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Music : River: The Joni Letters (with Bonus Tracks) - Amazon.com Exclusive
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Rating: 
- Probably as good as it gets
Let's face it, covering Joni Mitchell is almost never successful. I've looked into pretty much every tribute album or cover (especially the ones by jazz musicians) and have almost always been left cold. Except for the most straight-ahead, pretty melodies (Both Sides Now, Woman of Heart and Mind, etc.), her music and especially her lyrics just don't translate well. Turns out all the cliches about her "idiosyncratic genius" are more or less true and you're always better off just listening to the original.
That said, this is a very pleasant disc with some very good covers and probably as good as it will ever get for a Joni tribute. I'd agree with others that Jones' Court and Spark is quite good, and I like Kitchell's sunny cover of All I Want. I never dreamed of Tina Turner singing Joni Mitchell, but her beautiful reading of Edith and the Kingpin is the best cover. All these really work. Souza's Amelia doesn't work for me - go directly to Hejira. Mr. Hancock's playing is beautiful throughout, and I admire his choice of tunes, including Sweet Bird.
Still, as admirable as the effort is, everything pales a bit after hearing Tea Leaf Prophecy in Joni's own voice - rich, tender, poignant and beautifully set by the playing of Hancock and Shorter.
We keep hearing that Mitchell's recording career is ending, and we've had her big, ambitious retrospectives. All very good, but all I really, really want is an album of Joni's singing over a subtle jazz band (ideally this one) - her songs, others' songs, I don't care much - but more along the lines of this version of Tea Leaf Prophecy. If there has to be a last Joni album, that's the one I want.
Rating:
- DON'T Take Me To The River
This CD is ideally suited for the frozen food sections of supermarkets at 3 a.m.; it has that unobtrusive quality the folks at Muzak have been perfecting for decades. But if you listen carefully, it's more significant than that. Unless I'm terribly mistaken, you can actually hear the dying gasps of that most sublime, and uniquely American, of all art forms - jazz itself. To say that this CD adds nothing to Mitchell's work would be too kind, it actually detracts from it with uninspired, insipid renditions of iconic standards that, quite frankly, we could all do in our sleep by now. Even Shorter, a true monster in other venues, seems sedated to the point of narcolepsy.
The dirty little secret about Herbie Hancock is that his career was over when he was in his mid-20s. A prodigy whose work with Miles Davis was downright blistering, he stretched out with two really exquisite post-Miles Davis albums where he was both bandleader and composer. But the daring and experimental nature that had served him so well up to that point, turned on him with unpleasant results. To see what I mean, try listening to Headhunters today; you can almost see the yuppies in trendy restaurants as the ferns are being misted. Absolutely awful. I saw him live during this phase; his performance had all the self-indulgence and self-satisfaction of a rock concert without any of the bite or energy.
Did the same person who recorded Maiden Voyage record this? In case Mr. Hancock hadn't noticed, Ms. Mitchell has always written difficult, angry, bitter, hurt, smart, vulnerable, angular music where the feelings are on the outside and the sarcastic comment is never far away. The lyricism is simply the delivery mechanism, not the point. It seems Mr. Hancock got hung up on the schmaltz, and forgot about the soul. But what do I know? It won a Grammy today. There will always be a market for ooze.
Rating:
- Forty-seven And Fifty Are The Winning Numbers
With his 47th release in a breathtaking career, Herbie Hancock captured Album of the Year honors at the 50th Grammy Awards.
Make no mistake, this is not a lifetime achievement honor; River: The Joni Letters, is an amazing release - bolstered with two bonus tracks - featuring seven vocalists, including Joni Mitchell, in a sparkling tribute to Mitchell.
The cornerstone is Mitchell on Tea Leaf Prophecy, but a trio of selections make the concept click. Norah Jones brings a special elegance to Court and Spark, with Corinne Bailey Rae lending smooth blues to River and Sonya Kitchell providing a bouncy interpretation to All I Want.
The textures in Hancock's work on Solitude is a subtle masterpiece and Wayne Shorter provides a fresh sound to Nefertiti.
There are many highlights in Hancock's career; this CD again demonstrates his musical genius.
Rating: - Herbie Hancocks Latest Masterpiece
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.
