Joni Mitchell

[Gentle Giant]

This is a 90-minute American Masters program that premiered on PBS last night (I guess it already aired on the CBC, which means that here it should be called NORTH American Masters). It's a wonderful profile of one of the towering geniuses of 20th century popular music. Best of all, the filmmaker wisely committed to showing complete performances of tunes whenever possible. Most affecting were two stunning live clips of songs from Blue: the title track and A Case of You. The only disappointments to me were the relatively slight coverage given to Hejira, and the complete skipping over of her mid-late 80s period, which gave us the highly underrated Dog Eat Dog. As they say, check your local listings; this is a show well worth watching.

[jazzy mary]

I saw this last night. I really dug it. I find the "American Masters" series to almost always very good. They did a fine one on Richard Rodgers too.

[Jazzooo]

Thanks, Giant. I taped it and am looking forward to watching--I'll probably throw on the video of Shadows and Light right after it!

Doug

[cookie]

I only caught the last half, but it was wonderful. Joni Mitchell is inspirational.
Must see the entire thing at some point.

[BFrank]

It was nice that they devoted several minutes to the "Mingus" project. How it was started and the work that went into it - ultimately to be panned by the critics.

The one mystery I find with her is that on the one hand she is a devoted "artist" in the true sense of the word. She creates her art (both in music and paint) on her own terms, yet she seems totally frustrated at the lack of wide, popular recognition. Doesn't she understand that in almost all cases the best artists typically are not the most commercially recognized - especially in their own lifetimes.

[Tom Storer]

"Mingus" was panned by the critics? I never knew that. I love it.

[Jimmy J]

"Shadows and Light" is available on DVD now for anyone who wore their videotape out - www.audiophileimports.com

[jazzy mary]

This show got me interested in buying the "Don Juan's Younger Daughter" cd (do I have that title correct?). Would you all recommend that?

[jazzy mary]

I guess Joni is all that and more!! :-)

[Tanager]

Dammit, I missed this, and both Mrs. Tanager and I love Joni Mitchell. Anyone know if it's scheduled for a rebroadcast?

[Darryl G. Thomas]

I was channeling hopping and caught some of the Mingus segment. I too didn't know it was critically panned. But at the time the only reviews I was reading were Chris A's in Stereo Review and I can't remember him reviewing it.

Anyway, I did replace my vinyl copy with the Cd version awhile back. I moved a couple of years ago and still haven't completely unpacked (lazy). So I'll have to dig through the boxes to find it.

[gonzo]

one day while sifting through my hippie, flower childs, sister's record collection i noticed an album called"hejira". oh my god!!
wayne shorter and jaco??!! i through it on and it was great. that night my love affair with the music of joni mitchell began. i bought everything that came before and after. i watched the american masters show and i would highly recommend the show.

[moneyp]

Originally posted by David Gitin
This is getting interesting: younger, restless, reckless. What's next?

Feckless.

My favorite Joni is either COURT & SPARK or HISSING OF THE SUMMER LAWNS although HEJIRA is also damned fine.

I'm not really a folkie, but I find C&S so damned evocative. One of my early unfinished projects was to write a series of short stories that a friend was going to illustrate, each story based on one of the songs from the album. Not the text, but the mood.

[BFrank]

Hejira is really a masterpiece. When I first got it, I thought it was interesting, but kept listening to it and one day it just hit me how amazing and unique it was. From the chord changes to the rhythms to the vocals - there's nothing like it.

I was fortunate to have seen "The Last Waltz" in person and remember when Joni came out to do her set. I was expecting the usual mix of flower-y folk music, but instead she played this strange music like I'd never heard before. I dismissed it at the time as just something experimental and forgot about it. When the film was recently re-released I went to see it and shocked to realize that what she had played was "Coyote" and "Furry Sings the Blues" from Hejira which might not have even been released at the time.

[Jazzooo]

Those are two great stories, BFrank and Dave!

Well, finally watched the documentary and it was terrific--very well-done though you're right, they could have spent a little more time on the '80s and early '90s music.

She obviously has a problem with feeling appreciated--she was stunned when someone recognized her and then cynical about all the following recognition--that doesn't mean she's right about it.

