The fans of her singer/songwriter career were baffled and legit jazz fans blew it off. But listening to it now, anyone who doesn’t see that Joni Mitchell’s late 70s and early 80s work, while admittedly hard to pin down, isn’t absolutely brilliant must have chewing gum in their ears. I’ve taken a lot of heat for consistantly rating Joni Mitchell’s “Shadows and Light” albums as one of my all time favorites. Who knew there was a concert film to go with? The early video effects are just dreadful, as is the audience’s hairstyles and Ms. Mitchell’s outfit (pastel business suit with gold garland hairpins?) Nevertheless, the texture of the music created at this very precise moment in time had never been duplicated anywhere else. No one has even tried. Don Alias, Michael Brecker, Lyle Mays, Jaco Pastorius and Pat Metheny back her up. The average man in the street has never heard these names. Of the people who have, most will grimace and say, “ewwww, 80s jazz!” Fools! Fools, I say. I don’t know what specifically it is about this music that moves me so (many friends have told me that it is awful) but I stand by my opinion. Also, the Persuasions come on for the encore. Their harmonies backed my Lyle Mays’ thick synthesizer has an alien quality. Plus, Jaco Pastorius has a bass solo that incorporates feedback, looping and riffing on a Hendrix phrase. It may be one of five bass solos in history actually worth listening to.
Related Posts
Welcome
Jordan Hoffman is a New York-based writer and film critic working for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Thrillist, Times of Israel, NY Daily News and elsewhere.
He is the host of ENGAGE: The Official Star Trek Podcast, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and challenges you to a game of backgammon.