River: The Joni Letters (with Bonus Tracks) - Amazon.com Exclusive [Special Edition]

Herbie Hancock | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 25, 2007)
• Original Release Date: September 25, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Special Edition
• Label: Verve
• ASIN: B000V9RRPQ
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,292 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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

This Amazon.com exclusive version of River: The Joni Letters includes two bonus tracks, "All I Want" featuring Sonya Kitchell and "A Case of You."

The legendary pianist and innovator Herbie Hancock explores the words and music of another musical pioneer, Joni Mitchell, on his first new studio recording for Verve since 1998's GRAMMY® award-winning Gershwin's World.

Inspired in equal parts by Mitchell's poetic lyrics and unique melodies, Hancock and saxophone giant Wayne Shorter play with a restraint and elegance that achieves a perfect balance between the adventurous aesthetics of jazz improvisation and the emotional directness of the finest Adult Pop music.

Hancock builds upon his (and Shorter's) previous collaborations with Ms. Mitchell to create a sound that will appeal not only to fans of both artists, but to the listener familiar with the work of Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae and the other brilliant guest vocalists featured on this session. River: The Joni Letters is the perfect CD for the music fan looking for something new that's based in the familiar.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

104 of 113 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars In a Series of Tributes, Hancock Delivers September 28, 2007

By Shannon Freeman VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Joni Mitchell has enjoyed a year of industry fans paying tribute to her, those whom she considers her "true peers", the artists who recognize the genuis of her work. Herbie Hancock has assembled a cast of players fit for the high bill of interpreting songs from an artist whose career has been a fluid exploration, much as Hancock employs a fluid sensibility to his arrangements on many of these classics.

Norah Jones opens the show with her rendition of " Court and Spark". It is a fine song in its own right; the only complaint may be that the immediacy of Joni's version is lost here. Composed in Canada, as a response to an actual experience, this song may have been better left off the list. When Mitchell speaks in first person, it's almost an impossible task for another to come in and half way rival the intense delivery, the plumbing of the depths that must occur when Mitchell sings the lyrics she has clearly lived.

Tina Turner purrs through "Edith and the Kingpin", making it the cover that it ought to be. This song demands either the original interpretation or an alternative that gets to the grit of the subject matter by sheer quality of voice. Turner was a perfect choice for this song.

Corrine Baily Rae is another highlight, singing " River" in a way that puts her stamp on the song, yet maintains the integrity of Joni's original release. Perhaps there is a bias on my part, with this being one of my all-time favorite Mitchell songs, but as noted in my review of this year's earlier Tribute, the version on that disc sounded reworked to the point that there were no longer vestigages of Joni left, although it sounded just like a James Taylor original would, leaving it a good song. However, on a tribute, that's far from the point. CBR does a much better job of synthesizing her sound with Joni's, making this the best cover of "River" I've heard.

The inclusion of some of Mitchell's favorite songs from other artists is an inspired choice. "Nefertiti" is always mentioned in interviews where Mitchell cites works that have moved her, so Wayne Shorter stepping in to lend this song, forty years after he helped bring it to life with Miles Davis himself, is a real treat. It is worth noting that the play list is heavily tilted toward material from " Hissing of Summer Lawns", a fact that is probably not coincidental. That was a work that deserved way more positive press than it received; with Hancock being a fellow innovator, it makes sense that he would enjoy giving some added exposure to those overlooked experiements. Leonard Cohen reading " The Jungle Line" is a bit bizarre, however, with him sounding like Vincent Price reciting a monologue. Again, this is a song that may have been better left untouched, or if included, having a reworking that retained the ethnic vibe of the original, as that was part of its charm.

Herbie Hancock is a kindred spirit with Joni Mitchell; they are both restless musicians, always in search of a new direction, inspired by beauty and truth. It is clear that he had the superior vision for a tribute to one of our most cherished talents. The continuity of the disc is a welcome departure from the one released earlier in the year, with the likely explanation being the stewardship of Hancock from conception to birth of this effort. Excellent tribute, with a cameo appearance by Joni herself on " The Tea Leaf Prophecy", an inclusion that carries extra poignancy with the passing of her mother this year, her muse for the song.

55 of 65 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars stay a while October 30, 2007

By J. Anderson

Format:Audio CD

A perfect disc. Tina Turner's take on Edith and the Kingpin moves right into legend. Herbie applies his Mind to Joni Mitchell and mind to mind, art to art, something extraordinary quickens. Call the disc subdued, the better to raise an art. Here are two artists not led by their public, which is to say by fame. What happens therefore is something that reaches, and something worthwhile. Hancock takes Tea Leaf Prophecy and leads Joni back to her jazz self. Very cool. His playing throughout is musically mature, free, unafraid, especially in a redefining 'Both Sides Now' and a ravishing take on Mitchell's musically ebullient 'I Had a King', the two lengthiest tracks on the disc. In the end, and even inbetween, this is Herbie Hancock at peace, and he paints Joni Mitchell with master strokes. &check out T Turner's brilliant turn on Edith! It's a time-stopping bit of pure art that defines the reason for the record. Take your hat off, and your shoes.

2/10: CONGRATS Herbie! An Album of the Year Grammy for River! Like I said, it's a perfect disc.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Herbie Hancocks Latest Masterpiece February 11, 2008

By Juan Mobili

Format:Audio CD

Herbie Hancock mining musical forms outside the Jazz canon should not be either a surprise nor source for concern among traditionalists. Whether exploring Electronica harder and more boldly that most of his contemporaries in the Seventies--except, of course, for Miles--or getting involved with Hip-Hop or nodding to Pop, Hancock's work may not always be of everyone's liking but it can always claim honesty and quality.

With Joni Letters, this is confirmed ... more yet, this is taken to another level of excellence. Having worked with Mitchell already in her album dedicated to Charles Mingus tunes, Herbie returns to Joni's songbook to reinterpret it, to sculpt new possibilities out of her poems--to call them lyrics might leave you with a limited impressions of the beauty and depth of her words.

The arrangements are bold yet always faithful to the originals. Edith and The Kingpin--probably the best track in an album full of gems--turned into a dark Jazz ballad and sung remarkably well by Tina Turner, Leonard Cohen reading The Jungle Line with a sense of sinisterness that those lyrics may not have revealed before, or his treatment of Both Sides Now are sufficient proof of it.

In addition to these tracks there's plenty more to bow to. Luciana Souza's rendition of Amelia is impeccable and soulful as well as River sung by Corinne Bailey Rae--although my nod for best version still goes to Madeline Peyroux and kd lang.

Last but definitely not least, there's Wayne Shorter sounding as lyrical and fierce in all the right places, and master Hancock himself. Herbie's playing is truly stunning throughout the record, confirming yet again his place among the greatest pianists of any genre.

If you are into Jazz but not Joni, this is where you'd want to come in. Even if the opposite is so for you, again, this is the right door to open. Welcome to the work of two geniuses.