[.ca] Mitchell, Joni: Painting W/Words And Music

From Amazon.com:
After more than a decade of de facto exile from the mainstream, Joni Mitchell has regained much of her media profile, if not her commercial impact, thanks to deserved if belated accolades from critics and music business peers. Recent Grammy Awards and a special Billboard citation epitomize the ironies of Mitchell's '80s obscurity: Because she reached her highest profile with the broad success in 1974 of Court and Spark, which remains Mitchell's lushest, most accessible album, the Canadian musician and painter has found herself comparatively ignored in later years simply because her work ventured into more eclectic amalgams of her already diverse influences. Yet in her forays into world music, jazz, and pop collage, Mitchell has remained a prescient and influential artist. This 1998 concert special sheds welcome light on the work from that post-Spark quarter century, its 22 songs dominated by the confessional works that have remained Mitchell's strong suit. Early favorites like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Just Like This Train" retain their charm, but it's Mitchell's more mature pieces such as "Amelia" (from Hejira) and "Sex Kills" (from Turbulent Indigo) that convey the depth and acuity of her work. A superb band--including Brian Blade, Mark Isham, Larry Klein, and Greg Leisz--provides a sinewy, sympathetic framework well-suited to the palette of jazz, folk, and pop colors that Mitchell daubs on her songs. Adding further intimacy to the performance is a circular stage design, a small audience, and a welcome lack of "big" production effects; instead, Mitchell indulges her second career as a painter through a pre-show stroll around a gallery of her visual works. Mitchell's frail health in the late '90s, as well as a lifetime of cigarettes, has taken a toll on her voice, which has lost much of its upper register. Yet there's also an added richness to her lower range befitting this sharp-eyed survivor's art. Old fans will also recognize the flurries of girlish laughter in between-songs patter, while savoring how Mitchell's powers as a writer and player (especially on a new, striking electric guitar) have matured as well. --Sam Sutherland

Additional Features:
This 1998 concert special, produced on a Los Angeles soundstage before a private audience, underscores the Canadian singer-songwriter's critical and commercial resurgence since the mid-'90s. Joni Mitchell herself contributed to the stage design (with her twin vocation as a painter underscored by a gallery of Mitchell works erected during the production), mixed the finished audio tracks, and assembled a stage band from front-rank jazz and pop veterans including Brian Blade, Mark Isham, Larry Klein, and Greg Leisz, plus a trio of backup vocalists. Included in the 100-minute program are 22 songs, ranging from recent and classic Mitchell hits to renditions of Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" and the Frankie Lymon hit, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"

No Hejira Here:
One of the many wonderful aspects of this DVD is Ms. Mitchell's storytelling, the most striking of which was how she came up with the title of her album Hejira. She explained that the definition of the word is, "...leaving the dream, no blame." Well, she has not left the dream. I have been listening to her music for 30 years, have all her albums, most on vinyl as well as CD, and I was SO mesmerized by this DVD. While she has lost the high end of her vocal range, she MORE than compensates with her style, her presence, and her incredible talent. My only complaint about the DVD is the sound quality which is spotty at times, otherwise it would be a 5 plus. The dream lives on. If anyone knows where you can get prints of her paintings, please contact me.

Great music ---good camera work ----disappointing sound!:
Hopefully this DVD can be remixed and reissued! The guitar dominated watery/echoey "mono" sounding surround sound mix(no better in 2 channel stereo), gives no presence to individual instruments. Mr.Blade suffers the most, his contribution being that of a great instrumental mime!

For fans of her later work.:
This is a great concert DVD! Most of the songs performed by Joni are from Hejira and Taming The Tiger, though there are cuts from most of her albums. She also does a few Jazz standards! In between the songs she tells stories of how she came to write the songs. The picture quality is pretty good, and the sound is great, though her guitar is so dominating at times that it is hard to hear her voice. I don't think that there is anything from Blue, For The Roses or Clouds. If you love Joni's later jazz-guitar-pop sound, this would be a good bet!

A must for Joni fans.:
This DVD concert is magical. It's Joni in 1998, performing in the middle of a circular venue for a small, intimate audience. An interesting aspect you notice right away is that the crowd is sitting comfortably in different types of livingroom furniture, upholstered couches and chairs, situated on different levels throughout. The entrance to the fabricated venue is an art gallery of Joni Mitchell paintings for everyone to see while entering into the performance area, which is surrounded by her artwork as well. Once standing onstage, our lady of the canyon breaks into a fine solo rendition of 'Big Yellow Taxi'. Some will immediately recognize the echoing, hollow sound in her guitar, as guitarists will notice her playing throughout the concert in what appears to be an alternate tuning, a sweet sound full of magical tones, definitely signature Joni Mitchell, kind o' blue. She charms the audience in a laid back manner throughout the show as well, explaining lyrics and telling tales of her songs. Following a few solo arrangements, her band takes to the stage as well. Brian Blade, Larry Klein, Mark Isham, and Greg Leisz have no problem convincing the captivated audience that they are the typical jazz professionals she's always been known to be accompanied by. I loved hearing 'Night Ride Home', 'Sex Kills', 'Nothing Can Be Done', 'Woodstock', and 'The Magdalena Laundries', among others. This DVD is a must for those who love the music of Joni Mitchell.

A highly evolved artist:
Joni Mitchell is a counterweight to Grace Slick. They both started out singing for what they thought was a revolution. When they found out they were wrong, when the revolution melted down into disco, cocaine and "greed is good," they had to go on somehow. Grace went on by letting the beautiful and wonderful Jefferson Airplane become "Starship," a mindless, schlock-rock money printing machine that fed her and some other people during the 80's. Joni put on her walking sandals, shed a tear for all that was Woodstock, then put the revolution in her pocket and kept going. This DVD is the culmination of that journey so far, and it showcases her beautiful music, her heart-wrenching lyrics and her skills as a painter. Anyone who loved her in the 60's will be thrilled to see the beautifully mature musician, artist and woman she's become since, and anyone who isn't familiar with her, will be in for a pleasant surprise. You'll be richer by far spending a little money on this DVD. And Grace, it isn't too late. I'm guessing that Peace and Love are due for a comeback any time now, and I'm pretty sure that we who are trying to make that happen all miss you and wish you were here. :-)