Rating: - Album of the Year
Well, well, well. A Grammy album of the year for 2007. And such a flaccid editorial review from Amazon. I've changed my opinion of Amazon editors
- Probably as good as it getsLet's face it, covering Joni Mitchell is almost never successful. I've looked into pretty much every tribute album or cover (especially the ones by jazz musicians) and have almost always been left cold. Except for the most straight-ahead, pretty melodies (Both Sides Now, Woman of Heart and Mind, etc.), her music and especially her lyrics just don't translate well. Turns out all the cliches about her "idiosyncratic genius" are more or less true and you're always better off just listening to the original.
That said, this is a very pleasant disc with some very good covers and probably as good as it will ever get for a Joni tribute. I'd agree with others that Jones' Court and Spark is quite good, and I like Kitchell's sunny cover of All I Want. I never dreamed of Tina Turner singing Joni Mitchell, but her beautiful reading of Edith and the Kingpin is the best cover. All these really work. Souza's Amelia doesn't work for me - go directly to Hejira. Mr. Hancock's playing is beautiful throughout, and I admire his choice of tunes, including Sweet Bird.
Still, as admirable as the effort is, everything pales a bit after hearing Tea Leaf Prophecy in Joni's own voice - rich, tender, poignant and beautifully set by the playing of Hancock and Shorter.
We keep hearing that Mitchell's recording career is ending, and we've had her big, ambitious retrospectives. All very good, but all I really, really want is an album of Joni's singing over a subtle jazz band (ideally this one) - her songs, others' songs, I don't care much - but more along the lines of this version of Tea Leaf Prophecy. If there has to be a last Joni album, that's the one I want.
Rating:
- DON'T Take Me To The RiverThis CD is ideally suited for the frozen food sections of supermarkets at 3 a.m.; it has that unobtrusive quality the folks at Muzak have been perfecting for decades. But if you listen carefully, it's more significant than that. Unless I'm terribly mistaken, you can actually hear the dying gasps of that most sublime, and uniquely American, of all art forms - jazz itself. To say that this CD adds nothing to Mitchell's work would be too kind, it actually detracts from it with uninspired, insipid renditions of iconic standards that, quite frankly, we could all do in our sleep by now. Even Shorter, a true monster in other venues, seems sedated to the point of narcolepsy.
The dirty little secret about Herbie Hancock is that his career was over when he was in his mid-20s. A prodigy whose work with Miles Davis was downright blistering, he stretched out with two really exquisite post-Miles Davis albums where he was both bandleader and composer. But the daring and experimental nature that had served him so well up to that point, turned on him with unpleasant results. To see what I mean, try listening to Headhunters today; you can almost see the yuppies in trendy restaurants as the ferns are being misted. Absolutely awful. I saw him live during this phase; his performance had all the self-indulgence and self-satisfaction of a rock concert without any of the bite or energy.
Did the same person who recorded Maiden Voyage record this? In case Mr. Hancock hadn't noticed, Ms. Mitchell has always written difficult, angry, bitter, hurt, smart, vulnerable, angular music where the feelings are on the outside and the sarcastic comment is never far away. The lyricism is simply the delivery mechanism, not the point. It seems Mr. Hancock got hung up on the schmaltz, and forgot about the soul. But what do I know? It won a Grammy today. There will always be a market for ooze.
Rating:
- Forty-seven And Fifty Are The Winning NumbersWith his 47th release in a breathtaking career, Herbie Hancock captured Album of the Year honors at the 50th Grammy Awards.
Make no mistake, this is not a lifetime achievement honor; River: The Joni Letters, is an amazing release - bolstered with two bonus tracks - featuring seven vocalists, including Joni Mitchell, in a sparkling tribute to Mitchell.
The cornerstone is Mitchell on Tea Leaf Prophecy, but a trio of selections make the concept click. Norah Jones brings a special elegance to Court and Spark, with Corinne Bailey Rae lending smooth blues to River and Sonya Kitchell providing a bouncy interpretation to All I Want.
The textures in Hancock's work on Solitude is a subtle masterpiece and Wayne Shorter provides a fresh sound to Nefertiti.
There are many highlights in Hancock's career; this CD again demonstrates his musical genius.
Rating:
- Herbie Hancocks Latest MasterpieceHerbie 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.
Rating:
- Album of the YearWell, well, well. A Grammy album of the year for 2007. And such a flaccid editorial review from Amazon. I've changed my opinion of Amazon editors