River: The Joni Letters
River: The Joni Letters is the forty-fifth 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.
River: The Joni Letters
September 25, 2007
2006–2007
67:49
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[edit]
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]
Accolades[edit]
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]