Thursday, 25 February 2016 23:31

joni Mitchell (not really)

Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell

At Colbourne Ave, we have a half-arsed kind of tradition where on the anniversary of the first gig we ever put on (it was Bill Risby) we have a jazz tribute night to a pop band. Kind of like Frisell plays Lennon. Or Eckleberg plays Jackson.

It’s Thursday the 25th of Feb, and we’re doing Joni Mitchell (almost a year since the aneurysm from which she's still recovering). Three songs per musician, no song twice, more interpretations than covers. There will be moments of genius from :

Spike Mason (and Barney Wakeford)
Leonie Cohen
Bonnie Stewart
Jonny Maddox
Bill Risby
Joseph Zarb

and they'll be playing, in chronological order of publication :

 

album

year

Song to a Seagull

Song to a Seagull

1968

Both Sides

clouds

1969

The Fiddle and the Drum

clouds

1969

Woodstock

ladies of the canyon

1970

For Free

ladies of the canyon

1970

Blue

blue

1971

a case of you

blue

1971

the last time i saw richard

blue

1971

Don't interrupt the sorrow

the hissing of summer lawns

1975

Amelia

Hejira

1976

Dry cleaner from des Moines

Mingus

1979

Good bye pork pie hat

mingus

1979

Be Cool

wild things run fast

1982

Chinese Cafe

wild things run fast

1982

Hejira

shadows and light

1990

Coyote

shadows and light

1990

cherokee louise

night ride home

1991

the sire of sorrow

turbulent indigo

1994

And we leave the last work to Chaka Khan, who in an interview a couple of months ago said :

See, Joni Mitchell, she's actually funky, she just doesn't know it, and I'm bringing that forward. The jazz is in there. You get her, but I've slowed a lot of the stuff down because a lot of the lyrics - she's a very fast singer, so sometimes it's hard to catch her words - but I think she's so relevant

And here's the list of who played what in which order, so we can remember them for as long as possible 

Jose : Both Sides Now; The Fiddle and the Drum; Hejira
Bonnie : Song to a Seagull ; Amelia ; A Case of You
Leonie : Blue / Woodstock ; Don't Interrupt the Solo
Bill : Hejira ; Be Cool ; Chinese Cafe
Sascha : Last Chance Lost ; Edith and the Kingpin ; All I Want
Spike : The Last Time I Saw Richard / How Insensitive ; Cherokee Louse / Cherokee ; Be Cool / 
Maddox : Coyote ; Pork Pie Hat ; Dry Cleaner from Enmore (actually it was des Moines, i just put him in Enmore)