Jesse Harris will probably always be best known as Norah Jones's favorite songwriter--he wrote five songs on Come Away With Me, including "Don't Know Why"--but he's also an able recording artist himself. Many of the 12 songs on his fourth album with the Fernandos, The Secret Sun, are built on a foundation of acoustic guitar--his and that of ex-Lounge Lizard Tony Scherr (who also plays electric guitar throughout). These two are abetted by a particularly supple rhythm section--bassist Tim Luntzel and Kenny Wollesen (Tom Waits, Bill Frisell). Similar to Jones's work, there's an understated elegance to these songs, and the band is clearly comfortable with bluesy pop, country rock, singer-songwriter ballads, and even traditional folk (the album's one cover, "Roberta"). Jones appears on one song, the duet "What Makes You," but it's not even the best song here. That honor could go to the pre-rock classic pop grace of "How?" an intricate guitar-and-marimba workout "The Midnight Bell," or the album-closing stunner, "You, the Queen," a jazzy love song full of longing, regret, and hope. Clearly, Harris doesn't have a voice that comes close to matching Jones's, but The Secret Sun is full of good songs played tastefully--a combination that deserves to be applauded. --Keith Moerer
