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Tina Turner, Herbie Hancock: Edith and the Kingpin

By Ludovico Granvassu
May 31, 2023
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There are many ways to remember the one and only Tina Turner. For jazz fans, her collaboration with Herbie Hancock might well be the place to start. "Edith and the Kingpin" is a song that Joni Mitchell recorded for her 1975 album The Hissing of Summer Lawns and that Herbie Hancock revisited for his Grammy-winning 2007 tribute to Joni Mitchell River (The Joni Letters) (Verve). For this song he wanted Tina Turner by his side.

This is one of those rare cases in which the cover does not leave one missing the Joni Mitchell original, and one that begs the question of why Tina Turner did not get involved in more jazz projects. The icing on the cake: an uncredited guitar part by Prince and a masterful solo by Wayne Shorter against a rock-solid rhythm section featuring Dave Holland and Vinnie Colaiuta.

Contact Ludovico Granvassu on All About Jazz.
I'm the Editor-in-Chief of All About Jazz Italia, host of Mondo Jazz on Radio Free Brooklyn and was once visited by Frank Zappa's ghost.... he was funny too.

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