River: The Joni Letters (with Bonus Tracks) - Amazon.com Exclusive

I bought this on the strength of Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter being great favourites of mine for over 30 years, and I really like Joni Mitchell's "Hissing of Summer Lawns", from which this set takes it's best track (Edith and the Kingpin). Tina Turner is in superb form.

It is a very disappointing set. It's well played, but never sparks.
I cannot see how it deserves a 'Grammy' award.

I don't get the point of the Leonard Cohen monologue at all.

Get the Joni Mitchell album. It's far superior to this offering.

To tell the truth ,I wasn't expecting that much from this album. To me, Joni Mitchell's songs in the original form are hard to top. I haven't even been very impressed with her own recent covers of her classic work. So I put off getting this until recently. I am happy to report that for the most part this CD exceeded my expectations. First of all, I love the downtime mood of the proceedings. Herbie was creating an album, not just a collection of tunes. The pacing and order was well thought out, as was the choice of tunes, covering some of her more well known compositions, yet sprinkling in a few more obscure offerings. The arrangements are creative, often adding unexpected harmonic twists that place the album further into jazz territory than their original counterparts, but without compromising the integrity of the melodies or lyrics.

Many of the players on the CD had some prior association with Joni. Herbie,Vinnie Coliauta, and the great Wayne Shorter have all made appearances on her records and really understand how to accompany a singer. I have read reviews criticizing Shorter's performances on this CD and I couldn't disagree more strongly. Wayne is playing off the lyrics as he has done with Milton Nascimento and Ms Mitchell herself. His angular short flurries of notes are part of his signature style. The fact that he has become a sort of minimalist should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed his career in recent years.

This is a well arranged, fresh and probing take on Mitchell's oeuvre. Nora Jones sounds great on Court and Spark. And as mentioned in other reviews, Tina Turner delivers a definitive interpretation of Edith and the Kingpin. Made me want to break out Hissing of Summer Lawns" again, one of Mitchell's most underrated album. Herbie must agree as he also covers The Jungle Line" although this is in my opinion the least successful track. Leonard Cohen's straight reading of the lyric as a spoken word doesn't work and is the one track I always skip. Come to think about it, it was also my least favorite track on Hissing.

This edition with the bonus tracks is the one to get. Although not as adventurous as the rest of the covers , Sonya's Kitchell's covers of All I want and A case of You round out the proceedings most agreeably.
Overall all, I highly recommend the album. It is far and away the best Joni Mitchell tribute out there and yields some surprisingly deep musical moments along the way.

River: The Joni Letters is a surprising album for me. As more of a fan of Herbie's older works, I am very happy to hear some of the musical directions that were chosen here. In some regards, this is both a return to Herbie's core strengths as well as an exploration of something new. When it comes to Mr. Hancock, why should any of us be surprised by that.

There are some Joni Mitchel purists who may not appreciate or enjoy all of the choices made by Herbie. For my part, I am willing to accept that different artists can approach material differently and both approaches may have value.

For those who have a love for modern jazz and have limited familiarity with Joni's songs, this is really the perfect way to be introduced to the material.

Enjoy.

Grew up impressed with Herbie Hancock. Grew up loving Joni Mitchell. Was fascinated by the concept of this but sadly disappointed with the result. Too much dominance of LA music studio in the sound track; too much self-absorbed ennui in the vocals. Maybe I've just gotten old, or the '60's have finally caught up with me (in a good way), but this CD just schmoozes too much of what I have to coin, Hollywood Hip Eco-Cool.

Super CD I will be using it in my Arts and Humanities class this fall.