Newport Twofer: Norah Jones To Headline Jazz & Folk Festivals

By Brian Zimmerman I Mar. 28, 2016

Norah Jones will headline both the Newport Jazz Festival and Newport Folk Festival this year.
(Photo: Courtesy Carolyn McClair Public Relations)

As a testament to her sprawling artistic range, nine-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Norah Jones will appear at both the Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festival on consecutive weekends this July.

Demonstrating her versatility and wide appeal, Norah will make her first-ever solo appearance at the Folk Festival on July 23, having previously performed at the 2014 festival with her band Puss n Boots and as a special guest with the legendary singer Mavis Staples.

The following weekend, Norah will make her first-ever appearance at the Jazz Festival on July 30.

“Norah Jones is one of America’s great singers of songs,” said festival founder and music industry icon George Wein, who has been organizing the Newport Jazz Festival since 1954.

“The scope of her artistry is so broad that it’s possible for her to appear at both the Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festival, while still feeling comfortable that she will reach her audience and fans at these two historic cultural events. We are proud to have her with us.”

Norah is currently putting the final touches on her sixth solo album, which is due to be released this fall on Blue Note Records. Her debut album for the label, 2002’s Come Away With Me, reached Number 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 list, and the album’s single, “Don’t Know Why,” ranked as high as Number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart.

Jones would go on to win five Grammys for the album in 2003, including Best New Artist, Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Don’t Know Why.”

Come Away With Me became a diamond album (selling more than 10 million units) in 2005.

She has since released a series of commercially successful solo albums—Feels Like Home (2004), Not Too Late (2007), The Fall (2009) and Little Broken Hearts (2012)—as well as albums with her collective bands The Little Willies and Puss n Boots.

The 2010 compilation …Featuring Norah Jones featured the pianist in collaboration with Herbie Hancock, Willie Nelson, Outkast, and Foo Fighters.

The 2016 Newport Folk Festival will take place July 22–24, while the Newport Jazz Festival will run from July 29–31.