She spent her childhood with her mother, who moved to the Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, Texas, when Jones was four. She has always liked the music of Bill Evans and Billie Holiday among others from the 'oldies' section and considers Willie Nelson her idol. She has been quoted as saying, "My mom had this eight-album Billie Holiday set, I picked out one disc that I liked and played that over and over again."

Jones began singing in church choirs, taking piano lessons, and even briefly trying out the alto saxophone. She attended Interlochen Arts Camp, Grapevine High School, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas. While at high school, she won the DownBeat Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist (twice, in 1996 and 1997) and Best Original Composition (1996).[1] She then attended the University of North Texas, where she majored in jazz piano. In 1999, two years into the program, Jones left for New York City. Since about that time she has been romantically involved with bassist Lee Alexander

Jones was a lounge singer before becoming a recording artist. Jones played with numerous artists and bands including Wax Poetic and the Peter Malick Group. Jones performed quite frequently with guitarist Charlie Hunter in 2001 and appeared on Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below album in a duet with André 3000 in 2003. While Jones is best-known for her sultry-yet-powerful vocal style, often compared to that of Billie Holiday or Nina Simone, her abilities as a jazz pianist have likewise been celebrated. On January 19, 2003 Jones appeared as a guest on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on NPR, performing jazz standards such as "September in the Rain" and "I Can't Get Started," and later that year she appeared again with McPartland at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, performing more standards such as "Lover Man" and "Walking My Baby Back Home". She has performed at the New Orleans Jazz Festival in both 2004 and 2005.
 

Her debut album, Come Away with Me, debuted in February 2002 and was instantly celebrated for its blending of mellow, acoustic pop with soul and country. It hit number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, with the single "Don't Know Why" hitting number one on the Top 40 Adult Recurrents in 2003. It won Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards. She made a cameo appearance in the 2002 movie Two Weeks Notice playing the piano and singing "Nearness of You" at the fundraiser. "Come Away With Me" has sold over 20 million copies.
 

Her second album, Feels like Home, was released on February 9, 2004. Rather than repeat the softer, jazz mood of Come Away with Me, her second album was influenced by country music. Within a week of its release, Feels like Home had sold over a million copies, making it the highest-selling album in the history of Blue Note Records. Jones toured globally again, to promote the album with the Handsome Band, and the addition of backing singer Daru Oda. Time magazine included Jones on the Time 100, a list of the most influential people of 2004. "Feels Like Home" has sold over 14 million copies.
 

Her third album, Not Too Late, was released by Blue Note Records on January 30, 2007. The album is Jones's first for which she wrote or co-wrote every song, and according to her, some of them are much darker than those on her previous albums.^[3] Not Too Late was mostly recorded at Jones's home studio and is the first album Jones recorded without producer Arif Mardin, who died in the summer of 2006. Jones described the sessions as "fun, relaxed and easy" and without a deadline; executives at Blue Note Records reportedly did not know they were recording an album. The song "My Dear Country" is a political satire; she wrote it before the United States Presidential election day in 2004.

Not Too Late reached the #1 position in twenty countries and reached #1 on the United World Chart with sales over 720,000 in its first week. It is the second best first week album sales of 2007 after Avril Lavigne's third album The Best Damn Thing. The album became the 800th album to reach the top spot on the UK chart. It also reached #1 in the U.S. with 405,000 copies sold. According to a press release from EMI, Not Too Late is certified gold or platinum in twenty-one countries as of February 2007. The album has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide, according to media traffic. But with shipment it sold 4 million copies. The first single, "Thinking About You", became Jones's first single to chart on the U.S. Hot 100 since "Don't Know Why".