You remember Nojo - the demure and mysterious love child of George Harrison's sitar-mentor Ravi Shankar, the one who needed a wheel barrel to carry off the 14 or 15 Grammy's in 2002. Not a bad little debut that. I was a fan, though I felt she borrowed the notion from Shelby Lynne's breakout the year before, and the album's easy jazz and piano noodling got a bit homogenous taken as a whole. Still it finished near my top-ten list that year, and as far as Grammy award-winners go, Norah made alot more sense than most.

She certainly did set herself up for a classic sophomore slump, and after the first track it sounded like she was going to stick to the original formula, but as it turns out she propped that sopht-ball on a tee and knocked it way yonder out of the park. Feels Like Home is a much, much better record, with more musical smarts and original alchemy of ideas and genres than I can think of since I Am Shelby Lynne.

Home has never felt so good. I'm very much blown away by how clever this record is in it's direction and stylistic nuances. Pretty much after the 3rd track she's left the Nojo of the past completely behind and she doesn't look back. Her piano chops are still tastefully on display, but her solos are far more angular, unpredictable and more like Gershwin than her gentle meanderjazz of Come Away With Me. Other than "Creepin'In" the bluegrass toe-tapping duet with Dolly Parton (which is a wonderful song by the way) the album maintains a steady keel. It's not so much a change of tone, though the tone has changed some, it's just there's so much imagination invested in the instrumentation and production, that it's a far superior record overall to her debut. It's like the puzzle pieces still fit but the picture has evolved into a Rembrandt, instead of a paint by numbers affair.

Much credit needs to be aimed at Lee Alexander who does a lion's share of the writing, here. He wrote some of the tunes on Come Away With Me, but the chief pensman on her debut, Jesse Harris - doesn't have much more than a thumb-print here and there on Feels Like Home. And certainly Daru Oda's stirring background vocals and harmonizing must also be credited for some of the more striking moments on the record.

I think Jones made a graceful gesture by inviting Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of the Band to join the ranks of studio players on the record. The tunes they contribute drums, keyboard and accordion to bring to mind the scene in the Last Waltz, where The Band accompanies a young, brunette songstress by the name of Emmy Lou Harris - folks that's almost been 30 years ago. She also covers songs written by the iconic twin towers of Townes Van Zandt and Tom Waits. There really is a little something for everybody and plenty of stuff everyone should enjoy.

Her husky-sweet voice is as soft and sandy as a cat's tongue and she's a little bit more catty with it this time out. She let's go the reigns and vamps it a good bit more, she's sexier without being self-consciously so. Again taking her cues from Shelby Lynne, there's alot more country soul and scratchy folk touches on many of these tracks, this is just an unbelievably innovative collection of songs. It's like she took her debut put it in a pillow case, threw in some Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Natalie Merchant, a dash of Gershwin an extra helping of Shelby Lynne - shook it up and invented a new kind of music. There's traces of Ray Charles in a piano line right next something more akin to Duke Ellington. In fact the final track is entitled "Don't Miss You At All," which is a Duke Ellington composition that Nojo wrote a song around. This album couldn't be a more rich rebound for an artist who has firmly cemented her place among the best in the business. She makes me proud to be a Jones.