From the ACL Taping Program on June 14, 2007:
Known for her amazing voice and skilled piano playing, Norah Jones has become one of the most successful and respected recording artists of the decade. Despite all the success, the multi-Grammy-winning former Texas resident wasn’t content resting one those skills alone and began honing her songwriting craft.
“Three or four years ago, I was telling people that the one thing I wanted to get better at was songwriting,” Jones said. “I love to interpret other songwriters’ music, but I don’t always feel as close to them as my own songs.”
After writing a few original songs for her 2002 debut Come Away With Me and 2004’s Feels Like Home, Jones wrote or co-wrote all the songs on her third CD, 2007’s Not Too Late, giving the release a darker, more personal feel. “These songs are much more honest, closer to my gut,” Jones said. “This record is much more personal. …I like writing songs that are not so cut-and-dried, songs with a twist to them.”
Critics are calling Not Too Late the next step in Jones’ artistic development. Now Magazine wrote the release is “a very good showcase for Jones’ evolution as a writer and musician.” Pop Matters wrote “Jones proves herself to be as great a songwriter as she is a pianist and vocalist.”
