2007 · Album
River: The Joni Letters
Recorded 2007 · Verve · Produced by Larry Klein
Hancock Listens Closely to Joni
A pianist and a songwriter meet across decades, and the conversation turns out to be genuinely worthwhile.
Herbie Hancock had already made forty studio albums by the time River: The Joni Letters (2007) arrived, which means the risk of a tribute record feeling like a late-career obligation was real. It doesn't, mostly. What Hancock understood about Joni Mitchell's songwriting is that her compositions are harmonically sophisticated enough to survive — and reward — jazz treatment without being stripped of their identity. These aren't arrangements that flatten her songs into chord changes and walk away. They stay close to the originals while giving the players genuine room.
The album moves between vocal and instrumental performances, which gives it an interesting texture. Tina Turner appears on 'Edith and the Kingpin,' Norah Jones on 'Court and Spark,' Corinne Bailey Rae on 'River,' and Leonard Cohen on 'The Jungle Line' — an odd but affecting pairing. The instrumental readings, particularly 'Amelia,' let Hancock's piano do the most concentrated work, and those moments are among the album's strongest. His touch here is reflective without being sleepy, and the band — which includes Wayne Shorter on saxophone — plays with a kind of careful attention that suits the material well.
This won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2008, which surprised many jazz listeners and delighted others. Whether that prize overstates the album's importance is a fair debate. What's accurate is that it's a well-crafted, thoughtful record that respects both the source material and the jazz tradition without being beholden to either. It's not Hancock at his most adventurous — nothing here approaches the experimentation of his earlier electric period — but it's Hancock being genuinely engaged with a project, and that comes through clearly. Worth your time, especially if you already love Mitchell's songs.
Who's playing
Dave Hollandbass guitar
Herbie Hancockpiano
Lionel Louekeguitar
Princeguitar
Wayne Shortersaxophone
Vinnie Colaiutadrums
Where next?
More by Herbie Hancock
All 26 albums →
The musicians on this record
The All Seeing Eye 1966
Wayne Shorter
plays saxophone here
plays saxophone here
Critical Mass 2006
Dave Holland
plays bass guitar here
plays bass guitar here
