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River: The Joni Letters

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2007 studio album by Herbie Hancock

River: The Joni Letters

Studio album by

Herbie Hancock

Released

September 25, 2007 (2007-09-25)

Recorded

2006–2007

Studio

Avatar, New York City
Ocean Way, Los Angeles
600 ft, Yorkshire
NJP Tonstudio, Zürich

Genre

Jazz

Length

67:49

Label

Verve

Producer

Herbie Hancock,Larry Klein

Herbie Hancock chronology

Possibilities
(2005)

River: The Joni Letters
(2007)

The Imagine Project
(2010)

River: The Joni Letters is the fortieth studio album by American jazz pianistHerbie Hancock, released on September 25, 2007, byVerve. It is atribute album featuring cover songs of music written by Canadian singer-songwriterJoni Mitchell.

The album peaked at number five on the USBillboard 200, enjoying a huge post-Grammy winning sales boost. Upon its release,River: The Joni Letters received generally positive reviews from critics and earned several accolades, includingGrammy Awards forAlbum of the Year andBest Contemporary Jazz Album at the50th Annual Grammy Awards. Hancock's quintet for the album are saxophonistWayne Shorter, guitaristLionel Loueke, bassistDave Holland and drummerVinnie Colaiuta.

Background

[edit]

Hancock is a longtime friend of Mitchell's, and both he and saxophonistWayne Shorter, who plays throughout the album, had previously collaborated with Mitchell on her 1979 albumMingus, and both continued to work with her on occasion ever since.^[1]

Guest vocalists onRiver includeLeonard Cohen,Tina Turner,Norah Jones,Corinne Bailey Rae,Luciana Souza andMitchell herself.^[1]

Reception

[edit]

Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	^[2]
All About Jazz	(favorable)^[3]
AllMusic	^[4]
Robert Christgau	^[5]
Daily News	(favorable)^[6]
The Guardian	^[7]
New York	(favorable)^[8]
The New York Times	(favorable)^[9]
The New Yorker	(favorable)^[10]
Time Out	^[11]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	^[12]

The album won theGrammy Award for Album of the Year in 2008.

Commercial performance

[edit]

The album peaked at number 5 on theBillboard 200 after enjoying a huge post-Grammy sales boost. It also peaked at number 61 in Switzerland, number 70 in France and number 76 in the Netherlands.

Accolades

[edit]

On February 10, 2008, the album won theAlbum of the Year andBest Contemporary Jazz Album at the50th Annual Grammy Awards.^[13] Hancock was competing withKanye West,Foo Fighters,Amy Winehouse, andVince Gill for the Album of the Year award.^[14]River was the third jazz album to win Album of the Year in the award's history. The first wasThe Music from Peter Gunn byHenry Mancini in1959. The second wasGetz/Gilberto byStan Getz andJoão Gilberto in1965.^[15] The track "Both Sides Now" was also nominated forBest Jazz Instrumental.^[16] UntilJon Batiste's win in2022, Hancock was the last Black musician to receive the Album of the Year award at the Grammys.^[17]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written byJoni Mitchell, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Court and Spark" (feat.Norah Jones)		7:35
2.	"Edith and the Kingpin" (feat.Tina Turner)		6:32
3.	"Both Sides Now"		7:38
4.	"River" (feat.Corinne Bailey Rae)		5:25
5.	"Sweet Bird"		8:15
6.	"Tea Leaf Prophecy" (feat. Joni Mitchell)	Mitchell Larry Klein	6:34
7.	"Solitude"	Eddie DeLange,Duke Ellington,Irving Mills	5:42
8.	"Amelia" (feat.Luciana Souza)		7:26
9.	"Nefertiti"	Wayne Shorter	7:30
10.	"The Jungle Line" (feat.Leonard Cohen)		5:00

Amazon.com exclusive version bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
11.	"A Case of You"	7:36
12.	"All I Want" (feat.Sonya Kitchell)	4:15

iTunes bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
11.	"Harlem in Havana"
12.	"I Had a King"

All four bonus tracks were released on the 10th anniversary reissue of the album in 2017.^[18]

Personnel

[edit]

Herbie Hancock – piano
Wayne Shorter – soprano and tenor saxophone
Lionel Loueke – guitar
Dave Holland – bass (except on bonus tracks)
Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
Larry Klein – bass on bonus tracks
Dean Parks – guitar on bonus tracks
Paulinho da Costa – percussion on bonus tracks
Prince - guitar (uncredited) on "Edith and the Kingpin"

Charts

[edit]

Chart (2007–2008)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[19]	67
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[20]	86
Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[21]	20
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[22]	76
French Albums (SNEP)^[23]	70
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[24]	54
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[25]	38
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[26]	57
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[27]	61
UK Album Downloads (OCC)^[28]	32
UK Jazz & Blues Albums (OCC)^[29]	7
USBillboard 200^[30]	5
USTop Jazz Albums (Billboard)^[31]	1