And her issues as i understand then aren't about being appreciated by the publoic so much as the industry she has created revenue for for 30 years now. She's been treated shabbily by the accounts I've read--talked down to in meetings, having to fight for royalties and recording budgets every step fo the way. of course, she's able to record with the people she wants to at all, which is a priviledge.

Her first album, Song to seagull--very folkie stuff, but let me tell you: I was 12 and writing my own songs on the piano and her alternate guitar tunings and emotional voice and lyrics just blew my mind. She really did open up a new world of harmony for me. I loved her point in the documentary about how Dylan used personal lyrics for the first time in folk/pop, but sacrificed melody to do it (which is what she added).

[walto]

I've had a crush on her as long as I can remember. What a song writer!

Forget about Graham Nash! Forget about James Taylor! Forget about all the other miscellaneous thousands. I'm here! Me!

[Bill Beran]

Joni Mitchell sucks.

"Free Man in Paris" is probably the worst song of all time.

Just my opinion.

[jazzy mary]

Yeah, I love that song.

[patricia]

Originally posted by Tanager
Dammit, I missed this, and both Mrs. Tanager and I love Joni Mitchell. Anyone know if it's scheduled for a rebroadcast?

I don't know if it's the same doc that's being discussed here, but I caught one, but not from the beginning, so I don't know the title, on CBC a couple of weeks ago.
It showed film of her early performances, interviews here in Canada and a large bit about her relationship with Graham Nash.
There was also current interview material with Joni and the program was very interesting and enjoyable, I thought.

Because I lived in Canada, during the first years of the "Canadian Content" rules governing broadcast, I must admit that I felt I had been over-exposed to Joni in the sixties and early seventies. I can't hear "Big Yellow Taxi", without cringing.

I am very impressed with the present direction of her career and although I don't think that she has a great jazz voice, she didn't have a great folk voice either, IMO. It was always her lyrics and her unusual chords that I found interesting. I love her "Both Sides Now" CD, particularly "Comes Love" and one of her compositions "A Case Of You". An impressive career.

[Valerie]

I've never been a big Joanie fan but certainly admire her talent and her person. What really blew me away was the CD she did a couple/few years ago with the London Symphony, Herbie and Wayne. I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary and certainly learned a lot about her. Must admit that I would have loved to have heard from some of her other "ex's" who are also musicians. What I heard from one was that she was "very high maintenance" which caused me to comment as follows: "Duh??!!!" Like, what would they expect given what they already knew about her?!? She's a brilliant, talented, opinionated woman who is probably on her own case 24/7!! I am so happy that she "found" her daughter and has her grandchildren as well. Definitely brought tears to my eyes.

[Gentle Giant]

Hejira is the masterpiece in my opinion. Ladies of the Canyon, Blue, and Court & Spark round out her must-haves (again, IMO). Her most underrated/underappreciated albums, which I heartily recommend, are Hissing of Summer Lawns, Dog Eat Dog, and Taming the Tiger. And yes, Mingus was despised by both the pop and jazz communities when it was released; by the latter for its pretentiousness (not my appraisal), and by the latter as white opportunism. She talks about this pretty extensively in an interview with Bill Flanagan in his anthology Written in My Soul (out of print).

What I liked best about the documentary (and yes, it's the same one that was shown on the CBC) is that it was focused on her art and her body of work, not on the stars she slept with or any of the other Behind the Music-type topics that typically take center stage.

I know people who love Joni and I know people who don't necessarily enjoy but definitely respect Joni, but any clod who comes right out and says she sucks is just simply an idiot.

[patricia]

Originally posted by Gentle Giant


What I liked best about the documentary (and yes, it's the same one that was shown on the CBC) is that it was focused on her art and her body of work, not on the stars she slept with or any of the other Behind the Music-type topics that typically take center stage.

I know people who love Joni and I know people who don't necessarily enjoy but definitely respect Joni, but any clod who comes right out and says she sucks is just simply an idiot. [/B]

Absolutely.
There was an interesting bit of trivia about the documentary, consisting of a small section, in which Joni was being interviewed on an afternoon talkshow at the beginning of her career. The show was "Take 30" on CBC and the interviewers were Paul Soles, who may be dead now, and Adrienne Clarkson, who is now the Governor General of Canada.

