Norah Jones: "When I met Ray Charles I couldn’t stop crying. Twenty-something years ago, still new to the game, I was in a show honouring Elton John. Ray and I were introduced in the parking lot – I bawled uncontrollably. I was raised on his music. A few months later, we sang together for his last album before he died. That was a special day in the studio."
How did you develop the style that we hear on that record, combining elements of jazz, country, and singer/songwriter pop?
"That’s most of it, but there is also blues and soul – all the great American musical artforms. It came from growing up in a house, listening to Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton, and Willie Nelson. Then, later in high school with Bill Evans and Miles Davis, and I got deep into jazz, and that became my focus for awhile. When I moved New York, I was still deep into jazz, but was beginning to open up to other styles. I started going to the Living Room in New York City, and seeing all these songwriters. I had written a couple of songs in high school, but they embarrassed me so badly that I never wrote after that, but when I started going to singer/songwriter clubs, like the Living Room, I was inspired to start writing songs again. Also, in New York, I started missing country music. I was longing for my Texas roots. I think that’s where that came from – either missing my roots, and finding a way to bring country back into the mix, or realizing that it had been there all along. "
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