River: The Joni Letters
Herbie Hancock
Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Corinne Bailey Rae, Tina Turner
Producer: Herbie Hancock, Larry Klein
Verve (USA), 2007
1 CD
Catalogue #: 1744826
EAN: 0602517448261
UPC: 602517448261
Personnel: Wayne Shorter (soprano); Dave Holland (bass guitar); Vinnie Colaiuta (drums).
Additional personnel: Corinne Bailey Rae, Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones, Tina Turner, Leonard Cohen, Luciana Souza.
Any doubts about the incongruity of jazz icon Herbie Hancock covering singer-songwriter extraordinare Joni Mitchell will be obliterated on the first journey through RIVER: THE JONI LETTERS. For starters, the premise is not especially incongruous. Hancock has had a long, adventurous career in which he's traversed genres and masterfully blended styles, while Mitchell has always been deeply influenced by jazz as both a composer and a singer. RIVER features many of Mitchell's finest songs, stunning in their own right and reinterpreted beautifully by Hancock, plus a stellar assortment of musicians and guest vocalists.
Mitchell's pop and folk tendencies have been assimilated into the arrangements; the album plays like a vocal jazz outing. Hancock is joined by fellow Miles Davis alums Wayne Shorter and Dave Holland, among others, and the guest vocalists include Nora Jones, Tina Turner, Corinne Bailey Rae, Leonard Cohen, and--on one track--Mitchell herself. Sophisticated, soulful, and gorgeous, RIVER is a must for fans of Mitchell, classic jazz, adult contemporary artists like Nora Jones--and, well, just about everyone.
Tracklist
Herbie Hancock
One of the most open-eared and forward-thinking jazz musicians of his day, Hancock has, more than just about anyone else, consistently tried to broaden the music's horizons by mixing it with the most interesting elements of contemporary pop. Hancock has consistently pushed the envelope, from his earliest days with Miles Davis to his jazz-rock fusion of the early '70s and his early embrace of synthesizers and electronic instruments, his early-'80s experiments with hip-hop and sampling, or more recently, his acoustic piano reinterpretations of songs--the new standards, in his parlance--by everyone from Don Henley to Nirvana.
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell emerged as a darling of the late 1960s folk scene as a lyrically gifted songwriter and honey-voiced golden girl. In the '70s, she went on to incorporate jazz and confessional pop-rock into her musical vision, ultimately creating a poetic, earthy brand of art song that earned her a legion of admirers. While she has drifted in and out of fashion in her later career, she's among the most talented artists of her generation, and more than a few performers have her to thank for their careers.
Leonard Cohen
Montreal's Leonard Cohen was a well-respected poet and novelist before he ever entered the songwriting fray in the 1960s. His dark, poetic vision rivaled that of Dylan, and his songs inspired countless cover versions, by everyone from Judy Collins to Nick Cave. Over the years, he honed his craft to a razor's edge, his passion always expertly undercut by a biting sense of black humor. His early recordings were largely acoustic affairs, but by the end of the 1980s he had reinvented his sound, successfully incorporating synthesizers and contemporary production techniques while still sounding very much like himself (and gaining a new generation of followers in the process).
Corinne Bailey Rae
In an era when female R&B singers are often little more than pitch-corrected fashion divas, Corinne Bailey Rae's 2006 debut album was a heartening triumph of vocal chops and genuine soul. The U.K.-born singer/multi-instrumentalist got her start singing in her church choir, but followed the siren song of indie rock and joined the all-female metal band Helen in the mid-1990s. When Helen's album deal fell through, Bailey Rae looked for other avenues of musical expression and, influenced by classic jazz singers, tried her hand at a mellower, more emotive style of singing. By 2005 Bailey Rae had been offered a solo record deal with EMI. The resulting album was an international hit, charting high all over Europe and the U.S.
Tina Turner
Few rock performers can work a stage and an audience as masterfully as Tina Turner has been doing since the 1960s. First achieving stardom alongside then-husband Ike Turner, R&B siren Tina left to pursue an even more successful solo career that also included movie roles. Such is her iconic status that she was the subject of a biographical film, 1993's WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT.
