Herbie Hancock Wins "Album of the Year" GRAMMY
Monday February 11, 2008
Jazz legend Herbie Hancock brought home top album honors at last night's GRAMMY awards. He won for Album of the Year and Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year. I'll have a more complete rundown of last night's jazz and blues winners later in the day. Here's a preview of him performing "Edith and the Kingpin" with singer Tina Turner from the award-winning River: The Joni Letters.
River is the first jazz record to win "Album of the Year" since 1964's Getz/Gilberto. The awards were Hancock's 11th and 12th GRAMMYs.
"I'd like to thank the Academy for courageously breaking the mold this time, and in doing so, honoring the giants upon whose shoulders I stand... This is a new day that proves that the impossible can be made possible."
Comments
It is so about time that a jazz icon like Herbie gets his due. The grammy awards might just be starting to figure out that there are some people in the world who appreciate artists more than record sales….
FYI…
This Friday, Hancock will perform the title track from ‘River’ with singer Luciana Souza on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
This record has some good music, but it’s clear that Herbie Hancock isn’t what he used to be. And no, this award doesn’t prove some recognition to jazz, but that if we want some recognition for jazz we just need to record a semi-pop CD with pop songs and pop (or pseudo-jazz) singers. There have been lots of full authentic jazz albums in the last year, but they won’t win anything.