featured jazz-type artists and had phenomenal success, selling 18 million copies and winning Jones eight Grammys. Feels Like Home, Jones' 2004 release, preceded a stint with the group the Little Willies, after which she released another solo album Not Too Late in 2007.
