River: The Joni Letters

River: The Joni Letters
Studio album by
Herbie Hancock
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2007 (2007-09-25)
Recorded2006–2007
Studio
  • Avatar, New York City
  • Ocean Way, Los Angeles
  • 600 ft, Yorkshire
  • NJP Tonstudio, Zürich
GenreJazz
Length67:49
LabelVerve
ProducerHerbie Hancock, Larry Klein
Herbie Hancock chronology
Possibilities
(2005) 		River: The Joni Letters
(2007) 		The Imagine Project
(2010)

River: The Joni Letters is the fortieth studio album by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, released on September 25, 2007, by Verve. It is a tribute album featuring cover songs of music written by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.

The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200, enjoying a huge post-Grammy winning sales boost. Upon its release, River: The Joni Letters received generally positive reviews from critics and earned several accolades, including Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Jazz Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. Hancock's quintet for the album are saxophonist Wayne Shorter, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta.

Background

Hancock is a longtime friend of Mitchell's, and both he and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who plays throughout the album, had previously collaborated with Mitchell on her 1979 album Mingus, and both continued to work with her on occasion ever since.[1]

Guest vocalists on River include Leonard Cohen, Tina Turner, Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza and Mitchell herself.[1]

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[2]
All About Jazz(favorable)[3]
AllMusic[4]
Robert Christgau[5]
Daily News(favorable)[6]
The Guardian[7]
New York(favorable)[8]
The New York Times(favorable)[9]
The New Yorker(favorable)[10]
Time Out[11]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[12]

The album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2008.

Commercial performance

The album peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200 after enjoying a huge post-Grammy sales boost. It also peaked at number 61 in Switzerland, number 70 in France and number 76 in the Netherlands.

Accolades

On February 10, 2008, the album won the Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Jazz Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.[13] Hancock was competing with Kanye West, Foo Fighters, Amy Winehouse, and Vince Gill for the Album of the Year award.[14] River was the third jazz album to win Album of the Year in the award's history. The first was The Music from Peter Gunn by Henry Mancini in 1959. The second was Getz/Gilberto by Stan Getz and João Gilberto in 1965.[15] The track "Both Sides Now" was also nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental.[16] Until Jon Batiste's win in 2022, Hancock was the last Black musician to receive the Album of the Year award at the Grammys.[17]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Joni Mitchell, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Court and Spark" (feat. Norah Jones) 7:35
2."Edith and the Kingpin" (feat. Tina Turner) 6:32
3."Both Sides Now" 7:38
4."River" (feat. Corinne Bailey Rae) 5:25
5."Sweet Bird" 8:15
6."Tea Leaf Prophecy" (feat. Joni Mitchell)
  • Mitchell
  • Larry Klein
6:34
7."Solitude"Eddie DeLange, Duke Ellington, Irving Mills5:42
8."Amelia" (feat. Luciana Souza) 7:26
9."Nefertiti"Wayne Shorter7:30
10."The Jungle Line" (feat. Leonard Cohen) 5:00
Amazon.com exclusive version bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."A Case of You"7:36
12."All I Want" (feat. Sonya Kitchell)4:15
iTunes bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Harlem in Havana" 
12."I Had a King" 

All four bonus tracks were released on the 10th anniversary reissue of the album in 2017.[18]

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[19] 67
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 86
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[21] 76
French Albums (SNEP)[22] 70
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 54
Italian Albums (FIMI)[24] 38
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[25] 57
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 61
US Billboard 200[27] 5
US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[28] 1

References

  1. ^ a b "News". HerbieHancock.com. August 1, 2007. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  2. ^ "About.com review". Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
  3. ^ "All About Jazz review".
  4. ^ Jurek, Thom. "River: The Joni Letters". AllMusic. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  5. ^ "Robert Christgau review".
  6. ^ Farber, Jim (September 30, 2007). "Herbie Hancock writes 'Letters' to Joni Mitchell - NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  7. ^ Walters, John L. (October 4, 2007). "CD: Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters". The Guardian. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  8. ^ Johnson, Martin (August 24, 2007). "Herbie Digs Joni". NYMag.com. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  9. ^ Chinen, Nate (September 9, 2007). "A Pianist's Love Note to a Noteworthy Voice". The New York Times. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  10. ^ Futterman, Steve (September 10, 2007). "Missive to Mitchell". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  11. ^ "Herbie Hancock interview". Time Out London. November 5, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  12. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 644. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  13. ^ Cohen, Sandy (February 11, 2008). "Hancock Steals Grammy Album of Year". Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
  14. ^ Leopold, Todd (February 4, 2008). "Herbie Hancock rides on the 'River'". CNN. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
  15. ^ Moon, Tom (February 11, 2008). "On 'River,' Hancock Skates Away with Grammy". NPR.org. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  16. ^ Jones, Steve (February 5, 2008). "Hancock bridged jazz, pop on 'River'". USA Today. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  17. ^ Grein, Paul (July 14, 2020). "John Legend Says 'It's Almost Impossible for a Black Artist to Win Album of the Year' at the Grammys: Is He Right?". Billboard. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  18. ^ "Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters, 10th Anniversary Reissue Review". audiophilereview.com. January 24, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  19. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  21. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  22. ^ "Lescharts.com – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  23. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  24. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  25. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  26. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  27. ^ "Herbie Hancock Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  28. ^ "Herbie Hancock Chart History (Top Jazz Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
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