River: The Joni Letters

Herbie Hancock, Herbie Hancock / Michael Brecker / Roy Hargrove | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 25, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Verve
• ASIN: B000UVLK1M
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,929 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #19 in Music > Jazz > Avant Garde & Free Jazz
  • #43 in Music > Jazz > Soul-Jazz & Boogaloo

Track Listings

1. Court And Spark

2. Edith And the Kinpin

3. Both Sides Now

4. River

5. Sweet Bird

6. Tea Leaf Prophecy

7. Solitude

8. Amelia

9. Nefertiti

10. The Jungle Line

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

On paper, River sounds like a match made in several versions of heaven. Legendary pianist Herbie Hancock re-imagines Joni Mitchell with his hand-picked, star-studded band--including saxophonist Wayne Shorter--in tow. Luminary guests lend vocals to a song apiece: Norah Jones ("Court and Spark"), Tina Turner ("Edith and the Kingpin"), Corinne Bailey Rae ("River"), Luciana Souza ("Amelia"), Leonard Cohen (with an unsettlingly sanguine version of "The Jungle Line"), even Mitchell herself ("Tea Leaf Prophecy"). In the event, though, a few fundamental elements go awry. Hancock plays with almost saccharine understatement throughout, and even Shorter's seminal "Nefertiti" and Duke Ellington's "Solitude" fall into the album's presiding, somnolent surface, though to a lesser degree does the instrumental version of Mitchell's "Sweet Bird." But girding, and in some measure, saving, the proceedings, the lyrics here testify to a subtler wisdom guiding Hancock's set list. The mix includes a continuum from intrepid classics to dusty, fans-only fare, but a distinct reverence for Joni Mitchell the Poet threads them together, and, in the end, this album works best as a sleepy window into one fan's giddy and particular love affair with his source material. Fans of Hancock win out. --Jason Kirk

Product Description

The legendary pianist and innovator explores the words and music of another musical pioneer JONI MITCHELL on his first new studio recording for Verve since 1998's GRAMMYr Award winner Gershwin's World. Inspired in equal parts by Mitchell's poetic lyrics and unique melodies/harmonies, the musicians play with a restraint and elegance (on both the instrumental and vocal tracks) that achieves a perfect balance between the adventurous aesthetics of jazz improvisation and the emotional directness of the finest Adult Pop music Herbie Hancock's latest recording Possibilities has scanned nearly 400,000 units. Joni Mitchell's brand new album also releases on 9/25 early confirmed media includes: NPR Morning Edition feature (airdate TBD); NY Times Arts & Leisure Fall Preview; review in The New Yorker.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A celebration of subtlety. February 16, 2008

By John W. Dunner

Format:Audio CD

The sophistication of Mitchell's song constructions provides a plethora of interpretive possibilities. Hancock heads for the Ritz-Carlton. With guest vocalists Norah Jones, Tina Turner, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza, and Joni herself, Hancock dances gracefully up and down the twisting staircases of Mitchell's melodies, crossing the ballroom again and again for yet another chic-to-chic peek at her poetry. It's all gleaming wood and polished elegance, even as Wayne Shorter's sax prods Hancock on to more adventurous turns of phrase. The disc closes with Leonard Cohen's guttural narration of Mitchell's "The Jungle Line," a fittingly odd close to an album idolizing an iconoclast. A celebration of subtlety.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars mellow but masterful & meaningful... June 3, 2008

By Yanksta

Format:Audio CD

SHORT REVIEW: Very enjoyable cd, with great production & instrumentation by Herbie Hancock. great pop songs by Joni Mitchell. great performances by all performers involved.

LONG REVIEW: A seemless cd, made up of a variety of jazz musical sounds by Herbie, together with the jazzy introspective folk-pop of Joni Mitchell.

Sure its on the mellow side but Joni is the showcase and her lyrics, here performed by Joni and others, goes perfectly with the savy down tempo playing of the instrumentalists. But that is not meant to be a negative comment. The instrumental passages and moments are very good. This is jazz, a bit mellow, but not in a bad way. Its loose and improvisational jazz(heck look who is playing it!!!), with a wee bit of sly Hancock funk, lightly sprinkled throughout. Subtle yet poignant. Sweet yet salty.

