HERBIE HANCOCK
BIO:
Depending on the day, Herbie Hancock might perform any number of roles. He’s the nation’s first-call jazz ambassador, a futuristic technology advocate, a dedicated educator, and of course, an American music luminary. Most of all, like all great artists he makes things new again. He did it for us with The New Standard, when he found the swing and the meaning in pop classics. He did it with his kaleidoscopic take on Gershwin’s World—and took home three Grammy® awards for it.
Yet for all Hancock’s accomplishments both in and out of music, there’s one thing he’d never done. “I had never thought about lyrics before,” he says. “Never.”
River: The Joni Letters is Hancock’s journey into the world of words, his initiation as a man of letters. “I wanted the lyrics to be the foundation for this whole project, for everything to stem from the lyrics and their meaning.”
“What I have done before in projects is to take someone else’s song that I like and re-harmonize it,” says Hancock, who helped pioneer post-bop jazz, in which lyrics are usually a creative point of departure. “Before I set out to do that on this record, I figured I better find out what Joni did and why Joni did what she did with the melodies. Because if the melodies took a certain direction, knowing her, she took those twists and turns and used certain devices based on what’s happening in the lyrics. She’s a master at that.”
To understand the richly allusive connection among melody, harmony and poetry in Mitchell’s work, Hancock enlisted the help of producer Larry Klein, Mitchell’s long-time collaborator. “We sat together for a long time, months before we actually recorded the record,” Klein says. “We just listened to the songs and looked at the lyrics together. We would discuss song origins, allegorical stuff Joni had told me or in other cases leave the interpretation nebulous, as it was meant to be. This was a whole new world for Herbie to be thinking in.”
Hancock then assembled a group of the world’s top musicians, including the incomparable Wayne Shorter on soprano and tenor sax, the brilliant bassist and composer Dave Holland, (a musical cohort of Hancock and Shorter’s who shares their adventurousness, as well as the Miles Davis imprimatur), drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (a recent member of Hancock’s band as well as having played extensively with Mitchell and Sting), and Benin-born guitarist Lionel Loueke, also a member of Hancock’s band.
When they got to the studio Hancock and Klein led another literary seminar. “Before we recorded any of the songs, we gave a copy of the lyrics to each guy in the band,” Hancock says. “We sat in the engineer’s booth and discussed the meaning of the lyrics word by word, phrase by phrase, and got into the nuances of the lyrics.” Applying such advanced musical minds to Mitchell’s poetry and casting vocal selections with some of the music world’s strongest singers, River: The Joni Letters turned out to be no ordinary tribute record. In appreciation of Mitchell’s gifts, the musicians created a third entity in which sound conveys word, word conveys sound, and listening is a happy confusion of the two.
A haunting chromaticism marks Hancock’s piano intro on River’s opening song, “Court and Spark,” the title track from Mitchell’s bestselling album. In this musical setting, Mitchell’s familiar “Court and Spark” lyrics register new poetic impact, especially with the nuanced ambivalence of Norah Jones’s vocal. You hear as much imagery in Hancock’s picturesque keyboard phrases on “Amelia”—especially when he paints the “747s over geometric farms” that singer Luciana Souza darkly intones.
Still, Hancock was careful not to take lyrical adaptation too literally. “One thing that we all agreed on was to be cinematic and dramatic in our interpretation of the lyrics,” he explained. “Sort of like we were doing a movie score in many ways. Because when you’re writing a movie score, you don’t write every single nuance that goes on onscreen. If you do that it’s kind of ‘cartoony.’ So sometimes we decided to just let the lyric be. The music should be the cushion, if anything, under the lyric, that supports it, so the lyric is the focus.”
The musicians certainly “let the lyric be” when they support Corinne Bailey Rae’s optimistic vocal on “River.” Elsewhere, capturing a tune’s mood leads the band to altogether different perspectives. While Tina Turner channels the noirish nightlife characters of “Edith and the Kingpin,” Wayne Shorter responds on tenor saxophone from a more peripheral vantage point. Hancock explains how Shorter found new character in the tune:
“When we were talking about the tune, Wayne said, ‘I’m going to be like one of the cats at the bar who’s talking to some of the chicks or something, or be part of the hubbub going on over at the bar at the club.’ Now, that’s not in the lyrics but I realized that’s a brilliant part to play. Because the song is not just about the characters in the lyric—Edith and the Kingpin. It’s also about the characters that are there in the environment or scene that the lyric is based off of.”
Joni Mitchell herself sings “Tea Leaf Prophecy,” an autobiographical song based on the story of her parents’ courtship. The recent passing of Mitchell’s mother made for a moving performance. “This is a song of her parents meeting and it’s kind of a WWII love story, but because of the timing it is also a prayer,” Klein says. “She approached it vocally as sending something up to her Mom.”
