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 enlarge | Artist: Herbie Hancock
Label: Verve
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $14.99
You Save: $3.99 (21%)
New (1) Used (5) from $11.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  121 reviews
Sales Rank: 782
Format: Special Edition
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
UPC: 602517477544
EAN: 0602517477544
ASIN: B000V9RRPQ
Release Date: September 25, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Exceptional tribute, brimming with grace, respect and affection October 2, 2007
6 out of 16 found this review helpful
Upon first listen, this recording may take some time to sink in - especially if you are familiar with Joni's original versions of these tunes. The takes are so different from Joni's own and yet they are respectful and original. The band is in great form, and while the guest vocalists can sound a little bit overwhelmed by the arrangements, it's still a worthy affair from start to finish.
I especially recommend the Amazon exclusive edition for Sonya Kitchell's INCREDIBLE performance on All I Want. It is, quite simply, one of the best covers I've ever heard and is THE highlight of the entire project for me.
Another highlight is Joni's new take on The Tea Leaf Prophecy. The original is one of my all time favourite Joni songs and it makes the evolution into the jazz medium with moving and inspiring results. Joni's voice, aged with years of cigarette's, is husky yet smooth, thick yet lilting, and one of the best jazz voices of modern times.
But don't take my word for it...
 Smooth Jazz October 2, 2007
22 out of 35 found this review helpful
There is some great playing on here by Herbie and Shorter, but the arrangements are very boring. The singers sound good, but almost every song is downtempo, and there is no scatting. Many tunes sound as though Kenny G. himself could have written them (not the playing). The best part is probably Herbie's comping for the singers and soloists.
 The Joni Lullabyes October 1, 2007
15 out of 22 found this review helpful
Two and a half unenthusiastic stars. I love Joni Mitchell, and I have absolutely nothing against Herbie Hancock. I wanted to like this album, I honestly did; but to quote "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, it was just aiiight for me, Dog. It's difficult to avoid comparison to the inconsistent but nonetheless interesting Nonesuch "Tribute to Joni Mitchell" collection from earlier this year. And while there's nothing on "River" as perplexing as Sufjan Stevens' rewrite of "Free Man In Paris" from the "Tribute" album, neither is there anything to match the gossamer beauty of Prince's "A Case of You" or the emotional gut-punch of Emmylou Harris' "Magdalene Laundries" from that compilation. "River" isn't bad. It's just a bit of a bore. Not that it's all bad news: Tina Turner brings her trademark insinuating rasp to "Edith and the Kingpin", and it's a decided highlight (play it back-to-back with Elvis Costello's darker, more downbeat but equally fine version from "Tribute"). Joni's re-reading of "Teal Leaf Prophecy" is another welcome surprise, and not only because this time she decided to use her mother's name (Myrtle McKee) instead of the original Molly McGee -- we all knew who Joni was singing about, anyway. But both Norah Jones and Corinne Bailey Rae seem oddly tentative on their covers of "Court and Spark" and "River", respectively. And Leonard Cohen speaking (yes, speaking) the lyrics to "The Jungle Line" sounds like Maynard G. Krebs on Prozac -- and not in a good way. The instrumentals are loose and spacy, lots of noodling: familar tunes like "Both Sides Now" and "Sweet Bird" are rendered all but unrecognizable by this ambient music approach. Delete "Jungle Line", and this makes good background music for after-midnight cognac and conversation. Which is better than nothing, I suppose. But Joni's songs deserve better than this.
Post-Grammys addendum: As this album has quite inexplicably won the Album of the Year Grammy, I am prepared to admit the possibility that I know absolutely nothing about pop music.
In a Series of Tributes, Hancock Delivers September 28, 2007
91 out of 112 found this review helpful
Joni Mitchell has enjoyed a year of industry fans paying tribute to her, those whom she considers her "true peers", the artists who recognize the genuis of her work. Herbie Hancock has assembled a cast of players fit for the high bill of interpreting songs from an artist whose career has been a fluid exploration, much as Hancock employs a fluid sensibility to his arrangements on many of these classics.
Norah Jones opens the show with her rendition of " Court and Spark". It is a fine song in its own right; the only complaint may be that the immediacy of Joni's version is lost here. Composed in Canada, as a response to an actual experience, this song may have been better left off the list. When Mitchell speaks in first person, it's almost an impossible task for another to come in and half way rival the intense delivery, the plumbing of the depths that must occur when Mitchell sings the lyrics she has clearly lived.
Tina Turner purrs through "Edith and the Kingpin", making it the cover that it ought to be. This song demands either the original interpretation or an alternative that gets to the grit of the subject matter by sheer quality of voice. Turner was a perfect choice for this song.
Corrine Baily Rae is another highlight, singing " River" in a way that puts her stamp on the song, yet maintains the integrity of Joni's original release. Perhaps there is a bias on my part, with this being one of my all-time favorite Mitchell songs, but as noted in my review of this year's earlier Tribute, the version on that disc sounded reworked to the point that there were no longer vestigages of Joni left, although it sounded just like a James Taylor original would, leaving it a good song. However, on a tribute, that's far from the point. CBR does a much better job of synthesizing her sound with Joni's, making this the best cover of "River" I've heard.
The inclusion of some of Mitchell's favorite songs from other artists is an inspired choice. "Nefertiti" is always mentioned in interviews where Mitchell cites works that have moved her, so Wayne Shorter stepping in to lend this song, forty years after he helped bring it to life with Miles Davis himself, is a real treat. It is worth noting that the play list is heavily tilted toward material from " Hissing of Summer Lawns", a fact that is probably not coincidental. That was a work that deserved way more positive press than it received; with Hancock being a fellow innovator, it makes sense that he would enjoy giving some added exposure to those overlooked experiements. Leonard Cohen reading " The Jungle Line" is a bit bizarre, however, with him sounding like Vincent Price reciting a monologue. Again, this is a song that may have been better left untouched, or if included, having a reworking that retained the ethnic vibe of the original, as that was part of its charm.
Herbie Hancock is a kindred spirit with Joni Mitchell; they are both restless musicians, always in search of a new direction, inspired by beauty and truth. It is clear that he had the superior vision for a tribute to one of our most cherished talents. The continuity of the disc is a welcome departure from the one released earlier in the year, with the likely explanation being the stewardship of Hancock from conception to birth of this effort. Excellent tribute, with a cameo appearance by Joni herself on " The Tea Leaf Prophecy", an inclusion that carries extra poignancy with the passing of her mother this year, her muse for the song.
Good September 27, 2007
1 out of 14 found this review helpful
Thank you Herbie for recording with this great band.
taking care of the rich music history and legacy!
always hip, cool, reaching out.
Looking like a young star might make you even more hip,
you don't need it though.
CAn't wait to see the band live 11/07!
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