Review
- Herbie Hancock-Gershwin's World Verve/Polygram
Records
George
Gershwin once said "Jazz is the result of the energy stored up in America".
Well hallelujah the floodgates are crashing down with this intimate and intelligent
set that ignites the very soul of Gershwin best work. Never one to coast on past
success Herbie Hancock virtually glides
through well remembered tunes like "Summertime"(with help from Joni
Mitchell like you've never heard her before) creating new found catchiness
to a piece we've heard hundred's of times. That's not easy to do consider the
plethora of Gershwin cover's released since his death in 1937. If your interested
in cultivating a better relationship with relaxation this album should do the
trick, it's slow, smooth and does what most Herbie Hancock CD's do, sidesteps
any pre-conceived idea you may have about Jazz. The album's most spirited track
"Prelude in C # Minor" featuring the hauntingly adventurous Soprano
Kathleen Battle harmonizing like a choir of angels blissed out in a smoky Jazz
bar. The track is almost hypnotic in a "things are going to be ok" kind
of way. Gershwin's World also features Stevie
Wonder, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter and
Eddie Henderson . It's a great introduction to two master's of Jazz Americana.
--by John Beaudin