Other songs needed to be instrumentals, Klein says, and none more than “Both Sides Now”: “That song was in our in-pile from the beginning because it’s been such a lynchpin song of Joni’s. And I was really set that we had to do that instrumentally. There’s no reason to introduce another vocal version of that into the world, really, since there are so many already existing.”
Hancock gives Mitchell’s most covered song his most far-reaching interpretation, making space for his own harmonic invention: “There are places I decided would be resting places before I went to the next phrase, which Joni doesn’t have on her recording of the song,” he says. But again, mindfulness of Mitchell’s poetic themes guided his impressionistic approach: “Completely reharmonizing ‘Both Sides Now’ seemed appropriate to the lyrics.”
Mitchell’s lyrical perspective broadens verse by verse as she moves allegorically from looking at clouds “from both sides” to considering love and finally all of life “that way.” Hancock’s instrumental develops parallel to the lyric, gaining dimension with each pass at the melody. “The melody is there,” Klein explains, “but the band is completely recontextualizing the melody each time through—in the same way Joni recontextualizes experience with each new verse. It builds up to the last verse’s majestic Copland-esque rendering.”
Musical symbolism of this order requires a group of musicians who not only speak the language of metaphor but also give themselves over to Mitchell’s poetic subjectivity with what Klein calls “perfect humility.”
“Lionel has an uncanny sense of placement,” Hancock says. “On ‘Sweet Bird’ he accents the melody with these quiet, long, sustained notes that float up and vanish. You may not hear them the first time you listen, but it creeps up on you.”
“Playing what’s appropriate is also playing minimally,” Hancock adds. “Dave Holland is such a giving and open person and his music reflects it, so when he’s in an environment his instinct is to contribute to that environment.”
“Vinnie Colaiuta’s keeping the time and doing these out of meter things against it,” Hancock says. “He’s playing almost like two different people, dividing himself in half.”
The final strokes in Hancock’s portrait of Mitchell’s world include two compositions that weren’t actually written by Mitchell but were important to her musical development. Duke Ellington’s “Solitude” made it onto the record, Hancock says, because Billie Holiday’s version “went right to Joni’s heart, even at age nine, which is when she first heard it. You can really hear how Joni’s influenced by Billie, in her phrasing and even in the sound of her voice—just check out that little vibrato thing at the end of Joni’s notes.”
Wayne Shorter’s asymmetrical masterpiece “Nefertiti” was first recorded by Hancock and Shorter on Miles Davis’ classic album of the same name. On River: The Joni Letters, these musicians generously recreate their own composition in the thrilling way Mitchell first experienced it—as though they’re hearing the tune through the prism of her idiosyncratic imagination.
With such astute musicianship the band wasn’t limited to playing Mitchell’s work song by song—these musicians improvise liberally on her complete oeuvre. Throughout the record Loueke’s African guitar inflection recalls Mitchell’s experiments with “world music” back before the term had even been coined—in 1975, for example, she used Burundi Drummers on The Hissing of Summer Lawns’ “The Jungle Line.” In Hancock’s version of “The Jungle Line,” however, he reduces Mitchell’s instrumentation to lone piano, with an incantatory recitation by Leonard Cohen illuminating the surrealism of Mitchell’s lyrics.
“Hopefully you’ve found a new landscape in which to set these great songs so that they can pierce the heart of the listener,” Klein says. “We wanted to stretch these things out and give more room for the lyric to be taken in by people, to soak in with them. Herbie’s the kind of artist who always asks himself, ‘Can I make myself feel something really intensely by making a record?’ And then if he can feel it that intensely, hopefully some other people will as well and it will actually help people walk around with a little more of a feeling of their heart.”
Mitchell’s songwriting has given many listeners their most vivid and visceral sense of the relationship between words and music. Freely adapting Mitchell’s entire body of work and expanding her musical and lyrical conversation, Hancock creates fresh metaphorical associations in her music and brings renewed life to her words. Hancock not only pays tribute to Mitchell’s genius. He offers us the gift of hearing her songs reborn.
Herbie Hancock the ceaseless innovator has produced an original kind of homage: River: The Joni Letters is a musical passion play on Joni Mitchell’s total artistry.
|
|
|
Latest Articles
Video: Kamasi Washington's Tiny Desk Concert Premieres
by Josh Sharpe - October 21, 2024
Multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader Kamasi Washington’s performance for NPR Music’s acclaimed “Tiny Desk Concert” series has premiered. Watch it now!...
Video: Kamasi Washington and Jenn Nkiru Debut 'Get Lit' Short Film
by Josh Sharpe - June 20, 2024
Kamasi Washington and artist and director Jenn Nkiru have debuted the short film for “Get Lit”, starring legendary musician Saul Williams, longtime bandmember Patrice Quinn and Washington himself, with appearances from funk icon George Clinton, Inglewood rapper D Smoke, Willow Smith, Raphael Saadiq,...
