In addition to Leonard's upcoming induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Leonard participated in an album that has been nominated for a Grammy Award. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters has been nominated for Album of the Year and includes the song "Jungle Line" featuring Leonard. Click the player to listen to the song now (or, click here). The Grammys will be televised on Sunday, February 9, 2008 at 8 p.m. on CBS.
UPDATE: Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters wins best contemporary jazz album and ALBUM OF THE YEAR at Grammy Awards.
LOS ANGELES - Herbie Hancock shocked Kanye West, best-album presenters Usher and Quincy Jones, and just about anyone who was watching the Grammys when the jazz veteran won the night's big prize for "River: The Joni Letters."
But perhaps no one was more shocked than Herbie Hancock.
"It's immeasurable how surprised I am," Hancock said Sunday night after the show.
"I didn't even hear my name at first," he continued. "Then I heard the word 'River' and I said, 'Is this true? Is this happening?'"
It was the 11th Grammy for the 67-year-old, who doesn't expect any flak from his chief competitor.
"Kanye and I are cool," Hancock said.
The album, a collection of Joni Mitchell's music, features various singers. At least two of them were at Staples Center for Sunday's Grammy ceremony: Corinne Bailey Rae and Tina Turner. Norah Jones and Leonard Cohen also appear on the album.
Hancock and Mitchell, longtime friends and musical collaborators, have appeared on each other's records since 1979.
"Joni is a great friend of mine," Hancock said backstage. "I've cherished my friendship with her since we first met ... She responds to jazz like a fish in water."
But his win was a surprise for most industry watchers, who saw the best-album category as a duel between West and Winehouse.
West came into the contest with a leading eight nominations. He won four. Winehouse had six nods and won five awards. Hancock was up for three Grammys and won two, including contemporary jazz album.
Recording academy president Neil Portnow was asked backstage whether Hancock's win was appropriate given the runaway commercial success of West's "Graduation" and Winehouse's "Back to Black."
"I don't think sales has anything to do with what the academy decides in awarding albums or records. It's about excellence in music," he said. "I think it was a very respectable choice."
Vince Gill, a 19-time winner and fellow nominee for album of the year, said Hancock deserved the award.
"I think Herbie Hancock, hands down," he said, "is a better musician than all of us here put together."
LOS ANGELES - Canadian heavyweights Joni Mitchell and Michael Buble each nabbed Grammys in an afternoon ceremony Sunday that otherwise largely shut out Canuck nominees.
Buble took best traditional pop vocal album with his disc, "Call Me Irresponsible," while Mitchell's track "One Week Last Summer," won for best pop instrumental performance.
Retro-soul diva Amy Winehouse, who was up for six trophies, took honours for best female pop vocal performance and best pop vocal album, denying Canadian rival Leslie Feist in both categories.
The Calgary-bred indie darling, who performs simply under her last name, also lost best short form video to Johnny Cash, but is still up for best new artist in the evening telecast.
Violinist James Ehnes' took Canada's first Grammy Award of the day for best instrumental soloist performance (with orchestra), for his performance with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Outspoken rapper/producer Kanye West heads into the evening ceremony with three trophies, for best rap performance on the hit "Stronger," best rap duo or group performance for the song "Southside" with Common, and best rap song for "Good Life."
"I'm so glad Kanye won everything because you know how cranky he gets when he loses," joked pre-telecast presenter Patti Austin.
West is nominated in another five categories to be announced in the evening telecast.
None of the Canadian winners were at the afternoon ceremony to accept their award, but Mitchell received additional kudos from friend Herbie Hancock, who took best contemporary jazz album with his tribute disc, "River: The Joni Letters."
"First of all I want to thank Joni Mitchell, with her incredible words and music," Hancock said in his acceptance speech before turning to a list that started with his mother and father, and included participating vocalist Leonard Cohen.
Canada's polka king Walter Ostanek lost his 20th Grammy nomination for best polka album to longtime rival Jimmy Sturr, while Loreena McKennitt's disc "An Ancient Muse," lost best contemporary world music album to Angelique Kidjo and her disc, "Djin Djin."
Nelly Furtado lost best female pop vocal performance for her song, "Say It Right" to Winehouse's "Rehab," and best pop collaboration with vocals for her song "Give it To Me," with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake to "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.
Other winners included democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who took a Grammy for best spoken word album for his (audio book?) "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream."
The politician was up against former presidents Bill Clinton ("Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World") and Jimmy Carter ("Sunday Mornings in Plains: Bringing Peace to a Changing World).
LOS ANGELES - Leonard Cohen's paramour is working on a new album.
Jazz singer Anjani Thomas says she'd been writing material for two years but kept scrapping the songs she'd penned. She says she's now got a collection she's happy with and hopes to start recording next month.
Thomas's last disc, "Blue Alert," was co-written with Cohen, who supplied some of his poetry and songs as inspiration.
This time, Thomas says she's doing most of the writing, but says one or two songs will be co-written with Cohen.
She says she consults her famous partner when songwriting, but admits he's a tough critic.
"It's hell," she joked during a pre-Grammy party.
