Intense Records

Joni's Jazz (Black Vinyl box set)

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£169.16 (£202.99 incl. VAT)

"Joni Mitchell introduces Jonis Jazz, a passion project years in the making. This 4CD edition features recordings chosen by Mitchell that reflect jazzs profound influence on her music, liner notes with rare and previously unseen photos and original artwork by Mitchell. Spanning 61 tracks, Jonis Jazz includes studio recordings, live performances, rare alternate takes, and material drawn from multiple decades and record labels. Among them are two previously unreleased 1980 demos.

The set features contributions from some of Mitchells most important collaborators in jazz, among them Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, and Charles Mingus. Mitchell, who calls Shorter her favorite collaborator, dedicates the collection to him following his passing in 2023. It was a joy to play with him, she writes. He will be missed, but he will remain alive for me in this music.

Covering nearly every era of her recording career, the collection includes selections from Songs To A Seagull, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Mingus, Turbulent Indigo, Both Sides Now (a 2001 GRAMMY Award winner), and more. It also features her guest appearances on projects like Hancocks GRAMMY Award-winning album, River: The Joni Letters. Across the collection, the music follows Mitchells artistic growth from the rhythmic layering of Harrys House / Centerpiece to the bold experimentation of The Jungle Line, the narrative scale of Paprika Plains, and the airy, improvised feel of A Chair In The Sky.

It draws from more than five decades of Mitchells recordings, going back to 1968 for Marcie, from Song To A Seagull. The most recent is her performance of Summertime, recorded live at the 2023 Newport Folk Festival. It marked Mitchells first full-length concert in over two decades a powerful return that resonated around the world. As a self-portrait in sound, Jonis Jazz captures an artist in conversation with jazz over a lifetime never imitating, always inventing. Last year, in the liner notes for Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 4, she joked, People ask me my favorite of my albums, its going to be Jonis Jazz. Now it is."