A new installment of Joni Mitchell’s ongoing series of archival box sets will explore the profound influence that jazz has had on the legendary Canadian singer/songwriter’s music. Joni’s Jazz will be released on September 5 and will be available as an eight-LP set, a four-CD collection, and via digital formats and streaming services.
Videos by American Songwriter
The packaging for the physical versions of the box set will include liner notes, previously unseen photos, and original artwork by Mitchell.
Those purchasing Joni’s Jazz at Mitchell’s official store will receive an exclusive Joni Mitchell Archives fine-art print.
The box set is described as a “passion project” for Mitchell that was “years in the making.” The collection features 61 tracks spanning Joni’s entire recording career and drawn from multiple labels and eras. It includes studio recordings, live performances, rare alternate takes, and more.
Two tracks are previously unreleased demos of the songs “Be Cool” and “Moon at the Window” recorded in 1980. The studio versions later appeared on Mitchell’s 1982 album Wild Things Run Fast. The “Be Cool” demo has been made available as an advance digital track.
The oldest track on Joni’s Jazz is “Marcie,” from Mitchell’s 1968 debut album, Song to a Seagull. The newest track is Joni’s rendition of the classic Gershwin tune “Summertime,” recorded during Mitchell’s surprise comeback set at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival.
The box set also features songs that originally appeared on several other Mitchell studio albums, including The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975), Hejira (1976), Mingus (1979), Turbulent Indigo (1994), and Both Sides Now (2001).
About Some of the Collaborators Featured on Joni’s Jazz
Among the various jazz greats featured on tracks in the box set are Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, and Charles Mingus. Mitchell considered late sax legend Shorter her favorite collaborator, and has dedicated Joni’s Jazz to him.
“It was a joy to play with him,” Mitchell wrote of Shorter, who died in 2023. “He will be missed, but he will remain alive for me in this music.”
Joni’s Jazz also features two collaborations Mitchell recorded with Hancock that appeared on albums by the acclaimed keyboardist.
The first is a cover of the 1924 song “The Man I Love” by George and Ira Gershwin that was featured on Hancock’s 1998 album Gershwin’s World.
The second is a rendition of Mitchell’s 1988 tune “The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)” that appeared on Hancock’s Grammy-winning 2007 covers collection River: The Joni Letters.
Mitchell shared her enthusiasm about the upcoming box set in the liner notes of her 2024 Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 4 collection.
“People ask me my favorite of my albums, it’s going to be Joni’s Jazz,” she quipped. You can pre-order Joni’s Jazz now.
Joni’s Jazz CD Track List:
CD One
- “Blue”
- “Trouble Man” – Kyle Eastwood featuring Joni Mitchell
- “Moon at the Window” (Demo 2)*
- “Be Cool” (Demo 2)*
- “Harlem in Havana”
- “Cherokee Louise”
- “Come In from the Cold”
- “In France They Kiss on Main Street”
- “Nothing Can Be Done”
- “Sex Kills”
- “Edith and the Kingpin”
- “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire”
- “The Jungle Line”
- “Shades of Scarlett Conquering”
- “Yvette in English”
- “Marcie”
- “A Bird That Whistles”
CD Two
- “Love”
- “Comes Love”
- “The Man I Love” – Herbie Hancock featuring Joni Mitchell
- “At Last”
- “You’re My Thrill”
- “Sometimes I’m Happy”
- “Stay In Touch”
- “The Crazy Cries of Love”
- “Face Lift”
- “Sweet Sucker Dance” (Early Alternate Version)
- “You Dream Flat Tires”
- “Answer Me, My Love”
- “Love Puts On a New Face”
- “Both Sides Now”
CD Three
- “Harry’s House/Centerpiece”
- “Sunny Sunday”
- “Hana”
- “Last Chance Lost”
- “Smokin’ (Empty, Try Another)”
- “Hejira” – Live at The Santa Barbara County Bowl (10/9/79)
- “Refuge of the Roads”
- “Paprika Plains”
- “Blue Motel Room”
- “Black Crow”
- “Off Night Backstreet”
- “Just Like This Train”
- “No Apologies”
- “Not to Blame”
- “The Magdalene Laundries”
CD Four
- “The Sire of Sorrow (Job’s Sad Song)”
- “God Must Be a Boogie Man”
- “A Chair in the Sky”
- “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” – Live at The Santa Barbara County Bowl (10/9/79)
- “The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)” – Herbie Hancock featuring Joni Mitchell
- “Shine”
- “If I Had a Heart”
- “Impossible Dreamer”
- “One Week Last Summer”
- “Summertime” – Live at Newport Folk Festival (7/22/23)
- “Stormy Weather”
- “Two Grey Rooms” (Demo 5)
- “The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines”
- “Twisted”
- “If”
* = previously unreleased.
(Courtesy of Rhino)
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.