Hawaii fans recall their encounters with the magic of Norah Jones

Life these days is one sweet ride for singer/songwriter Norah Jones. Jones, 38, will be in Hawaii next week for two shows promoting her sixth studio album, “Day Breaks.” Both shows are sold out, and if things go as they have been for the nine-time Grammy Award winner, “Day Breaks” could become her fifth gold album, selling at least 500,000 copies.

Jones’ string of hits began with her debut album, “Come Away With Me,” in 2002. Described by observers as blending jazz, pop and country, “Come Away With Me” won Jones her first five Grammys and was eventually certified a diamond album for sales of more than 10 million copies — in fact, it sold more than 26 million units.

Jones’ next three albums — “Feels Like Home” (2004), “Not Too Late” (2007) and “The Fall” (2009) — were all certified platinum for sales of more that 1 million copies each. It was no surprise then when Billboard magazine named Jones the top jazz artist of the 2000-2009 decade.

Her fifth studio album, “Little Broken Hearts,” released in 2012, was the first that had not sold 1 million copies. “Day Breaks” got off to a much slower start than “Little Broken Hearts” in terms of sales, but even so it peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and was Jones’ sixth album that reached the Top 10.

JONES IS stopping in Honolulu on the way home from shows in Japan and Korea. She did not respond to interview requests, but her Honolulu fans had plenty to share. Responding to a call for their take on Jones’ sound, they poured out accolades.

“Her voice and her gentle style were so exceptional and moving,” remarked Marie Ford Cicogni, recalling her first encounter with Jones’ music. She said she was “infatuated from the first time I heard her voice.”

Pianist Cheryl Glaza said she admires Jones’ voice and style. Tom Jacobs sees her as “sophisticated, gritty, earthy and elegant.” And Kimberly King said Jones is “my go-to whenever I’m stressed.”

Eric Dotterer described Jones as “super hot and talented, and a spiritual gift to the world.”

“I loved her music from note one,” Dotterer said. “I can hear her influences, yet she’s very original and polished.”

“Success is in her genes,” Curtis Crabbe said, referring to Jones’ famous father, sitar player Ravi Shankar. Crabbe’s favorite Jones song is “Don’t Know Why,” the song that was her first single and only Top 40 hit.

“Go figure the meaning of those lyrics!” he said. “Magic!”

LeeAnn Maruyama Jones, widow of Honolulu bass player Steve Jones, spoke for many, saying simply, “I love her music.”

Ann Forman Brandman, a frequent actor in TAG and other local productions and a communications staffer at the University of Hawaii, says she will never forget the experience of discovering Jones as the opening act for African-American folk singer Odetta in December 2001, in New York.

Brandman was returning to her hotel after making a pilgrimage to the site of the 9/11 attack when she met someone she knew from Hawaii. “She was on her way to see Odetta perform at a Jewish Community Center,” Brandman said. “The venue was intimate, as I recall, I think in a basement, and we were seated at a table right up front,” Brandman recalled. “Opening for Odetta was a young unknown singer/piano player, Norah Jones.

“She completely blew everyone away. A tour de force no one had expected. She had recently moved to New York, and it was prior to her debut album in 2002.”

“So out of an evening of sorrow at Ground Zero, to a meeting that couldn’t have been better planned in all of New York City, we were introduced to the brilliance of Norah Jones.”

OTHER FANS remember the time, place and person who introduced them to Jones’ music. Multi-Hoku Award winner and Hawaiian vocalist Natalie Ai Kamauu discovered Jones thanks to a chance meeting with former Gov. John Waihee.

“I was coming down the front stairs of The Royal Hawaiian hotel after a convention performance when a sleek, beautiful and very new car pulled up to the valet. The door opened and Gov. Waihee stepped out. When he saw me he asked me if he could show me something. He opened the back door, got in and then waved to me to join him. I didn’t give his invite a second thought.

“I jumped in next to him. Then he turned on his stereo and blasted Norah Jones. He was like a little boy with a new toy. He kept saying over and over again, ‘Listen to her.’ It was a most precious moment.”

Veteran island songwriter and record producer Gordon Broad “became a fan” at an “after-hour party” at Buddy Fo’s home in Kahana.

“We were talking story with music playing in the background, and all of a sudden Norah Jones came on. I don’t know, maybe it was the end of a long day, but that soothing sound of her voice and her total sound was a relief to my ear,” he said. “It was like everybody went home except Norah Jones singing.”

Waikiki veteran singer/performer Al Waterson says he has multitalented Jeannette Trevias to thank.

“I hired Jeanette Trevias as part of a trio at Nick’s Fishmarket where I was performing. When Jeannette did one of her solo songs during the set, she sang ‘Don’t Know Why.’ It was the first time I heard it, and I absolutely loved that song and the way Jeannette sang it. She told me afterwards that it was a song by Norah Jones. Now when I hear that song, I credit Jeannette for introducing me to it.”