As for some people saying that Joni sucks, I challenge them to trace other artists' careers from being a successful folk artist, pop artist and now, in her latest incarnation an artist with a real understanding of the jazz idium, and a success at all of them. Rare. She may not be among the venerated and, I think, she would be the first to agree. However, she is certainly remarkable.
I don't like everything she did, but she certainly has earned the respect of the established greats and I can't argue with them, nor would I.

[Tom Storer]

I would berate Bill Beran for saying "Joni Mitchell sucks," for I disagree totally. However, I know how good it can feel to let it all hang out against an artist generally revered, but whom you hate.

Take Frank Zappa, for example. Frank Zappa sucks.

[Gentle Giant]

BTW, folks should check out pbs.org or call their local PBS stations for info on rebroadcasts. Also, the American Masters page on pbs.org has a good interview with the producer and interview clips that were NOT used in the docu, including her talking about her friendships with James Taylor and Neil Young, and David Crosby predicting that in 100 years, people will look back and say that "she was the greatest of us all."

I feel like a black crow flying in a blue, blue sky.


P.S. Travelogue really is lovely, even better than Both Sides Now, her previous orchestral work.


P.S. Just because you don't like something, it doesn't follow logically that that thing sucks. One's childish attitude doesn't turn a subjective opinion into an objective assertion of fact. I don't particularly care for Eminem but it's clear that he doesn't suck.

[patricia]

I'll look for "Travelogue".
I have just the one Joni CD, which I copied and sent to a friend who compared it to Linda Ronstadt's foray into jazz, which I think does Joni an injustice. Of course, he's a dyed-in-the-wool jazzer, so I take that into consideration. He certainly recognizes talent, as do I.
Speaking of Emenem, my youngest daughter drew my attention to his lyrics, which essentially are more social comment than music, so, on that basis he's certainly effective.
My father used to say that rappers are an example of the phenomenum that even people who can't sing can be recording artists. :)
Joni is not one of those, despite the fact that her compositions are more personal feelings, which, to me, make them interesting.

[Tom Storer]

Originally posted by Gentle Giant
Just because you don't like something, it doesn't follow logically that that thing sucks. One's childish attitude doesn't turn a subjective opinion into an objective assertion of fact.

But part of the bratty satisfaction of saying "so and so sucks" is precisely that its targets will frown and disapprove. It's generally very clear that it's the expression of a personal opinion.

[Bill Beran]

Tom Storer: Thanks for getting my back!

But FRANK ZAPPA SUCKS!?

How DARE you!

:-)

[Tom Storer]

Bill, Joni would kick Zappa's pimply ass. So there!

[patricia]

Originally posted by patricia
Tom,
You betcha!! I would say both musically and literally. She's a tough broad and I say that with utmost respect.

[Jimmy J]

"Hejira" - a "Desert Island" disc for me.

I remember when I was first learning bass about 10 years ago, and I found out Jaco had played on "Hejira". I was very wary about Joni Mitchell, because I am not a fan of folk music at all and I thought it would be a little Hicky, even worse than "Bright Size Life" which did nothing for me.

However, from the moment I put it on, I realised that these tunes were brilliant. The chords were gorgeous and the playing was naturally sublime. The storytelling is great, the music conjures up a lot of imagery for me. I wonder if she'd contemplate taking another couple of years out travelling and do another "Hejira II" set?

I went on to check most of the other Joni stuff up to that period out, but "Hejira" stands above it all for me. "Hissing of Summer Laws" I like too, mainly for "Edith and The Kingpin" which again, I love the chords, the driftiness of the vocal.

I haven't heard any of the late 80's or 90's stuff - if there is anything that rates with the "Hejira" tunes, please let me know and I'll check it out.

[Jazzooo]

"I haven't heard any of the late 80's or 90's stuff - if there is anything that rates with the "Hejira" tunes, please let me know and I'll check it out."

Absolutely--check out Night Ride Home, Shadows and Light (lots of material from hejira done live with jaco, metheny, Brecker, don alias and Lyle Mays). There is also some gold on Turbulent Indigo, though not every song is a winner imo. And her new one, Travelogue, is a truly outstanding experiment in combining poetry, music and lush orchestration.

[Jimmy J]

Doug, got "Shadows and Light" on DVD, been digging that for a while. It's like Jaco feat. Joni Mitchell as the show goes on :)

Thanks for the recs, will take them up.

