Herbie Hancock's Grammy Award

Herbie Hancock won a Grammy Award for album of the year for "River: The Joni Letters", edging out Amy Winehouse, the self-destructive British singer and Kanye West, the self-absorbed hip hop artist and rapper. But as the New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff argues, Hancock's win should not be interpreted as a victory for jazz. He writes, "'River' can be understood as a celebration of the academy's more high-minded pop impulses. The best album category, in particular, is often a corrective or an apology for any excesses or shortcomings of the present." It goes without saying, that Hancock had never won a Grammy before despite a brilliant, storied career as pianist, composer, and bandleader.