References

[edit]

^^a ^b"News". HerbieHancock.com. August 1, 2007. Archived fromthe original on April 30, 2008. RetrievedSeptember 5, 2007.
^"About.com review". Archived fromthe original on September 7, 2008. RetrievedApril 11, 2009.
^"All About Jazz review".
^Jurek, Thom."River: The Joni Letters".AllMusic. RetrievedDecember 25, 2018.
^"Robert Christgau review".
^Farber, Jim (September 30, 2007)."Herbie Hancock writes 'Letters' to Joni Mitchell - NY Daily News".nydailynews.com. RetrievedDecember 25, 2018.
^Walters, John L. (October 4, 2007)."CD: Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters".The Guardian. RetrievedDecember 25, 2018.
^Johnson, Martin (August 24, 2007)."Herbie Digs Joni".NYMag.com. RetrievedDecember 25, 2018.
^Chinen, Nate (September 9, 2007)."A Pianist's Love Note to a Noteworthy Voice".The New York Times. RetrievedDecember 25, 2018.
^Futterman, Steve (September 10, 2007)."Missive to Mitchell".The New Yorker. RetrievedDecember 25, 2018.
^"Herbie Hancock interview".Time Out London. November 5, 2012. RetrievedDecember 25, 2018.
^Cook, Richard;Morton, Brian (2008).The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.).Penguin. p. 644.ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
^Cohen, Sandy (February 11, 2008)."Hancock Steals Grammy Album of Year".Associated Press. Archived fromthe original on February 14, 2008. RetrievedFebruary 17, 2008.
^Leopold, Todd (February 4, 2008)."Herbie Hancock rides on the 'River'".CNN. RetrievedFebruary 17, 2008.
^Moon, Tom (February 11, 2008)."On 'River,' Hancock Skates Away with Grammy".NPR.org. RetrievedDecember 25, 2018.
^Jones, Steve (February 5, 2008)."Hancock bridged jazz, pop on 'River'".USA Today. RetrievedDecember 25, 2018.
^Grein, Paul (July 14, 2020)."John Legend Says 'It's Almost Impossible for a Black Artist to Win Album of the Year' at the Grammys: Is He Right?".Billboard. RetrievedJuly 15, 2020.
^"Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters, 10th Anniversary Reissue Review". audiophilereview.com. January 24, 2018. RetrievedJuly 11, 2018.
^"Austriancharts.at – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^"Ultratop.be – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^"Herbie Hancock Chart History (Canadian Albums)".Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
^"Dutchcharts.nl – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^"Lescharts.com – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^"Offiziellecharts.de – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters" (in German).GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^"Italiancharts.com – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^"Spanishcharts.com – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^"Swisscharts.com – Herbie Hancock – River - The Joni Letters". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^"Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100".Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
^"Official Jazz & Blues Albums Chart Top 30".Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
^"Herbie Hancock Chart History (Billboard 200)".Billboard. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^"Herbie Hancock Chart History (Top Jazz Albums)".Billboard. Retrieved August 25, 2020.

External links

[edit]

The Best Jazz of 2007: 3)River: The Joni Letters atPopMatters

v t e Herbie Hancock
Discography (As a sideman or guest artist)
Studio albums	Takin' Off My Point of View Inventions & Dimensions Empyrean Isles Maiden Voyage Speak Like a Child The Prisoner Fat Albert Rotunda Mwandishi Crossings Sextant Head Hunters Dedication Thrust Man-Child Secrets Third Plane Herbie Hancock Trio Sunlight Directstep The Piano Feets, Don't Fail Me Now Monster Mr. Hands Magic Windows Herbie Hancock Trio Lite Me Up Quartet Future Shock Sound-System Village Life Perfect Machine A Tribute to Miles Dis Is da Drum The New Standard 1+1 Gershwin's World Future 2 Future Possibilities River: The Joni Letters The Imagine Project
Live albums	Hear, O Israel - A Prayer Ceremony in Jazz Flood V.S.O.P. The Quintet (V.S.O.P.) Tempest in the Colosseum (V.S.O.P.) An Evening with Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert CoreaHancock V.S.O.P. Live Under the Sky (V.S.O.P.) Jazz Africa Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall Live: Detroit/Chicago
withBob Brookmeyer	Bob Brookmeyer and Friends
withDonald Byrd andPepper Adams	Out of This World (Pepper Adams Donald Byrd Quintet) Chant Royal Flush Free Form A New Perspective
withMiles Davis	Seven Steps to Heaven My Funny Valentine Four & More E.S.P. Miles Smiles Sorcerer Nefertiti Miles in the Sky Water Babies Filles de Kilimanjaro In a Silent Way Jack Johnson On the Corner Big Fun Get Up with It
withJack DeJohnette andPat Metheny	Parallel Realities
withJoe Farrell	Moon Germs Penny Arcade Upon This Rock Night Dancing
withFreddie Hubbard	Hub-Tones Straight Life Red Clay
withJoe Zawinul	Zawinul
Compilations	Treasure Chest (Herbie Hancock album) The Best of Herbie Hancock Then and Now: The Definitive Herbie Hancock The Essential Herbie Hancock
Compositions	"Watermelon Man" "Cantaloupe Island" "Maiden Voyage" "Chameleon" "Rockit" "Autodrive"
Soundtracks	Blow-Up Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert The Spook Who Sat by the Door Death Wish A Soldier's Story Round Midnight Action Jackson