[Gentle Giant]

I adore Edith and the Kingpin; definitely my favorite track on Hissing. And I agree with Jazzooo's recommendations. I would also add Dog Eat Dog, but it has some Thomas Dolby influence on it sonically, and you might not dig that.

As for Hejira II, that's basically Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, which has the same typography, instrumentation and lineup (with a couple of notable exceptions: strings on the 16-minute Paprika Plains, and a corps of classic percussionists on Tenth World and Dreamland), and overall feel. All told, however, it is definitely not up to Hejira's standards, but if that's the groove you're after, it's definitely worth checking out.

[Ron Thorne]

Patricia, are you now quoting yourself for added effect? :-) Please see your post of April-9th-2003 at 01:22 PM.

I completely agree that Hejira is a masterpiece, but also really dig The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, and Mingus.

Patricia, you need to get Hejira and/or Shadows and Light, trust me. It will change your view of Joni, immeasurably.

[patricia]

Originally posted by Ron Thorne
Patricia, are you now quoting yourself for added effect? :-) Please see your post of April-9th-2003 at 01:22 PM.

I completely agree that Hejira is a masterpiece, but also really dig The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, and Mingus.

Patricia, you need to get Hejira and/or Shadows and Light, trust me. It will change your view of Joni, immeasurably.

I think I fixed the egotistocal error April 9.
Because of our almost total immersion in Joni music, along with a handful of other Canadian artists, during the infancy of the 60% [!] Canadian Content rules, by the CRTC, I didn't voluntarily listen to her for years. That is not to say I didn't hear her, but not on purpose. My loss, but, there you go. :)

[Ron Thorne]

Patricia,

I was just funnin' ya on the quoting aspect, and certainly didn't feel that it was egotistical.

While I understand and respect your self-imposed restriction on Joni, perhaps it's time to reconsider.

[Gentle Giant]

Born this day in the Great White North in 1943. Thank you for decades of amazing artistry.


I am not some stone commission
Like some statue in a park
I am flesh and blood and vision
I am howling in the dark

"Come In From The Cold"


http://www.jonimitchell.com/Bothsides.JPEG http://www.jonimitchell.com/TaxiSheet.JPEG

[lazarus]

Happy Birthday Joni!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


http://64.70.221.88/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/JMitchell---Windo---HDC075.jpg

[Chris D]

I wanna talk to ya
I wanna shine through ya
I wanna renew you
Again and again
Applause, applause
Life is our cause
When I think of your kisses
My mind see saws

[cookie]

Joni Mitchell is a goddess!! Happy Birthday, dear Joni!!!

[Valerie]

Wow, Joni is 60?!?!? Sure wish I had accomplished all she has. Hope her well of creativity stays full for her next 50!!

I have friends who are fortunate enough to own some of her photographs, drawings and paintings. There's also one of her paintings in one of my favorite restaurants in Venice, CA.
A very talented lady, for sure.

Happy, Healthy 60th, Joni!

[jazzy mary]

I love Joni! Hooray for Joni and happy birthday to her!!!

[patricia]

Joni's lyrics were what drew me back to her. They are as though she rips out her heart, lays it on her piano and allows us to examine it. Devastating, romantic, funny and sensuous, by turns.
The woman is still standin', having finally, I think, found her niche, if she can ever be categorized, which she never really will be. She is a chameleon.

She has been folk. She has been pop. She now is jazz, in her own, unique way. Above all, she will always be JONI. She is her own woman, an enviable position to be in and I applaud her. She is my hero. She did what she felt was right for her artistic and personal survival. That takes dedication and courage, qualities we all hope that we have.

Over the years, she has gained the respect of the jazz community and rightly so. She sings with great sensitivity and understanding of the lyrics' intent. Of course, when she sings her own compositions, that's to be expected. She does the same thing with other composers' lyrics and that's the beauty of her talent.

May she have health and give us many more years of her amazing talent.

Happy Birthday Joni!!!

[Ron Thorne]

Happy birthday, Joni!

I've adored this lady for many, many years. And, I didn't realize until today that our birthdays are so close. She's three days older than me.

Yes, Joni's a chameleon of sorts, but she's also so complex and far-reaching in her approaches that she's beyond categorizing. Cool.

