Gershwin's World

Product description HANCOCK HERBIE GERSHWIN`S WORLD Amazon.com Perhaps the most ambitious of album tributes to George Gershwin on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth, Gershwin's World earns its title by encompassing not only jazz versions of key pop songs from his catalog and a version (with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) of his Prelude in C-Sharp Minor but also reminding us of the composer's sources in everything from Ellington, W.C. Handy, and stride pianist James P. Johnson to Ravel. Those four are represented by versions of key pieces that affected Gershwin, in a bid to place his achievement in a context that is often discussed but perhaps too little listened to. This is an album that could have been a massive, pretentious failure; instead, with the likes of Wayne Shorter and a nearly unrecognizably torchy Joni Mitchell on hand, it's as close to a triumph as this type of thing reaches. --Rickey Wright P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Review Herbie Hancock's striking tribute runs deeper and wider than most, clearly revealing Gershwin's cross-stylistic imprint, from jazz to pop to classical... -- Entertainment WeeklyIt is a tribute to Hancock's versatility that he not only functions effectively in all these settings, but also manages to put the stamp of his own personality on every piece, most notably on a tender, solo view of "Embraceable You." -- Los Angeles Times See more