Norah Jones
Not Too Late
(EMI)
Though not shy about cutting loose in side projects, Jones’s languorous, vaguely jazzy music is a franchise. It sells millions more than any other artist who employs cello, trombone, B3 organ and pedal steel. Bassist/producer Lee Alexander also co-writes the numbers most likely to stick in the brain. “Sinkin’ Soon” works a breezy New Orleans vibe into gloomy metaphor. Jones addresses the shock of the ’00 and ’04 elections in a melancholy evocative of Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is?” That Jones is cute as a button does have a role in her success. Still, she radiates a mood the opposite of excitement, more about what is learned in excitement’s wake.
Doug Taylor
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
Norah Jones new cd is awesome. I bought it without having listened to one track and I have not been disappointed. I love every song on it.