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| River: The Joni Letters (with Bonus Tracks) - Amazon.com Exclusive | 
 enlarge | Artist: Herbie Hancock
Label: Verve
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $14.99
You Save: $3.99 (21%)
New (1) Used (4) from $11.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  118 reviews
Sales Rank: 619
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:
 Cacophony of Chaos, Under the Guise of Jazz (as tho that explains it) October 30, 2007
21 out of 46 found this review helpful
If you ever wondered why we all need to be reminded of the virtue "less is more"--just listen for 2 minutes to any of these tracks. Is it possible for anyone to pile on more notes and sounds per second than these guys did? Answer: probably, but it would be really really hard and, more importantly, why?
This CD gives one the feeling of walking into a crowded bar where everyone, instead of drinking and talking, is playing and singing notes and beats, pretty much related to the same score but with complete freedom to pile on the notes as many and as loud as the haze-induced feeling leads.
There are two great brand names on the cover, Hancock & Joni, that got trashed by this release. Fair warning: I could not, literally, bear to listen fully to any track after track 2. Music is about taste, and maybe I don't have this one--but if I missed something here I'd sure like to know what.
DON'T Take Me To The River February 11, 2008
19 out of 49 found this review helpful
This CD is ideally suited for the frozen food sections of supermarkets at 3 a.m.; it has that unobtrusive quality the folks at Muzak have been perfecting for decades. But if you listen carefully, it's more significant than that. Unless I'm terribly mistaken, you can actually hear the dying gasps of that most sublime, and uniquely American, of all art forms - jazz itself. To say that this CD adds nothing to Mitchell's work would be too kind, it actually detracts from it with uninspired, insipid renditions of iconic standards that, quite frankly, we could all do in our sleep by now. Even Shorter, a true monster in other venues, seems sedated to the point of narcolepsy.
The dirty little secret about Herbie Hancock is that his career was over when he was in his mid-20s. A prodigy whose work with Miles Davis was downright blistering, he stretched out with two really exquisite post-Miles Davis albums where he was both bandleader and composer. But the daring and experimental nature that had served him so well up to that point, turned on him with unpleasant results. To see what I mean, try listening to Headhunters today; you can almost see the yuppies in trendy restaurants as the ferns are being misted. Absolutely awful. I saw him live during this phase; his performance had all the self-indulgence and self-satisfaction of a rock concert without any of the bite or energy.
Did the same person who recorded Maiden Voyage record this? In case Mr. Hancock hadn't noticed, Ms. Mitchell has always written difficult, angry, bitter, hurt, smart, vulnerable, angular music where the feelings are on the outside and the sarcastic comment is never far away. The lyricism is simply the delivery mechanism, not the point. It seems Mr. Hancock got hung up on the schmaltz, and forgot about the soul. But what do I know? It won a Grammy today. There will always be a market for ooze.
 Uninspired and Disappointing October 9, 2007
17 out of 22 found this review helpful
Anyone hoping to find the magic of Hancock's "Gershwin" album or looking for some vintage Joni will be sorely disappointed. The only number which comes close to being as good as one of the Joni originals is "River." I was initially thrilled to see this released at the same time as Joni's own "Shine," and while I don't consider that one of her best, it is far better than the Hancock "tribute."
 Rainy day fare October 23, 2007
16 out of 26 found this review helpful
I ordered this CD when I first read about it. I might very well have canceled had I read some of the reviews here. "River's" not a bad CD--it's just doesn't fulfill the promise of Herbie Hancock's arrangements of Joni's songs. If I were to do it over again, I'd order a couple of the selections as singles from iTunes. Here's the cuts I believe are standouts:
"The Jungle Line" Leonard Cohen's spoken narration of this song is very noir and IMHO, the most inventive and interesting cut from "River". This is what the whole CD (or better part thereof) should be like to earn a 5-star from me. If you get nothing else--listen to this environmental song and purchase it as a single.
"Court and Spark" features Norah Jones. The arrangement is not exactly different, but hearing the song in a lower register than Joni's 'chirp' is good.
"Edith and the Kingpin" is sung by Tina Turner. There's really nothing outstanding about the arrangement, but it's Tina and I'll grab whatever she sings.
"Tea Leaf Prophecy" is one of those 'misses' of Mitchell's that is an excellent representation of her poetic storytelling. Ms. Mitchell sings on this one and it's a very nice version.
The musicianship is exquisite as always, but it's all somewhat soporific. My eyes keep closing while listening on this rainy day.
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.
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