TORONTO -- It's nearly impossible to discuss Jesse Harris without mentioning Norah Jones. The duo's friendship landed Harris on the Grammy stage where he earned a golden statue for writing Jones's smash hit Don't Know Why, one of five he penned for her debut album.
The New York singer-songwriter says he has promised himself not to tire of talking about the connection.
"It is a part of who I am. I don't feel it's anything I need to distance myself from," says the soft-spoken 33-year-old, whose new album, The Secret Sun, hit stores this week.
"That was me playing guitar. That was my song. It just wasn't me singing, so I don't feel that I need to re-establish myself or anything."
In the grand scheme of things, Harris was the experienced musician -- The Secret Sun is his sixth album -- lending a hand to a new friend. He met Jones five years ago at the University of North Texas where she was a freshman. She'd been sent by the music faculty to pick up musicians at a local hotel for a gig.
But such is life, and Harris claims he's not at all bitter that it was Jones's CD that took off at bullet speed.
"I feel extraordinarily lucky with everything that happened with Norah's album," says Harris. "I feel lucky to have met her and gotten to play with her."
Harris's musical career is best compared to a roller-coaster. His ups have been quite high, as when EMI gave his duo Once Blue a record deal in 1995. Their debut pop album was well received, generating national buzz and rave reviews. Once Blue seemed poised for a promising career, but their second album went unreleased when the band was caught in the crossfire of internal politics at the record label.
Harris's downs have forced him to take on temp work as a legal proofreader, guitar teacher and even a typist for the soap opera As the World Turns (his mother played Dr. Susan Stewart on the show). All the while he and the Ferdinandos -- his backing band named after an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn -- were stalwarts on the New York music scene.
He's once again riding a high. The success of Jones's album has led to a flood of calls offering Harris some lucrative co-writing gigs.
He's turned most of them down. "It's not that I don't want to take any of them . . . just not the majority of them," he explains. "I never wanted to co-write. I just don't want to be the songwriter-for-hire. I don't mind pitching songs to singers and having people cover my stuff, but I don't want to run around from artist to artist, session to session co-writing."
He's hoping his fourth album with the Ferdinandos can keep him flying high.
The record is a soothing mix of folk, country, waltz and pop with a hint of jazz thanks to brush drums. Harris's Sting-like voice is set to intimate lyrics. Jones makes an appearance on What Makes You and If You Won't.
