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)