Grammy night 2003 was a ‘changing of the guard’ for the music industry as the old ushered in the new.

Simon and Garfunkel opened the show, reuniting publicly for the first time since 1993, and both the Bee Gees and Joe Strummer of the Clash received recognition. Bruce Springsteen’s album “The Rising” was expected to sweep the awards.

Surprise, surprise.

Twenty-three-year-old Norah Jones came out on top, winning all five awards for which she was nominated. The Dallas-native even walked away with Album of the Year, an award critics had chalked up to a fight between Eminem and Springsteen.

John Mayer, the 23-year-old newcomer from Georgia, won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Your Body is a Wonderland.”

The irony is, of course, that both Mayer and Jones play music reminiscent of simpler times, one of the reasons both have cross-generational appeal. It’s not often an artist can be heard simultaneously on KVIL and WildFM.

Jones’ musical parentage may have something to do with it, although she has had very little contact with her father, Indian sitar master and Beatles’ guru Ravi Shankar. Her mother is New York concert producer Sue Jones.

Mayer on the other hand has finally refined the jam band sound his hometown of Athens, Ga., is notorious for, and produced an album with teeny-bopper appeal but a sophisticated sound.

The youngsters themselves don’t know what to make of their success.

Jones is not quite sure why she was honored with Album of the Year, although Mayer says it’s his generation’s desire for the love of music their parents had that has driven many youthful but refined albums to the top of the charts.

Whatever the reason, it’s refreshing to see young, talented artists with integrity to boot. Perhaps the music industry is finally releasing its hold on the oiled-up, half-dressed and gyrating image of pop it has embraced for the past decade.