Listen: Henry Mancini's 'Pink Panther' Featuring Lizzo and Sir James Galway Available Now
by Josh Sharpe - May 31, 2024
The Henry Mancini family continues to celebrate what would have been the late legendary composer’s 100th birthday with the release of Henry Mancini’s “Pink Panther” featuring Lizzo and Sir James Galway, out now. “Pink Panther” follows “Peter Gunn” featuring Quincy Jones, John Williams, Herbie Hancoc...
Henry Mancini Family Celebrates Late Composer's 100th Birthday with Tribute Album
by Josh Sharpe - April 16, 2024
The Henry Mancini family continues to celebrate what would have been the late legendary composer’s 100th birthday with the announcement of The Henry Mancini 100th Sessions – Henry Has Company. The album is the latest installment in what will be a year-long endeavor honoring the 20-time GRAMMY® and 4...
Todd Mosby Releases New Album 'LAND OF ENCHANTMENT'
by Blair Ingenthron - September 17, 2023
Todd Mosby's Land of Enchantment is a new album produced by Jeffrey Weber and features A-list musicians Tom Scott, Vinnie Colaiuta, Charlie Bisharat, Dapo Torimiro, and more....
Herbie Hancock & Gladys Knight Headline 37th Annual The National Grid Jazz Fest
by Michael Major - June 14, 2023
Produced by Jazz Fest founder Frank Malfitano, the event features forty bands performing on two outdoor stages and in 24 clubs throughout downtown Syracuse, New York. National and internationally touring and recording artists, including Spyro Gyra, Tower of Power, Postmodern Jukebox, Tuba Skinny, Jo...
Paul Simon Tribute Concert to Premiere on CBS
by Michael Major - December 14, 2022
The two-hour special tribute features a star-studded performer lineup of GRAMMY-winning artists, past nominees and iconic voices including Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, Eric Church, Rhiannon Giddens, Susanna Hoffs, Jonas Brothers, Angélique Kidjo, Ledisi, Little Big Town, Dave Matthews, Brad Pai...
Kennedy Center and CBS Announce Airdate for the 45th Kennedy Center Honors
by Michael Major - November 17, 2022
Aactor and filmmaker George Clooney, contemporary Christian pop singer-songwriter Amy Grant, the legendary singer of soul, Gospel, R&B and pop Gladys Knight, Cuban-born American composer, conductor and educator Tania León, and iconic Irish rock band U2 (comprised of band members Bono, The Edge, Adam...
Domi & JD Beck's Debut Album “Not Tight” is Out Now Featuring Anderson .Paak, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Herbie Hancock and More
by Stephi Wild - July 29, 2022
DOMi & JD BECK have released their highly anticipated debut album NOT TiGHT, which is out now on Anderson .Paak's new label APESHIT in partnership with Blue Note Records. The duo—keyboardist DOMi Louna and drummer JD Beck—are joined on the album by a line-up of special guests which includes .Paak, S...
VIDEO: Joni Mitchell Shares New 'River' Music Video
by Michael Major - December 27, 2021
The new video was animated by Skazka Studios and was directed by Matvey Rezanov, in memory of his father Mikhail Rezanov. Brandi Carlile, Graham Nash, Herbie Hancock, James Taylor, Leon Bridges, and Pentatonix and GRAMMY nominees Black Pumas, Jon Batiste, Maggie Rogers, and Mickey Guyton will perfor...
Raices Jazz Orchestra Self-Titled Release Out May 22
by A.A. Cristi - May 22, 2020
Moved by the love of big band and their passion to express their Latin roots, Tony Succar and Pablo Gil have created Raices Jazz Orchestra (RJO), a crossover powerhouse based in South Florida. RJO's self-titled first album combines original compositions with arrangements of standards such as 'Eye of...
Herbie Hancock Gets Career-Spanning Vinyl Box Set
by A.A. Cristi - April 13, 2020
Vinyl Me, Please and legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock announce VMP Anthology: The Story of Herbie Hancock — an exclusive vinyl box set celebrating the illustrious career of Herbie Hancock. The Story of Herbie Hancock reinvents the box set experience to take listeners on a sequential jour...
International Jazz Icon Igor Butman Announces 2020 Winter US Tour
by Kaitlin Milligan - December 19, 2019
This coming January, world famous saxophone player, bandleader and producer Igor Butman will travel to the United States for a five-city tour of some of the country's most celebrated jazz institutions. The tour will mark the twentieth anniversary of Butman's acclaimed Moscow Jazz Orchestra, a 16-pie...
