River: The Joni Letters
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| River: The Joni Letters | ||||
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| Studio album by Herbie Hancock | ||||
| Released | September 25, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 2006—2007 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 67:49 | |||
| Label | The Verve Music Group | |||
| Producer | Herbie Hancock, Larry Klein | |||
| Herbie Hancock chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |   [1] |
| All About Jazz | (favorable)[2] |
| Allmusic |  [3] |
| Robert Christgau |  [4] |
| Daily News | (favorable)[5] |
| The Guardian | [6] |
| New York | (favorable)[7] |
| The New York Times | (favorable)[8] |
| The New Yorker | (favorable)[9] |
| Time Out | [10] |
River: The Joni Letters is the 2007 album by Herbie Hancock. His 47th studio album, it was released on September 25, 2007 by Verve Records. The tribute album is a homage to Joni Mitchell, a longtime associate and friend of Hancock. Both Hancock and saxophonist Wayne Shorter previously collaborated with Mitchell on her 1979 album Mingus, and both continued to work with her on occasion ever since.[11]
Guest vocalists on River include Leonard Cohen, Tina Turner, Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza and Mitchell herself.[11]
The album peaked at #5 on The Billboard 200 after enjoying a huge post-Grammy sales boost, at #61 in Switzerland, #70 in France and #83 in the Netherlands.
Contents |
[edit] Grammy Awards
On February 10, 2008, the album won the Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Jazz Album at the 50th annual Grammy Awards, surprising the music world.[12] It faced competition from Kanye West, Foo Fighters, Amy Winehouse, and Vince Gill.[13] River was the first jazz album to win best album in 43 years and only the second in the award's history; the other was Getz/Gilberto by Stan Getz and João Gilberto in 1965.[14][15] The track "Both Sides Now" was also nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental.[16]
[edit] Track listing
All songs were written by Joni Mitchell, except where noted.
- "Court and Spark" (featuring Norah Jones) - 7:35
- "Edith and the Kingpin" (featuring Tina Turner) - 6:32
- "Both Sides, Now" - 7:38
- "River" (featuring Corinne Bailey Rae) - 5:25
- "Sweet Bird" - 8:15
- "The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)" (featuring Joni Mitchell) - 6:34
- "(In My) Solitude" (Eddie DeLange, Duke Ellington, Irving Mills) - 5:42
- "Amelia" (featuring Luciana Souza) - 7:26
- "Nefertiti" (Wayne Shorter) - 7:30
- "The Jungle Line" (featuring Leonard Cohen) - 5:00
- Bonus tracks
The Amazon.com exclusive version of the album features two bonus tracks:[17]
- "A Case of You" – 7:36
- "All I Want" – 4:15
- with Sonya Kitchell
The iTunes Store digital version features two bonus tracks:
- "Harlem in Havana"
- "I Had a King"
[edit] Personnel
- Herbie Hancock – piano
- Wayne Shorter – soprano and tenor saxophone
- Dave Holland – bass
- Lionel Loueke – guitar
- Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
- Larry Klein - bass on "All I Want"
[edit] References
- ^ "About.com review". http://jazz.about.com/od/albumreviews/fr/HerbieReview.htm.
- ^ "All About Jazz review". http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=27169.
- ^ "Allmusic review". http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1212644.
- ^ "Robert Christgau review". http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Herbie+Hancock.
- ^ "Daily News review". New York. 2007-09-30. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2007/09/30/2007-09-30_herbie_hancock_writes_letters_to_joni_mi.html.
- ^ Walters, John L (2007-10-05). "The Guardian review". London. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/oct/05/jazz.shopping3.
- ^ "New York review". http://nymag.com/guides/fallpreview/2007/music/36613/.
- ^ Chinen, Nate (2007-09-09). "The New York Times review". http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/arts/music/09chinen.html.
- ^ "The New Yorker review". http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/recordings/2007/09/17/070917gore_GOAT_recordings_futterman.
- ^ "Time Out review". http://www.timeout.com/london/music/review/audio/1002/herbie_hancock-river-the_joni_letters.html.
- ^ a b "News". HerbieHancock.com. 2007-08-01. http://www.herbiehancock.com/news/story.php?sid=59. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
- ^ Cohen, Sandy (2008-02-11). "Hancock Steals Grammy Album of Year". Associated Press. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jSDyPp8MY3kwpiKsqOB4c4zLhHrAD8UO4JNO0. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
- ^ Leopold, Todd (2008-02-04). "Herbie Hancock rides on the 'River'". Music (CNN). http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/04/herbie.hancock/. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
- ^ Stryker, Mark (2008-02-04). "Herbie Hancock's Grammy win is a victory for jazz world". Detroit Free Press. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080211/ENT04/80211041/1048/SPORTS. Retrieved 2008-02-17.[dead link]
- ^ Moon, Tom (2008-02-11). "On 'River,' Hancock Skates Away with Grammy". All Things Considered (National Public Radio). http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19073295. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
- ^ Jones, Steve (2008-02-05). "Hancock bridged jazz, pop on 'River'". Music (USA Today). http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/awards/grammys/2008-02-05-grammys-hancock_N.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
- ^ "Amazon listing". amazon.com. 2007-09-01. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000V9RRPQ/ref=ord_cart_shr/104-8258129-5015137?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
[edit] External links
- The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Blog: River at Los Angeles Times
- The Best Jazz of 2007: 3) River: The Joni Letters at PopMatters
- Hancock bridged jazz, pop on River at USA Today
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