River: The Joni Letters | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 25, 2007 | |||
Recorded | 2006–2007 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 67:49 | |||
Label | Verve | |||
Producer | Herbie Hancock, Larry Klein | |||
Herbie Hancock chronology | ||||
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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.
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]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
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.
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.
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]
All tracks are written by Joni Mitchell, except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(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) |
| 6:34 |
7. | "Solitude" | Eddie DeLange, Duke Ellington, Irving Mills | 5:42 |
8. | "Amelia" (feat. Luciana Souza) | 7:26 | |
9. | "Nefertiti" | Wayne Shorter | 7:30 |
10. | "The Jungle Line" (feat. Leonard Cohen) | 5:00 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | "A Case of You" | 7:36 |
12. | "All I Want" (feat. Sonya Kitchell) | 4:15 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
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]
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 |
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her personal lyrics and unconventional compositions which grew to incorporate pop and jazz elements. She has received many accolades, including eleven Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever", and AllMusic has stated, "Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century."
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound. In the 1970s, Hancock experimented with jazz fusion, funk, and electro styles, using a wide array of synthesizers and electronics. It was during this period that he released perhaps his best-known and most influential album, Head Hunters.
Maiden Voyage is the fifth album led by jazz musician Herbie Hancock, and was recorded by Rudy Van Gelder on March 17, 1965, for Blue Note Records. It was issued as BLP 4195 and BST 84195. Featuring Hancock with tenor saxophonist George Coleman, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams, it is a concept album aimed at creating an oceanic atmosphere. As such, many of the track titles refer to marine biology or the sea, and the musicians develop the concept through their use of space. The album was presented with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.
Live in Paris is the first live album and video album by Canadian singer Diana Krall, released on October 1, 2002, by Verve Records. The album was recorded during Krall's sold-out concerts at Paris's Olympia from November 29 to December 2, 2001, and includes songs from her albums Only Trust Your Heart (1995), All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio (1996), When I Look in Your Eyes (1999), and The Look of Love (2001).
Both Sides Now is a concept album and studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell that was released in 2000. It is her 17th studio album. The album won two Grammy Awards in 2001 for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for the song "Both Sides Now" and a Juno Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.
Mingus is the tenth studio album by Canadian musician Joni Mitchell. It was released on June 13, 1979, and was her last studio album for Asylum Records. The album is a collaboration between Mitchell and Charles Mingus. It was recorded in the months before and after Mingus' death in January 1979 and is wholly dedicated to him. The album is one of Mitchell's most experimental and jazz-centric works. Mingus originally wrote six compositions for Mitchell to write lyrics for, and three of these were included on the album. Two other tracks written exclusively by Mitchell are included, alongside a new version of Mingus' standard "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", featuring lyrics written by Mitchell. In addition to these, five spoken word tracks are dispersed throughout the album.
Corinne Jacqueline Bailey Rae is an English singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "Put Your Records On". Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2006. She released her debut album, Corinne Bailey Rae, in February 2006, and became the fourth female British act in history to have her first album debut at number one. The album has sold over four million copies. In 2007, Bailey Rae was nominated for three Grammy Awards and three Brit Awards, and won two MOBO Awards. In 2008, she won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
Possibilities is the thirty-ninth studio album by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, released on August 30, 2005, by Hear Music and Vector Recordings.
Awake is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Josh Groban. Announced on September 13, 2006, it is his third studio album, and a follow-up to his multi-platinum album Closer. Awake was released on November 7, 2006.
Shine is the 19th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on September 25, 2007, by Hear Music. It is Mitchell's first album of new material since Taming the Tiger (1998).
Lionel Loueke is a guitarist and vocalist born in Benin. He moved to Ivory Coast in 1990 to study at the National Institute of Art.
Larry Klein is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is based in Los Angeles.
Little Voice is the second and major-label debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, which was released on July 3, 2007 on the Epic Records label. Six of the tracks are re-recorded studio versions of songs from her previous album, Careful Confessions. A two-disc special edition of Little Voice with live acoustic tracks was released on March 18, 2008. The bonus disc also includes an interview with Bareilles and accompanying videos of the performances.
Gretchen Parlato is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller and Lionel Loueke.
Flow is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard, released on June 7, 2005 by Blue Note Records. The album was nominated for a "Best Jazz Instrumental Album" Grammy Award in 2005.
He Had a Hat is a 2007 album by jazz pianist Jeff Lorber. All compositions on this album were original, except for "Grandma's Hands" which was originally composed and performed by Bill Withers.
The discography of the American jazz artist Herbie Hancock consists of forty-one studio albums, twelve live albums, sixty-two compilation albums, five soundtrack albums, thirty-eight physical singles, nine promo singles and four songs not released as singles, but that charted due to downloads. This article does not include re-issues, unless they are counted separately from the original works in the charts, furthermore because of the enormous amount of material published, this discography omits less notable appearances in compilations and live albums. The discography shows the peak weekly main chart positions of eight selected countries: United States, France,[a] Germany, Japan,[b] Netherlands, Sweden,[c] Switzerland and United Kingdom. Positions also listed on United States are R&B / hip hop, dance / club, jazz[d] and bubbling under charts.[e] The peaks do not refer necessarily to the position that a record reached when it was first released. Also included are certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)[f] and the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI).[g]
Bare Bones is the fifth studio album by American jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux. It was released on March 10, 2009.
The Imagine Project is the forty-first studio album by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock released on June 22, 2010. Prominent guests include John Legend, India Arie, Seal, Dave Matthews, Jeff Beck, Chaka Khan, Tedeschi & Trucks, The Chieftains and Los Lobos.
Steve Chrisanthou is a British songwriter, music producer, and recording engineer. He is a Grammy Award, Ivor Novello Award and Brit Award nominee, and a MOBO Award winner for co-writing the song "Put Your Records On" with John Beck and Corinne Bailey Rae. In 2008, Chrisanthou won a National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences award for his vocal engineering on River: The Joni Letters, a Grammy Award-winning album by Herbie Hancock.