Herbie Hancock touring West in November

Herbie Hancock is poised for a short, West Coast tour to promote River: The Joni Letters, an album of improvisational Joni Mitchell covers that debuted at the top of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart in September. Hancock is enlisting the 18-year-old, coincidentally named Sonya Kitchell to handle vocal duties shared on the album itself by Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Sousa and Mitchell herself. Maybe she'll even take a stab at the Leonard Cohen bits.

Some percentage of the audience will recognize that, despite the rhyme, Kitchell isn't some kind of knockoff, black market Mitchell that Hancock booked at the last second. Kitchell released her own debut, Words Came Back to Me last spring. And those who ordered The Joni Letters off Amazon received a site-exclusive bonus of Kitchell singing Mitchell's first track off Blue, "All I Want."

Skate away to the following:

November
8 - Fairfield, Calif. @ Fairfield Center for the Performing Arts
9 - Arcata, Calif. @ John Van Duzer Theater
10 - San Francisco, Calif. @ Nob HIll Masonic Center
11 - Santa Barbara, Calif. @ Campbell Hall
14 - Tucson, Ariz. @ Centennial Hall
15 - Santa Fe. N.M. @ Lensic Performing Arts Center
16 - Phoenix, Ariz. @ Orpheum Theatre

Related links:
HerbieHancock.com
Herbie Hancock on MySpace
Paste: Herbie leaves his Hancock on Joni interpretation

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