Maybe it's time to start paying attention to Joe Jackson again.

Herbie Hancock River: The Joni Letters
It's a little embarrassing to be covering jazz as much as I do and not bother to listen to the first jazz record to win an Album Of The Year Grammy in 43 years until after the fact. In spite of all the praise I've seen heaped on this record the last few months, I've resisted giving it a whirl. I'm naturally suspicious of records by excellent instrumentalists who bring in a parade of big-name guest vocalists and 2005's Possibilities did little to change that suspicion. In this case, I was wrong.

River isn't some Supernatural-styled compromise that puts unit sales over art, for several reasons. First of all, Hancock's list of Mitchell songs were chosen more for how they fit his own complex piano stylings, not for how well-known the songs themselves are. Even the one obvious choice "Both Sides Now" sounds nothing like the original. Secondly, Herbie is not a sideman on his own record. His piano shares lead voice with the singer and even if one were to strip out the vocal tracks, the songs still work; it sounds more like instrumental advanced bop with vocals, not vocal jazz. Several of the selections are entirely instrumental, anyway. Thirdly, the vocalists themselves work well with the complex structures that Hancock creates (including Joni herself, who had once worked with Charles Mingus, after all). Tina Turner deserves special mention for her turn in "Edith And The Kingpin;" she showed a lot of sophisticated phrasing and control that her voice isn't normally known for.

Still, it's the playing that I like the most about this record. Hancock is backed superbly by Dave Holland, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Hancock's longtime saxophone partner, Wayne Shorter. When they take a break from Joni's compositions to tackle Shorter's own "Nefertiti," it turns out to be possibly the best rendition of that classic tune aside from Miles Davis' original recording of it since Holland's and Chick Corea's abstract take around 1970.

River is no match for Hancock's Blue Note output but unlike Future Shock, it's a fine segueway into it.

"Quickies" are mini-record reviews of new or upcoming releases. Some albums are just that much more fun to listen to than to write about.