What sparked this collaboration with the Roots?
We'd played together on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and it was a lot of fun. There are things they do that I can't, and I write things they can't. It works well.
You've written hundreds of songs.
Contrary to appearances, I'm lazy. But when a song is coming, I'm often in a trancelike state. Next thing I know, I have a song.
Would you ever want to be a judge on a music competition show?
I've been asked, but you won't see me as a judge anytime soon. [Those shows] create an illusion that there's a short route to success. The judges have lucked their way into positions of power and are mostly self-promoting and obnoxious.
How do you and your wife, singer Diana Krall, like to spend time off?
We have a place by the water and find joy in simple things — like looking at the stars — that adults forget to do.
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