Joni Mitchell

Discography

Studio albums

Song to a Seagull (1968)
Clouds (1969)
Ladies of the Canyon (1970)
Blue (1971)
For the Roses (1972)
Court and Spark (1974)
The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)
Hejira (1976)
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (1977)
Mingus (1979)
Wild Things Run Fast (1982)
Dog Eat Dog (1985)
Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm (1988)
Night Ride Home (1991)
Turbulent Indigo (1994)
Taming the Tiger (1998)
Both Sides Now (2000)
Travelogue (2002)
Shine (2007)

Live albums

Compilation albums

Archives series

Box sets	Volume 1: The Early Years (1963–1967) The Reprise Albums (1968–1971) Volume 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971) The Asylum Albums (1972–1975) Volume 3: The Asylum Years (1972–1975) The Asylum Albums (1976–1980) Volume 4: The Asylum Years (1976–1980)
Auxiliary releases	Early Joni – 1963 Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes)
Live albums	Live at Canterbury House – 1967 Live at Carnegie Hall – 1969

Singles

Notable songs

Tribute albums

Category

v t e Grammy Award for Album of the Year
1950s	The Music from Peter Gunn –Henry Mancini (1959)
1960s	Come Dance with Me! –Frank Sinatra (1960) The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart –Bob Newhart (1961) Judy at Carnegie Hall –Judy Garland (1962) The First Family –Vaughn Meader (1963) The Barbra Streisand Album –Barbra Streisand (1964) Getz/Gilberto –Stan Getz &João Gilberto (1965) September of My Years –Frank Sinatra (1966) A Man and His Music –Frank Sinatra (1967) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band –The Beatles (1968) By the Time I Get to Phoenix –Glen Campbell (1969)
1970s	Blood, Sweat & Tears –Blood, Sweat & Tears (1970) Bridge over Troubled Water –Simon & Garfunkel (1971) Tapestry –Carole King (1972) The Concert for Bangladesh –George Harrison & Friends (1973) Innervisions –Stevie Wonder (1974) Fulfillingness' First Finale –Stevie Wonder (1975) Still Crazy After All These Years –Paul Simon (1976) Songs in the Key of Life –Stevie Wonder (1977) Rumours –Fleetwood Mac (1978) Saturday Night Fever – Various Artists (1979)
1980s	52nd Street –Billy Joel (1980) Christopher Cross –Christopher Cross (1981) Double Fantasy –John Lennon &Yoko Ono (1982) Toto IV –Toto (1983) Thriller –Michael Jackson (1984) Can't Slow Down –Lionel Richie (1985) No Jacket Required –Phil Collins (1986) Graceland –Paul Simon (1987) The Joshua Tree –U2 (1988) Faith –George Michael (1989)
1990s	Nick of Time –Bonnie Raitt (1990) Back on the Block –Quincy Jones and Various Artists (1991) Unforgettable... with Love –Natalie Cole (1992) Unplugged –Eric Clapton (1993) The Bodyguard –Whitney Houston (1994) MTV Unplugged –Tony Bennett (1995) Jagged Little Pill –Alanis Morissette (1996) Falling into You –Celine Dion (1997) Time Out of Mind –Bob Dylan (1998) The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill –Lauryn Hill (1999)
2000s	Supernatural –Santana (2000) Two Against Nature –Steely Dan (2001) O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Various Artists (2002) Come Away with Me –Norah Jones (2003) Speakerboxxx/The Love Below –Outkast (2004) Genius Loves Company –Ray Charles & Various Artists (2005) How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb –U2 (2006) Taking the Long Way –Dixie Chicks (2007) River: The Joni Letters –Herbie Hancock (2008) Raising Sand –Robert Plant &Alison Krauss (2009)
2010s	Fearless –Taylor Swift (2010) The Suburbs –Arcade Fire (2011) 21 –Adele (2012) Babel –Mumford & Sons (2013) Random Access Memories –Daft Punk (2014) Morning Phase –Beck (2015) 1989 –Taylor Swift (2016) 25 –Adele (2017) 24K Magic –Bruno Mars (2018) Golden Hour –Kacey Musgraves (2019)
2020s	When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? –Billie Eilish (2020) Folklore –Taylor Swift (2021) We Are –Jon Batiste (2022) Harry's House –Harry Styles (2023) Midnights –Taylor Swift (2024) Cowboy Carter –Beyoncé (2025)

Authority control databases	MusicBrainz release group

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