...if you have any hesitation, see if you can listen to the first 2 songs all the way through. Beautiful performances all the way around, but these songs are not meant to be 30sec clips. Sweet Bird & Tea Leaf Prophecy are also very nice. I was not disappointed with anything really. Even the non-Joni songs fit seemlessly into the overall vibe of the cd. I have even enjoyed the cd playing it loud while driiving, just to hear every musical nuianse. A real audio treat, and to quote a review I saw for another work, "every sound is deliberate and perfect."

Reminds me of Miles Davis cool-jazz ensembles of the late 50s and up thru the 60s up, until he he formed his Bitches Brew group (which had the harder sound that was inspired by late 60s hard rock.). its Miles influenced cool-jazz, filtered thru 70s era Joni Mitchell, with the jazz being a bit more experimental & low key in some sections.

......to me, as jazzy and loose as this cd is, it still has a good amount of style, rhythm & melody throughout. Except Herbie & Co. play with it, much the way Joni herself did on many of her original songs & albums.

If you are only familiar with Joni's singles you may nt be aware of the rest of the songs she had on her original albums. some tended to have alot of instrumental experimentation venturing into jazz turf.

loved this cd throughout & recommended for jazz and joni fans looking for different versions of her songs.

Thanks HH & JM. Read more ›

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Deep and engrossing March 21, 2008

By Anthony Cooper

Format:Audio CD

Herbie Hancock's Joni Mitchell tribute is very good, and it's nice Herbie received the extra recognition of the Grammy. I don't think it's the best jazz CD of 2007, but I'm not a voter anyway. The key element in Herbie's band is Wayne Shorter. He plays a big role, and his sensibilities shape the sounds of each song. Dave Holland's bass is excellent, and the drums and guitar don't stand out much. The vocal songs are sung by a variety of fine singers. None of them jazz the song up too much. Tina Turner may not be recognized as a jazz singer, but she sounds very good. My favorite has to be Corinne Rae Bailey, simply for the sound of her voice. Even though there's no scatting, it's certainly a jazz CD, and Herbie and Wayne make sure of that. They play unobvious notes throughout, and make them go down easy enough. The instrumentals are laid back, but it's deep. "Nefertiti" is an instrumental highlight. The last song with Leonard Cohen's narration is just kind of strange.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars the best of 2007 February 14, 2012

By cwaduke

Format:Audio CD

As a jazz musician for the past 30 years, I have always considered Herbie's work to be of the highest integrity,brilliance and thoughtfullness. This album was so subtle, beautiful and intimately representative of the author. As is so often the case, Herbie and Wayne sound like they were playing from two sides of the same gene-ius. Dave Holland plays with the unusual sensitivity and perfect restraint. Dean Parks and Lionel Loueke share the same sensitivity. Vinnie Coliuta shows so much maturity. If you don't know the words to these songs, get them! You will begin to enjoy the depth of interpretation and nuance that this work offers. I have never, after 3 years, put this disc on and not been brought to great emotional and technical amazement in the same moment. How many stars can you give art?

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Joni's World March 13, 2008

By !

Format:Audio CD

Ok, all the rest comes further down, but here is the cut: Listen to this, if you can, without judgement, without a thought, because by the time you get to track eight, you are going to be starry eyed. Somehow, Hancock does it again. I wanted this CD to be another Gershwin's world, and it certainly isn't, even though Joni sang two songs on that CD. This is different. This is Joni's world. It's subtle, textured, and when you realize what a great Jazz talent Joni is, in addition to being the composer of all these textured story-songs and chordal motifs, you'll say "Why didn't somebody do this sooner?"

Well, because Herbie had to do it, and didn't get around to it until now.

I've got the 10 track CD, with 4 vocal tracks, four instrumental, and one spoken poetry-lyrics track. Tina Turner, Norah Jones, Joni Mitchell and Corinne Bailey Rae are the singers. Herbie heads up a jazz quintet that would smooth out your most wrinkled pair of socks. More later. I've got to go hear it again...