Nice post, Patricia.

http://poppyseed.fateback.com/images/related/joni.jpg

[gonzo]

happy birthday joni. please record again!! jaco and wayne were also my introduction to joni.

[BFrank]

Happy Birthday RON!

[Brian Olewnick]

I was in the car the other day, twirled the radio and came upon a station that had just about finished playing 'Blue' in its entirety. I only caught "The Last Time I Saw Richard". I'm positive I haven't heard that song in over 25 years ('Blue' was the only Mitchell album I owned way back when) but I remembered it note for note and I have to say, it held up quite well, a really beautiful song with fine, direct, heartfelt lyrics. Unfortunately, the DJ had some time to kill, so he played two recent pieces including a newer version of "Richard" (from last year, I believe). Now, I can't fault her voice for deteriorating over the years (although a great deal of the charm and emotional impact of the original lies in the way it sailed so easily up and down her range, always seemingly on the verge of losing control) but the replacement of the lovely, spare piano accompaniment by a syrupy orchestra (or synth version of same? hard to tell on the car radio) was pretty horrible. The rough-edged solo piano (sounding more than a bit like Jarrett) fit perfectly with the bleak, hardnosed outlook of the lyrics in the original. Awful decision, imho.

Anyway, I've been tempted to pick up 'Blue' once again and may still one of these days.

[stonemonkts]

She really is the original. She always sounds good to me. Her lyrics are strong but I think it is more due to her delivery and timing, on paper they seem a bit trite, almost school girl-ish.

But only on paper. It doesn't detract from my pleasure of her music one iota. Just an observation.

Happy Birthday!

[GoodSpeak]

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd800/d845/d84514ga884.jpg

CHALKMARK IN A RAINSTORM

My all-time favorite Joni Mitchell album.

Cool Water and My Secret Place are classics!


Happy B-Day, Joni ;-)

[Gentle Giant]

Interesting choice, Goodie. Certainly some great tunes on Chalkmark, but even among the Geffen albums I prefer Night Ride Home. My favorite period by far is Ladies to Don Juan, inclusive.

Brian, the orchestrated version (no synths) you heard is from Travelogue, which is recommended overall. Not all the selections work with the new arrangements, but some are undeniably beautiful and powerful. The originals of all are better, but she definitely brings a sense of personal knowledge and a more mature attitude to the material, and her voice adds almost an epilogue quality to the statements it expresses.

[walto]

She'll always be 25 to me.

[Brian Olewnick]

GG, the guy also played an orchestrated version of "A Case of You" from a slightly earlier album (2000, I think) which I thought was equally.....mistaken.

I should say that I'm no particular fan of rehashing of old hits. I mean, you produce something beautiful, fine. Why not just let it be? Why the insistence of going back at it? (I know, commercial considerations....) Does there exist a pop star of any magnitude who refuses to trot out old hits in live shows?

[walto]

Wouldn't such behavior result in lynching by one's rabid fans?

[Brian Olewnick]

That's such a bad thing?

[Chris D]

It's funny, Joni addressed just this point on her live album "Miles of Aisles."

Fans were shouting requests toward the stage and she said how being a musician is different than being a painter and that no one would yell to Van Gogh, "Paint 'A Starry Night' again, man."

The version you heard, Brian, is from "Travelogue," and the orchestra is a real one.

[Brian Olewnick]

Reminds me of seeing Sonic Youth a couple years ago at the Hammerstein ballroom. Youthful fans were screaming out requests for their "hits" and Thurston Moore came to the mike and in a dopey teenage fan voice shouted, "Don Byron's Music for Six Musicians, man!"

So Mitchell makes this entirely sensible observation. And then......?

[Chris D]

And then... man, I'll have to pull out the album! I think she then played "The Circle Game," encouraging the audience to sing, saying "the more out-of-tune voices, the better...."

I know that's on the album, but I'm not sure if one comes right after the other.

[Gentle Giant]

I've seen Ian Hunter say on stage a few times that he went to see some band (Procol Harum, maybe?) and they didn't do their biggest hit (which I assume would be Whiter Shade of Pale, if I have the band right), and he (this is a certifiable legendary rock star, mind you) felt cheated. He said that by way of introduction to All the Young Dudes.

