Like most listeners, I was blown away by Norah Jones’s first CD, Come Away With Me, back in 2002. Great voice, great songs! I liked the second Nora Jones CD, Feels Like Home (2004), but not quite as much. Where the first CD had strong songs, on Feels Like Home, Norah Jones and her band wrote most of the material. Not so good. Then, Norah shifted gears, stopped singing the jazzy songs and went “mainstream” with her next few albums. I listened to them once and gave them away to whoever would take them off my hands.

Now, Day Breaks, Norah Jones’s new CD, goes back to the sound and style of Come Away With Me. Yes, most of the songs are written by Norah Jones and her band but they are better songs (still not great). If you’re looking for some pleasant background music, Day Break is your answer. If you buy the TARGET exclusive version (which I did) you get four more songs. GRADE: B

TRACK LIST:
1. “Burn” Norah Jones, Sarah Oda 4:38
2. “Tragedy” Jones, Oda 4:14
3. “Flipside” Jones, Peter Remm 3:41
4. “It’s a Wonderful Time for Love” Jones, Oda 3:53
5. “And Then There Was You” Jones, Remm 3:05
6. “Don’t Be Denied” Neil Young 5:36
7. “Day Breaks” Jones, Remm 3:57
8. “Peace” Horace Silver 5:15
9. “Once I Had a Laugh” Jones 3:12
10. “Sleeping Wild” Oda 3:07
11. “Carry On” Jones 2:48
12. “Fleurette Africaine (African Flower)” Duke Ellington 5:21
BONUS TRACKS:
13 “Carry On” (Live Performance From the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington, VT) 2:37
14 “Flipside” (Live at Newport Jazz Festival) 4:39
15 “Peace” (Live at Newport Jazz Festival) 4:12
16. “Don’t Know Why” (Live at Newport Jazz Festival) 3:36