While the Music Lasts

1	Wild Eyes
2	Wish I Was a Bird / Norah Jones
3	I Never Changed My Mind
4	More
5	I Have No Idea
6	While the Music Lasts / Norah Jones
7	Gone Gone Gone
8	Forever Nowhere
9	Burn
10	Always Seem to Get Things Wrong
11	Mirror Ball / Norah Jones
12	Don't Need That
13	Open Your Eyes
14	One Day the Dam Will Break / Norah Jones

Barnes & Noble

While he's still best known as the Grammy-winning tunesmith behind Norah Jones's breakthrough hit "Don't Know Why," Jesse Harris has been quietly establishing himself as a performer with a voice worth hearing. Jones drops in (as she did on Harris's last studio disc, The Secret Sun) to add backing vocals to four songs, notably the ambling, Steely Dan–styled "I Wish I Was a Bird." Perhaps purposefully, she doesn't cast all that looming a shadow, allowing Harris's disarming personality to shine through -- as it does on easygoing tunes like "Forever Nowhere," an acoustic ditty redolent of early Paul Simon. Harris departs from his established style more often here, most notably on the minimal, jazzy "I Never Changed My Mind," which glides along on some subtle Wes Montgomery–styled guitar work courtesy of Bill Frisell, and the album-closing "One Day the Dam Will Break," an interesting hybrid of neo-reggae and bluesy harmony vocals. The latter is one of a passel of songs that feature arrangements by Van Dyke Parks, who also imbues "Gone Gone Gone" with a cinematic moodiness underscored by woozy strings and hand percussion. Parks steps to the other side of the glass for "Mirror Ball," which garners a heady cabaret feel from his accordion playing. Parks makes a fine foil for Harris's subtle songcraft and helps insure that -- as per the title of this affable disc -- the music will last a good long time. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Guitarist Jesse Harris' sophomore solo effort, While the Music Lasts, finds him deviating little from the thoughtful country-jazz style of his first record. Once again featuring the laid-back distorted lead guitar of Tony Scherr, the album is awash in ballads, Latin numbers, and soft rock that fans of Harris have grown accustomed to. While Harris' sensitive-guy persona, dippy lyrics, and slight voice may not appeal to everybody, the music of his band, the Ferdinandos, is tastefully rootsy and marginally edgy, and dresses up Harris' blander qualities nicely. Fans of vocalist and Harris compadre Norah Jones may be slightly disappointed that she only appears here on some background vocals, nice as they are. On the upside, Harris has brought in the big soft-focus guns of fellow guitarist Bill Frisell, who fits perfectly into the twang-jazz vibe on his two tracks. Similarly interesting are Van Dyke Parks' string arrangements peppered throughout the album. Matt Collar