By midday on Feb. 10, Herbie Hancock had already received one trophy at the 2008 Grammy Awards. The pianist-composer's "River: The Joni Letters" had won the prize for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, which was awarded during the pre-show ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Everyone knew that Hancock would return to the Grammy stage later that night _ to perform a duet with fellow pianist Lang Lang on George Gershwin's epic "Rhapsody in Blue,'' which turned out to be the performance highlight of the TV telecast. What was hugely unexpected, at least in the eyes of Grammy handicappers, was that Hancock would make one more trip to the podium _ this time to pick up the most coveted Grammy of all, for Album of the Year.