The new Norah

Santa Barbara

Welcome to Norah Jones, Phase 2.

If one of the great pop stories of 2002 was how this young singer became an overnight sensation by showing taste and restraint in the recording studio, an equally noteworthy tale this year is how she is showing the same qualities outside the studio.

However grounded a recording artist may appear to be, blockbuster hits can lead to a crippling loss of creative and emotional balance, causing all kinds of wrong turns in pursuit of even greater sales.

But Jones has resisted the hype. She hasn’t donned stripper outfits, a la so many young singers, to gain magazine covers, and she has not worked the TV or print interview circuits.

Instead, Jones has focused on her craft, and her concert Monday at the lovely, renovated Santa Barbara Bowl proved both gratifying and eye-opening.

Even as critics cheered, Grammy voters swooned, and millions bought her debut album, “Come Away With Me,” the New York native’s fans surely knew her live shows tended to be a bit timid.

It didn’t matter all that much in the early club shows because Jones’ shyness mirrored nicely the economical style that made the understated, often melancholy music on her album so enchanting.

As Jones stepped up this year to larger venues and some fans saw her for the second and third time, however, she needed to open up a bit, both in terms of musical range and in her stage personality.

This doesn’t mean costume changes or dancers to brighten up the presentation a la the divas. But something more than the wistful, whispered strains of “Don’t Know Why” would be welcome.

In a remarkable transformation on a tour that includes a sold-out stop tonight at the Greek Theatre, Jones didn’t just open a new door in her music and manner on Monday -- she kicked it in, without sacrificing her trademark style and class.

Given her fondness for such classic country writers as Hank Williams and Willie Nelson, it wasn’t that surprising when she added songs identified with John Prine and Gram Parsons to her set list Monday.

But who ever imagined that this delicate stylist and her five-piece band would turn to AC/DC’s foot-stomping rocker “Ride On”?

Rather than choosing one of Prine’s celebrated ballads, such as “Hello in There,” Jones teamed with singer-songwriter Richard Julian, the evening’s opening act, on “That’s the Way the World Goes ‘Round.” The whimsical statement about how arbitrary life can be is built around the image of a man “sitting in the bathtub counting my toes, when the radiator broke, water all froze ...”

It’s a wonderful song, and Jones and Julian nailed it. Along with “Ride On,” that told you that she has a far greater musical range than the debut album would suggest.

On “Sleepless Nights,” a Boudleaux and Felice Bryant song recorded by Parsons, she was joined on vocal harmony by keyboardist Daru Oda to re-create some of the soulfulness of the Parsons-Emmylou Harris teaming.

Jones hasn’t abandoned the delicate, sophisticated tone of “Come Away With Me,” which has sold 14 million copies worldwide and is still in the Top 10 in the U.S.

Besides a sensitive reading of Duke Ellington”s “Melancholia” (featuring Jones’ own lyrics), she and the band introduced a few new songs in the haunting ballad style of the album. But one new song, bassist Lee Alexander’s “Creepin’ In,” has such a folksy, upbeat style that it seemed like a near-hoedown.

Jones still spends most of her time at the piano, but she moved away from it during an acoustic segment that was as informal as a campfire circle. Adding to the communal feeling of the 90-minute set was the warm interaction between Jones and her band, which includes Alexander, Oda, guitarists Adam Levy and Kevin Breit and drummer Andy Borger.

Part of the richness of Jones’ unhurried style is how she leaves room for the band members to express themselves in ways that seem consistently fresh and inspired.

At 24, Jones is far too valuable an artist to be pigeonholed by the success or sounds of the debut album, and Monday’s show made it clear that she has no intention of allowing her spirit to be broken.

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Robert Hilburn, The Times’ pop music critic, can be reached at robert.hilburn@latimes.com

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Norah Jones

Where: Greek Theatre, 2700 Vermont Canyon Road, L.A.

When: Today, 7:30 p.m.

Price: Sold out.

Contact: (323) 665-1927.