Ed Sheeran performs during BottleRock Napa Valley at the Napa Valley Expo on May 26, 2024. Photos: Steve Carlson/STAFF and Matt Pang/STAFF. NAPA — It was just a couple of songs into Ed Sheeran’s headlining BottleRock set when he told a story of his first hit, “The A Team,”…

Norah Jones, “Visions.” Norah Jones’ newest album, Visions, swings the pendulum from darkness back to light. If 2020’s Pick Me Up Off the Floor was the dust on the windowsill clouding the view, Visions is the sun beaming through. Visions Norah Jones Blue Note, March 8 8/10 Get the…

Norah Jones performs at Oxbow RiverStage in Napa, Calif. on June 25, 2022. NAPA — The kind of music Norah Jones makes – an intimate jazz-pop with country inflections – doesn’t always translate well to a larger stage, especially an outdoor one. But her show at the Oxbow RiverStage in…

Norah Jones, “Pick Me Up Off the Floor.” On the opening track of her new album, pianist and songwriter Norah Jones manages to capture the heartbreak many of us are feeling as we drag ourselves through the year from hell that is 2020. During the gentle jazzy piano tune…

In 1968, American singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry recorded her sophomore album, The Delta Sweete. It dropped a year after her no. 1 single, “Ode to Billy Joe,” but never took off. The album became a hard-to-find talisman for the few lucky musicians and music lovers who happened upon it in obscure…

AZUSA, CALIF. — In 2005, Tank And The Bangas frontwoman Tarriona “Tank” Ball was forced to leave her school, family and home in New Orleans’ 8th Ward. When Hurricane Katrina made landfall, her neighborhood was submerged under 20 feet of water. Family members who did stay behind had to be rescued from…

Photos: Paige K. Parsons MOUNTAIN VIEW — Neil Young sat in with Metallica and My Morning Jacket served as Roger Waters’ backing band on the first day of the 30th annual Bridge School Benefit Saturday. Nine different artists performed at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. The benefit aids…

Metallica, Roger Waters, Dave Matthews and Willie Nelson were among the 10 artists announced Monday for this year’s installment of the annual Bridge School Benefit concert. The event, now in its 30th year, brings together popular musicians to benefit the Bridge School, a Hillsborough, Calif. facility serving children with…

Norah Jones, Courtesy: Diane Russo. Winding down the evening listening to the second album from Norah Jones’ country side-project, the Little Willies. (For the Good Times, Jan. 10, EMI). I should admit that traditional country music is not my cup of tea; it just doesn’t have the zing of…

MOUNTAIN VIEW — Strong lineups at Bridge School Benefit concerts are often overshadowed by the cause for the annual event; the kids with severe physical and learning impairments at the school started by Bay Area rocker Neil Young and his wife, Pegi. Saturday, at the first of two 25th…