River: The Joni Letters
Few jazz heavies have engaged with pop music more successfully than Herbie Hancock, but he outdoes himself on *The Joni Letters*. On this late-career gem he complements classics written by Joni Mitchell with the sax of Wayne Shorter, who has worked with both Mitchell and Hancock. The smoky voice of Norah Jones and Shorter’s sinewy soprano slalom seductively through “Court and Spark,” while the pianist waxes lyrical on a tender “Both Sides Now.” Mitchell even adds her own singular phrasing to “The Tea Leaf Prophecy.”
When Herbie Hancock released Possibilities (2005), a collaborative effort that paired the great pianist and composer with a group of pop and rock stocks from the world over, it was obvious the restless master was entering a new phase of his long career.
Released on the same day as Joni Mitchell's new and mature recording, Shine, River: The Joni Letters is a companion of great contrast.