Insta-fame is a funny thing. Had Norah Jones not sold a bazillion copies of 2002’s Come Away With Me to moms and uncles via Blue Note Records—known for issuing some of Miles Davis’ finest work—we’d be having a completely different conversation about Ms. Jones. There wouldn’t have been the predictable adult-contemporary backlash from the indie set, and she wouldn’t have provoked the ire of purists who thought she was trying to ape jazz. Her new record, The Fall, would be judged sans baggage, and like it should be: as the latest installment from a honey-voiced chanteuse with a knack for writing—and picking—witty pop songs that may not break new ground or change lives, but are above average and contempt in every way. With Sasha Dobson. CHRIS KORNELIS

Sun., April 18, 8 p.m., 2010