And he did a killer version, too.

[Chris D]

In certain circumstances, though, I can understand a band not playing a tune with which they are identified.
Take, for instance, Los Lobos. Rubes and no-nothings just want to hear them play "La Bamba," and most every night, they don't, because it isn't what they're about.
It got almost as bad for them with Deadheads clamoring for "Bertha."

[Tom Storer]

I think "Travelogue" is a marvelous album. Jazz composers often revisit tunes they've already made "definitive" versions of; this is similar. Mitchell is older, her singing has changed to fit her changed voice, the arrangements are different. Musically, I think it's fabulous, and it makes no more sense to say she shouldn't sing her songs again than to say Ellington should have been content to record "Take the A Train" or "Satin Doll" only once.

[Brian Olewnick]

Well, it's a little different for jazz musicians assuming there are solos (if not new arrangements, etc.) which would hopefully vary night to night (I realize this wasn't the case early on, pre-bop). Were I to place myself in the 40s with my contemporary mindset (as impossible and paradoxical as that might be), I do think that I'd get tired of even the same marvelous performance of "Take the A Train" night after night of there were no variation. Obviously, I wouldn't have minded hearing Coltrane play 'Naima' as I would be expecting to hear, within a familiar song, an individual, unrepeatable performance.

But it's usually different with pop bands. I remember going to hear Talking Heads in Central Park around 1980, reluctant to go to a real rock concert for the first time in quite a while, but having been impressed enough with their records to expect that they'd at least stretch things a bit live. Nope. They could've been playing their albums over the PA for all the difference there was. Why bother?

With Mitchell's "Richard", there wasn't (as near as I could hear on the one listen) any significant structural change other than the substitution of an orchestra for piano, a drastic mistake as far as I'm concerned, and a lessening over time in her ability to impart to the song the same beautiful, bittersweet quality she did originally. I don't see that anything was gained, any new facet of the piece exposed, etc. But hey, that's just me.

[Gentle Giant]

She's working on a new album and has lots to say about the record industry, the Bushies, and the whole fucked up world.

http://www.jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=1460

I'd say this is very good news!

[clinthopson]

As long as she doesn't sing MIngus again.

[jazzy mary]

I'll say! And did you see who the side men are--Herbie, Brian Blade & Wayne!

[Ron Thorne]

This is enticing, to say the least.

[Paul B]

As long as she doesn't sing MIngus again.

I love the Mingus album.

Dry Cleaner from Des Moines, baby!!

[Gentle Giant]

It would be funny to see someone PhotoShop the cover of Mingus so that the title read Marsalis.

[Tom Storer]

Hey, the Mingus album was wonderful, with maybe one exception (the non-Mingus-oriented song about wolves). And "Dry Cleaner from Des Moines" was fun, but not the high point of the album!

I read an interview with Mitchell where she said that the inspiration had dried up after she met and established a relationship with the daughter that she had given up for adoption at birth. She said that the songs she had written had been written, in some way, to engage the daughter she didn't know or else the world the daughter was in, and once she was personally back in touch with the daughter, that motivation disappeared. I'm glad she's back in touch with her talent and the world. I'm looking forward to this new one.

[Monte Smith]

I like the Mingus record, too. My favorite Mitchell. Not my favorite Mingus.

[Freetoojazz]

I hope this is true. I really love her music!

[gonzo]

the" mingus" album was the shit!!! one of my personal faves, so there:p i am very excited about this news. there is a god!!!!:cool:

[Lenny D.Guitarist]

This is good news, but in these (ostensibly) apolitical times where Neil Young can produce a cd,where almost every song calls for Bush to be removed from office, and it receives scant media attention, will Mitchell fare any better? I hope so.

[Tom Storer]

I don't think she has any expectation of selling millions of albums anymore. In fact I'll bet that Neil Young album sold a hell a lot more than the vast majority of jazz albums. It's all relative.

[Gentle Giant]

I'm just looking forward to hearing some new material with her smoky old voice. I'm still digging her Travelogue remakes.

[walto]

I love her stuff, but I'm not at all pleased to hear she's coming out of retirement. In fact, as I've said here before, I think she should have retired a lot sooner.

Maybe she should keep writing, but, IMHO, she should definitely never sing again--and she should have stopped many years before she did.

