Genre: Soul / Blues / Acoustic

2000年，钢琴手兼歌手Norah Jones还未获得那8个格莱美大奖，她只是在纽约东部贫民区的起居室里演奏，她应邀为吉他手Peter Malick和他的乐队演唱几首布鲁斯。这张唱片的灵感源于Ray Charles和Billie Holiday等名家的经典作品，也是一张典型的唱作人专辑，而Jones那同样经典的演唱风格更是将其演绎得淋漓尽致。大部分Malick的曲目都是当代蓝调，让人想念起Bonnie Raitt和Eric Clapton的作品。“Strange Transmissions”，一首忧郁的爱的宣言，Jones醇美的嗓音奠定了她后来布鲁斯歌后的地位，而“Heart of Mine”则表明，这个钢琴家充满生气的风格与Bob Dylan是绝配。至于首席Malick，为大部分曲子贡献了他沉静切肤的吉他演奏。

Noarh果然不改天后本色，专辑《Not Too Late》依然延续了家庭作坊式的制作，诺拉包办词曲，其大提琴手的男友Alexander则在一旁协助录音制作等事项。与过往稍有不同的是诺拉这一次表现得更为低调，大碟里似乎找不到像《Don't Know Why》《Sunrise》那样让人一听就疯狂爱上的歌曲，整体的曲调都偏向于平淡。但这并不意味着它不好听，相反，它能让你更快地入局。《Thinking About You》作为去年11月在电台首先播放的主打歌，有和蔼的阳光，有缓缓地落叶，以及能穿越重洋的对爱人的想念，短短三分钟的作品让人在冬日感觉到暖洋洋。专辑里的其他作品《The Sun Doesn't Like You》《Until The End》《Wake Me Up》等都是非常诺拉式的，旋律配乐演唱都不抢耳，给人感觉是她在鼓励你于工作、学习的时候去聆听。这也是诺拉音乐的杀手锏，在她的陪伴下你可以写作、阅读、编程、烹饪、打扫，不仅不会分心，还能提高效率！
Norah Jones emerged from the New York scene five years ago and promptly became a cultural phenomenon with her unhurried jazz-inspired pop songs. She sold millions of records, won Grammys, world fame and accusations that she records bland background music.
In hindsight, she has been unfairly maligned. After diverging last year for a band-based side project called the Little Willies, the 27-year-old's solo return is different to her proceeding albums.
It's her first self-written album and is a collection of intimate, gorgeous-sounding songs recorded with boyfriend Lee Alexander. Her vocals preserve an undeniable charm and the jazz-infused instrumentation from her close troupe of players is first-rate. There are surprises too: Sinkin' Soon is a tribute to New Orleans. Most of the songs are still mid-tempo, but there is a darker slant to her lyrics and even a little bit of humour. A welcome return.

It is not just the timbre of Norah Jones's voice that is mature beyond her 22 years. Her assured phrasing and precise time are more often found in older singers as well. She is instantly recognizable, blending shades of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone without sounding like anyone but herself. Any way you slice it, she is a singer to be reckoned with. Her readings of the Hank Williams classic "Cold Cold Heart" and Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You" alone are worth the price of the CD. Jones's own material, while not bad, pales a bit next to such masterpieces. They might have fared better had she and producer Arif Mardin opted for some livelier arrangements, taking better advantage of brilliant sidemen such as Bill Frisell, Kevin Breit, and Brian Blade; or if the tunes had simply been given less laconic performances. Jones has all the tools; what will come with experience and some careful listening to artists like J.J. Cale and Shirley Horn is the knack of remaining low-key without sounding sleepy--sometimes less is not, in fact, more. --Michael Ross