Newport Jazz Festival Explores Relationship Between Jazz & Hip-Hop
by A.A. Cristi - July 03, 2019
There is a definite relationship between rap and jazz. Musicians improvise with notes. Rappers improvise with words. Many of the great hip-hop recordings featured samples from some of the greatest jazz albums. So it should be no surprise that there are rappers who are not only comfortable in post-bo...
Tal Wilkenfeld Headlines 7th Newberry Event Charity Music Festival
by Kaitlin Milligan - May 17, 2019
Central Oregon's 7th Annual Newberry Event Music and Arts Festival to Defeat MS is a 3-day outdoor summer multi-genre music festival well-known as a good time for a good cause. July 26-28, 2019, the 501c3 charity benefits the Oregon National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This year, the festival brings...
Guitarists Raul Midon & Lionel Loueke Combine Forces for a Summer Tour
by Kaitlin Milligan - May 16, 2019
Singer/Songwriter/Guitar Wizards Raul Midón and Lionel Loueke explore their talents sharing the stage this Summer in a beautiful partnership that is both a refreshing musical exchange and fine example of camaraderie. A mix of West African and Latin American Roots. A perfect marriage across North ...
2 Guitar Ninjas Raul Midon And Lionel Loueke Collaborate On Tour Kicking Off Mid-June
by A.A. Cristi - May 15, 2019
Singer/Songwriter/Guitar Wizards Raul Midón and Lionel Loueke explore their talents sharing the stage this Summer in a beautiful partnership that is both a refreshing musical exchange and fine example of camaraderie. A mix of West African and Latin American Roots. A perfect marriage across North ...
John Scher/Metropolitan Entertainment Presents Herbie Hancock at Beacon Theatre
by Tori Hartshorn - April 15, 2019
Legendary pianist and composer Herbie Hancock will perform at the Beacon Theatre on Thursday, August 1 at 7:30PM. Tickets are $75, $85 and $125 (plus applicable fees) and will be available through Ticketmaster (866.858.0008, www.ticketmaster.com) starting on Friday, April 19 at 10AM....
Kamasi Washington Confirms Summer Tour with Herbie Hancock
by Kaitlin Milligan - April 09, 2019
Kamasi Washington is set to embark on a co-headline tour of North America this summer with legendary pianist and composer Herbie Hancock. Kicking off July 30 in Vienna, VA the tour will take the celebrated musicians toPhiladelphia, Toronto, Seattle and more through August—see below for complete deta...
Trenton Rhythm Aces SOLID BRONZE, Releasing Debut With Guests Dean Ween, Kidd Funkadelic and Chris Harford
by Tori Hartshorn - February 06, 2019
Delaware Valley's psychedelic funkateers Solid Bronze are releasing their debut album The Fruit Basket Spring of 2019. The album was recorded at a relaxed pace from Spring 2017 to Spring 2018 by Mickey Melchiondo (Ween, Dean Ween Group, Moistboyz) at his studio in Lambertville, NJ with additional tr...
Brandon Coleman Releases Brainfeeder Debut RESISTANCE
by Sarah Jae Leiber - September 17, 2018
Brainfeeder is proud to release Resistance - a 2018 Funk odyssey by keyboard maestro, vocalist, composer, producer, arranger and astraltraveller Brandon Coleman. A regular fixture in the Kamasi Washington band, wylin' out on the keys or wielding his keytar, he is introduced onstage at gigs as “Profe...
Brandon Coleman Announces New Album Out September 14 on Brainfeeder
by Macon Prickett - July 19, 2018
Brainfeeder is proud to present Resistance - a 2018 Funk odyssey by keyboard maestro, vocalist, composer, producer, arranger and astral traveller Brandon Coleman. A regular fixture in the Kamasi Washington band, wylin' out on the keys or wielding his keytar, he is introduced onstage at gigs as “Prof...
International Jazz Day 2018 Comes to a Close Following Celebratory Concerts in St. Petersburg and New Orleans
by Macon Prickett - May 01, 2018
International Jazz Day 2018 came to a phenomenal close this evening in St. Petersburg, following an extraordinary All-Star Global Concert at the historic Mariinsky Theatre that capped off several days of educational outreach programs across the city. The concert, led by artistic co-directors Herbie ...
Motet, Snarky Puppy, & Lettuce Members To Pay Tribute To Herbie Hancock During Jazz Fest
by Macon Prickett - February 20, 2018
Over the years, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has evolved into a multi-genre celebration of contemporary live music. However, at its core, the festival–and the various satellite events that take place across the city during the eleven-day musical marathon–is still centered around a love and a...
Hilary Kole Launches Next Phase Of Storied Career With New Single WITHOUT YOU, Releasing 2/2
by Tori Hartshorn - January 23, 2018
Hilary Kole Launches Next Phase Of Storied Career With New Single WITHOUT YOU, Releasing 2/2...
|