Norah Jones
Not Too Late

THE REVIEW

The success of Norah Jones still leaves us literally speechless: her debut album Come Away With Me, with over twenty million copies sold worldwide and eight Grammy Awards (the musical equivalent of the Oscars) won during the 2003 ceremony, comfortably ranks among the milestones of contemporary music. Yet, no offense to the admirers of the very young singer-songwriter born in New York 28 years ago, such public acclaim shows more sociological than musical aspects. Aside from the usual Madonna, Shania Twain, and Britney Spears, the only female artist of certain caliber to surpass Norah is Alanis Morissette. The message seems clear: compared to the disposable feminist anthems of the 1995 Morissette, in the recent success of Norah Jones we can identify, without excessive stretching, a widespread desire for relaxing music.

The sweetened jazz of Norah, just like the rose-water swing offered by Canadian Michael Bublé, is the perfect response for an audience made up of increasingly older buyers. Perhaps skeptical of commercial operations like those set up by Bublé or the many Jones' imitators, but nonetheless willing to buy a good album like Come Away With Me certainly is. The subsequent Feels Like Home of 2004, with "only" ten million records sold, allowed Jones to meet the expectations of her record label which, we can be sure, must have considered it almost a flop.

However, it's with Not Too Late, set to release in a few days, that Norah plays her best cards after spending the last two years acting the rock star, lending her voice to the albums of Foo Fighters, Ryan Adams, and appearing in the experimental Peeping Tom by former Faith No More member Mike Patton. The heart of Not Too Late revolves around the first single Thinking Of You preceded and followed, in the provisional setlist of the CD, by two gems such as Not My Friend and Broken: the first supported by an intense performance by Jones and the second enriched by a lively string arrangement. The remaining tracks of the album, although seeming all too similar to what Norah previously produced, do not disappoint expectations. After listening to Not Too Late, one can understand, at least in part, why this petite girl of Indian descent - her father is the famous musician Ravi Shankar - has achieved such success.