[Gentle Giant]

Respectfully disagree. While a far cry from the clear tones of her early years, or the contemplative crooning of her mid-70s period (can you believe Hejira is 30 years old?!?!), I find her grandma-years voice to have a quality all its own, and she uses it carefully, never trying to take it someplace it won't go gracefully. It's been a few years so who knows what she sounds like now, but I could never wish for Joni Mitchell to stay away from a recording studio.

[Tom Storer]

I love her stuff, but I'm not at all pleased to hear she's coming out of retirement. In fact, as I've said here before, I think she should have retired a lot sooner.

Maybe she should keep writing, but, IMHO, she should definitely never sing again--and she should have stopped many years before she did.

Walto, I respectfully submit that you're crazy. Her later singing is just fine! I love Travelogue. Her phrasing is fantastic, the husky texture attractive. On what albums do you think her singing is not good enough?

[walto]

Ycccch. Pretty much everything after Hejira skeeves me.

[carlostres]

It's a very interesting article.

From the article:
"You have to make some kind of an attempt, not to offend leaders and society, but to include and inspire them to be far-sighted."
Besides, she said, "you have to be careful how you put things these days or somebody'll kill you."

Let's see, do I want to just be disliked, maybe get audited, or targeted for murder like Salman Rushdie. ;)

I think she'll be very constructive. She has good taste, and has a subtlety to her.

It's not at all unusual for her to work with Wayne Shorter(since 1977) or Brian Blade(since 1998). Herbie Hancock was on "Mingus"('79).

It will be interesting to see what she does.

I like her "Night Ride Home" from beginning to end "Two Grey Rooms".

[Tom Storer]

Ycccch. Pretty much everything after Hejira skeeves me.

Well, it's official then. You have no taste. :D

[walto]

Well, it's official then. You have no taste. :D


Likely true, but either way I should have added 'BWTHDIK' at the end of my post.

[Gentle Giant]

I like her "Night Ride Home" from beginning to end.
Excellent album. Post-Hejira, I'd put it in the top 3, along with half of Don Juan's Reckless Daughter and Taming the Tiger. I also have a soft spot for Dog Eat Dog, although Dolby's contributions haven't aged well.

I like Mingus but somehow I always want it to sound "dirtier" although I can't articulate exactly what I mean by that. I guess I want it to sound more Mingus.

Wild Things Run Fast is really the only Joni album I don't ever listen to.

[jazzy mary]

[QUOTE=carlostres]It's a very interesting article.

From the article:


Let's see, do I want to just be disliked, maybe get audited, or targeted for murder like Salman Rushdie. ;)

I think she'll be very constructive. She has good taste, and has a subtlety to her.

It's not at all unusual for her to work with Wayne Shorter(since 1977) or Brian Blade(since 1998). Herbie Hancock was on "Mingus"('79). ]



Oh, I know. They go way back. I'm just happy they're all together again.

I loved what Joni had to say about the music industry--it's so true!

[Ron Thorne]

Count me in as one who also dug (most of) Joni's Mingus album, as well as (most of) Don Juan's Reckless Daughter.

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/patrick.lecordier/JoniMitchellMingus.JPG


http://www.jonimitchell.com/library/pix/ming.jpg


God Must Be a Boogie Man, baby.

[Slurpy]

I'll say! And did you see who the side men are--Herbie, Brian Blade & Wayne!

Sweet Jesus, YES!

[carlostres]

You guys are too funny!


Originally Posted by Gentle Giant: I like Mingus but somehow I always want it to sound "dirtier" although I can't articulate exactly what I mean by that. I guess I want it to sound more Mingus.

Yea,it seems a little too pristine and clean.
The Mingus Big Band should cover Joni Mitchell!

Dave Douglas covered her Court & Spark "Same Situation" on his Moving Portrait album, and it turned out quite nicely.
& ( My Old Man) & (Roses Blue) as well.

[Rachel G]

Three Joni threads started by Gentle Giant have been merged into this thread at his request.

Other Joni threads currently available are

Joni Mitchell Album Poll Redux (http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?t=497)

and its mostly "meta" predecessor, now closed for posting -

Joni's best--or all bleeeeah (formerly a poll thread) (http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?t=472)