HERBIE HANCOCK

Real people versus Herbie.

Instead of letting my Grammy fever turn back into my body temperature, I hunted down Herbie Hancock's Album Of The Year, a tribute to Joni Mitchell. The album is an expert level homage, but it's also a big budget pat-on-the-back using Lenard Cohen's and Tina Turner's wrinkly old hands. My friends would agree that the Grammy voters buried last year's legendary recordings (Kanye and Amy Winehouse). Nonetheless, one track really grabbed me, demanding discussion and repeat listens. Featuring Corinne Bailey Rae on vocals, the tribute album's title track "River" gets a brilliant update from Hancock and Co. Or at least I thought so...





"As far as this track goes, I really love it, and I'm surprised that I do. Joni Mitchell's original was a tragic, moving song that longs to escape holiday cheer after losing a lover. To have Corrine Bailey Rae try to do her thing all over it wasn't really something I was looking forward to. I guess I expected it to be like a Norah Jones record - stale and contrived. Fortunately, Corrine actually did just do her thing, and along with a jazzy-but-subtle musical backdrop provided by Herbie and Co., the track becomes almost an optimistic reinterpretation of the song. The track sounds organic and warm, and the performances are deliberate yet effortless. And her vocal! It's so... so... so fucking happy. It's wonderful! The way she enunciates words makes it sound like she's always smiling (seriously, listen to how she says "you know he put me at ease" in the 2nd verse). This is what Adult Contemporary wishes it could be (I assume)."

—MATT RADOSEVICH, record producer/engineer

"I'm a big fan of Joni's "ladies of laurel canyon", "court and spark", and particularly, "Blue." Rive has to be one of my favorite songs because it intros/outros with the Jingle bells melody and then it diverts into the actual song. Classic idea. I'm an Corrine Bailey Rae fan and a Hancock fan, but this version of river does not compare to the original. She catches the high note well, but I don't think this song translates into a jazz song well."

—KIM ROBINSON, music lover

"Never having heard the original, I imagine Joni must be pretty stoked on this version. Corinne (fresh off a stadium-by-stadium pillage of John Legend fans) sound pristine and great. The band sounds great too, though I could've used a little more cohesiveness somewhere along the line. It sounds like they recorded the parts all at different times without listening to the other parts (like the Mars Volta do!). The song ultimately just kind of meanders for me. All the sections are good, but no part really stands out or hits on a different dynamic. It's also hard to pick out the chorus (is it the "Fly" part? "I wish I was a river"?). My overall impression is that, while I like it while I'm listening to it, I find it instantly forgettable. Album of the year, over Kanye?? No way. "The Good Life" will still be the jam 115 years from now."

—EVAN MICHALSKI, bassist/investor

"When the very next track on your iTunes is a Mike Jones & Paul Wall vs. Britney Spears masher it's hard to resist the urge to skip to it."

—CHRIS MCNEILL, dark horse

Click to download “River” (From the album River by Herbie Hancock featuring Corinne Bailey Rae)

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