MOG

I just found out this morning that Herbie Hancock got the Grammy for album of the year. I was at first very surprised, then delighted that the Academy gave the biggest Grammy award to a Jazz artists (one of the best, of course) for once.

I didn't have the album, so I got on iTunes and downloaded it right away. I've only listened to it once so far at work, but what I've heard so far is really good. As much as I like Herbie's "pop" album Possibilities, I like River more because it has more jazz sensibilities, thanks in large part to the band Herbie assembled (which include Dave Holland and Wayne Shorter, who are favorite jazzers of mine). I know I'm biased because my musical training is in jazz, but it's part of who I am.

I've read some reviewers say this isn't a real jazz album, and I think they're partly right, but I think they're also missing one thing jazz has always done: change to fit the artist's needs. In this case, Herbie definitely doesn't compromise his jazz instincts just because he's making a more "accessible" record. The singers and lyrics are a start, but Herbie and the band take the songs in their own direction. Anybody who has ears can hear this is jazz, not as most people have come to know jazz, but as jazz has always been: an organic art form.