Herbie Hancock: River - The Joni Letters (10th Anniversary Reissue)

Just over ten years ago the Herbie Hancock tribute album to Joni Mitchel won the Grammy Award for "Album of the Year", beating out Kanye West, Any Winehoue, Foo Fighters and Vince Gill. That's some pretty stiff competition! A true milestone, the album was only the second jazz recording to win the top honors in the award's history, with the first being Getz/Gilberto by Stan Getz and João Gilberto in 1965, 43 years prior. Crazy.

Verve has now reissued Hancock's River: The Joni Letters for its 10th anniversary. The original album, mostly featuring songs of Joni Mitchell, is paired with a bonus EP of four additional recordings from the sessions. Two of them - covers of "A Case of You" and "All I Want" - were previously only available on an Amazon-exclusive pressing of the album, while the other pair, "Harlem In Havana" and "I Had a King," were exclusive to iTunes and are available on CD for the first time.

 

Here is the track listing:

Disc 1: Original album (released as Verve B0009791-02, 2007)

Court and Spark (feat. Norah Jones)
Edith and The Kingpin (feat. Tina Turner)
Both Sides Now
River (feat. Corinne Bailey Rae)
Sweet Bird
Tea Leaf Prophecy (feat. Joni Mitchell)
Solitude
Amelia (feat. Luciana Souz
Nefertiti
The Jungle Line (feat. Leonard Cohen)

Disc 2: Bonus material (Tracks 1-2 released on Amazon edition - Verve B0010063-02; Tracks 3-4 released on iTunes edition)

A Case of You
All I Want (feat. Sonya Kitchell)
Harlem In Havana
I Had a King