In Musical News
Posted on February 11, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 14 Comments
The right album won Album of the Year last night at the Grammys. If you’ve not listened to River: The Joni Letters yet, you’re missing out. It’s such the right choice, in fact, that if Kanye West starts whining about how he didn’t win the category, someone needs to give him a nice hard slap and tell him to grow up, already.
Yes, the Herbie Hancock album is great. I am disappointed that Feist didn’t win anything, but the Grammys getting ANYTHING right is rare enough, so I shan’t grumble.
Ick… I love Joni, but can’t stand much jazz.
Did you watch the show? The version of “Rhapsody in Blue” Herbie Hancock participated in was just amazing. Hopefully it will show up on YouTube soon.
Kanye got his zap from that country musician last night. As much as I loved his heartfelt performance of Mama, I think he does need to be taken down a peg. Consider it done.
I was glad to see Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace win Best Rock Album for the Foo Fighters. Great album, probably their best yet.
Herbie Hancock has more talent in his right pinkie toe than Kanye West has in his whole body. Good for him.
This shouldn’t be too far off topic, but just last week someone sent me a link to Richard Thompson doing Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” at a tribute concert:
Excellent choice. Herbie’s Possibilities album is one of my standard “long car driving” albums, and his recent solo album The Piano is great on a rainy day (or any day).
The venerable Mr. Hancock has a long and multi-genre career (check out Canteaoupe Island)…Kanye (Kanine?) has a long way to go.
Haven’t heard the new album but had the awesome experience of catching Hancock live last year when he was touring it. A great show, a great musician, worth seeing in the flesh if he’s in your neighborhood.
He’s also one of the only two people I can think of in the whole world who can make a keytar cool, and the only one of the two who does it without being ironic. (The other guy is Ben Folds… who, you know, minored in self-conscious irony during his college years.)
Herbie is the man (go listen to Headhunters, right now!) but it was hilarious when he came up to accept and was just dumbfounded that he had won.
Until this morning I thought Herbie Hancock was the Fantastic Four’s robot they had in the 70s. Seriously.
meh.
Homie Bear: he was. That’s just how cool Herbie Hancock is: he left Miles Davis’ band to save the universe from Galacticus. But you have it slightly backwards: the Fantastic Four joined him (google “Herbie Hancock’s Cosmic Ray-Irradiated Super Quintet” for more info).
I’m glad to see Herbie win – I believe it was the first time a jazz album has won in 43 years. But IMHO the album of the year was Alison Krauss/Robert Plant’s Raising Sand.
Why yes, I am a geezer. Why do you ask?