THE LITTLE WILLIES

The Little Willies

2006-02-13

Music insiders say that Norah Jones is happiest when playing inauspiciously in a band – and especially when she doesn’t have the lead vocal. The latest intriguing venture of Ms. Jones backs up this point. She’s just one of the guys in this ensemble, playing country-blues and country-and- western standards, with four originals thrown in. Richard Julian actually has just as much of the microphone as Norah, who’s happy to handle the harmonies. They do Hank, they do Kristofferson, they do Townes, they do Willie. There’s even an ode to cow-tipping in the closer, “Lou Reed.” A surprising turn of the page for the folk-jazz sensation. If you need a fix of pure Norah, choose “Love Me” (an Elvis tune) and “Roll On.” 2/06 MJVD Folk-Traditional