Customer Reviews

River: The Joni Letters

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

For what it is, this is just about perfect. The musicians- Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland- are first rate. Joni Mitchell makes an appearance and Leonard Cohen shows up at the end to poetize "The Jungle Line" over a piano improvisation. Everything is done at a slow burn- otherwise it wouldn't have gotten a Grammy nod in the first place. That isn't the natural habitat for jazz.

As a tribute to a great songwriter, well, what did you expect? It is light years better than the TV salute a few years back (with the exception of the Richard Thompson and Diana Krall bits, and the brilliant Cindy Lauper cover of "Cary"- why isn't that anywher but YouTube?)

Check out the other reviews for the CD, or online. Anybody who buys something because it won a Grammy is just asking for trouble. Besides, it only slipped in because Kanye and Amy Winehouse split the vote. Sure "Hissing of Summer Lawns" or "Courts and Spark" are better Joni Mitchell, and "Maiden Voyage" is better Hancock. That doesn't mean this doesn't have it's pleasures.

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...

This music takes patience and attention to get into. First time I heard it, I thought it was too mellow and uneventful. It took me a few listenings to really make out what was happening. Herbie and company have really put together a thoughtful,and stimulating, work of art. If you let it, the music will take you to very beautiful places. On every listening I continue to gain appreciation of his interpretation of Joni's songs. This is truly a masterpiece of Jazz.

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?

An exceptional album that blends the essence of J Mitchell tunes with thoughtful and compelling HH jazz. A contemplative album that mines the past reinterpreting it in a fresh / timeless manner.

This is a mishmash, with some great talent and some great songs but the songs are not always the kinds of standards that are great for making "interpretations" and the talent is sometimes bent to homogeneity in the name of compromise (I guess). Also note that the amazon "album" has 10 cuts and the itunes "album" has 12, the other two being long and good Hancock cuts worth having. Listen to the samples before you plunge. And find real Joni and undiluted Hancock elsewhere, if that's your taste. It sure is mine.

Great take on Joni Mitchell songs. As always Mr. Hancock brings his mastery to a diverse collection of songs. Love IT