"It's not for sissies - he's brutally honest, which is what I want. I don't want him to pander to me just because I'm making his lunch. So, it's a good relationship. It's good to have a sounding board."
Canadians are taking over the Grammy's this weekend, and the Canadian consulate in L-A held a party for the nominees. Setting the scene were juno-nominated musicians Suzie McNeil and Justin Nozuka. Even after 20 Grammy nominations, Polka King Walter Ostanek still enjoys the Grammy buzz. Heavy-hitters Alan Thicke and Leonard Cohen mingled. Cohen even signed an autograph for Ostenak. Consul general Alain Dudoit honoured Quebec-born T-V producer Pierre Cossette. Cossette masterminded the very first Grammy telecast in 1971.
LOS ANGELES - Swiftly pulling out a pad of paper and a black marker, 20-time Grammy nominee Walter Ostanek is clearly fan-struck as he manoeuvres through a Grammy party to position himself in the path of legendary songwriter Leonard Cohen.
"Hello, I'm Walter Ostanek," the jovial polka king from St. Catharines, Ont., announces when he finally finds himself standing next to Cohen.
Before Cohen can reply, Ostanek cuts him off with an excited, "Oh, I know who you are!" and extends the wad in his hand toward the 73-year-old poet, who graciously obliges an autograph.
This was one of the weirder musical collisions that took place earlier this week as past and present Canadian nominees mingled poolside at the official residence of the Canadian consul general, where homegrown luminaries were celebrated for their part in shaping 50 years of the Grammy Awards.
And Canada's role in the music industry's most prestigious bash has been far from slight, with the very first live Grammy telecast masterminded by Quebec-born television producer Pierre Cossette.
The acclaimed TV guru ran the show for 35 years starting in 1971, ushering the industry gala from a series of taped specials called "The Best on Record" in the '60s, to the star-packed extravaganza it eventually became.
Now 84, Cossette says it was a struggle to convince people to air that first show, which saw Simon and Garfunkel take record, album and song of the year ("Bridge Over Troubled Water") and The Carpenters be crowned best new artist.
"I had a hard time selling the show after I got it because the networks didn't want a show that had to do with Haight-Ashbury and guys with hair down to their ankles and lipstick and all of that whole scene," recalls Cossette, born in Valleyfield, Que.
"Rock 'n' roll hadn't even entered the picture then. Rock 'n' roll in those days was Jackson 5, so that slowly evolved. We kept adding new things and the next thing you know, it's where it is today."
The early shows largely focused on U.S. acts, but gradually grew more diverse, and in particular, embraced a lot of Canadian nominees, notes Grammy publicist Richard Mann, whose company Alfred Haber, Inc., helps distribute the show globally.
"Musically, Canada is recognized a lot more for Grammy Awards nowadays and certainly over the last decade than it used to be," says Mann, pausing to chat between frequent BlackBerry breaks concerning last-minute show developments.
Over the past nine years, Canadians have received an average of 18 Grammy nominations a year, with an average of one in four taking home trophies, according to Grammy statistics.
Over the past 50 years, the nation's biggest winners have included Vancouver producer David Foster with 14 trophies, Ottawa-bred singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette with seven, Quebec powerhouse Celine Dion with five, and Timmins, Ont., country star Shania Twain, also with five.
This year, 15 Canadians stand to win trophies when the celebration gets underway Sunday.
Leading the pack is indie darling Feist, who snagged four nominations, including for the coveted best new artist title and best pop vocal album.
Jazz crooner Michael Buble and pop star Nelly Furtado each have two nominations, while Arcade Fire, Rush, Nickelback, and Emerson Drive each have one. Veterans Joni Mitchell, Howard Shore, Loreena McKennitt, Ostanek and John Gora are also up for one trophy each.
Cohen, who appears on this year's Grammy-nominated disc by Herbie Hancock, "River: The Joni Letters," says he's watched with pride as Canadian artists have grown in stature internationally over the years.
"Canadians have always had a very significant place in popular music," says Cohen, who stopped by the party with partner Anjani Thomas on his arm, navigating through a crowd that included musicians Carole Pope, actor Alan Thicke and CanWest media bosses David and Gail Asper.
"There's always been very great shining lights and it continues from generation to generation. There's good wine in every generation."
Canadian-American roots group the Band are to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday, but the occasion won't include a reunion among the surviving members, says keyboardist Garth Hudson and his wife Maude.
The pair expected to see songwriter Robbie Robertson at the non-televised awards show, but said that Arkansas-born drummer and singer Levon Helm is sticking close to home in Woodstock, N.Y., to host his regular musical jamboree, the Midnight Ramble. On Sunday the show will be renamed the "Gramble Ramble," in honour of the Grammys, said Maude Hudson.
Garth Hudson, who said he was working on various projects including new recordings and production work, said he was overwhelmed by the Grammy honour and looked forward to the event.
"There's nothing like it, I've never felt this way before," said the bearded Hudson, his face obscured by a wide-brimmed black hat.
"I feel somehow a part of L.A. and a part of Canada all at once."
But perhaps no one was more shocked than Herbie Hancock.