Nathan Mitchell Gentle And Smooth

Joni Mitchell reached her commercial high point with Court and Spark, a remarkably deft fusion of folk, pop, and jazz which stands as her best-selling work to date. While as unified and insightful as Blue, the album – a concept record exploring the roles of honesty and trust in relationships, romantic and otherwise – moves away from confessional songwriting into evocative character studies: the hit "Free Man in Paris," written about David Geffen, is a not-so-subtle dig at the machinations of the music industry, while "Raised on Robbery" offers an acutely funny look at the predatory environment of the singles bar scene. Much of Court and Spark is devoted to wary love songs: both the title cut and "Help Me," the record's most successful single, carefully measure the risks of romance, while "People's Parties" and "The Same Situation" are fraught with worry and self-doubt (standing in direct opposition to the music, which is smart, smooth, and assured from the first note to the last).

Joni Mitchell - Shadows And Light (1980) [2CD] {Asylum HDCD Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 487 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 200 Mb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 8 Mb
© 1980 Asylum / Elektra | ASYLUM 704-2 | HDCD
Jazz / Folk Rock / Fusion / Psychedelic

Although this incredible live unit never recorded a proper studio album we do have this as a reminder of just what is possible. Joni the folkie briefly became Ms. Mitchell the jazz singer, supported by the formidable talents of Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Jaco Pastorius, Michael Brecker and Don Alias. Many of Mitchell's jazz flirtations are given the full treatment with musicians who understood both her and the genre. It is a staggering marriage of talents and wholly successful. There are even obligatory bonus solos from Pat and Don. They should have stayed together for at least another album.

Roscoe Mitchell and George Lewis first met in the summer of 1971 on Chicago’s South Side, where both musicians were born and raised. Mitchell and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, had just returned to the South Side after a two-year sojourn in Europe, and Lewis was back home too, taking a break from his undergraduate studies at Yale. Since then, they collaborated very regularly, pushing each time the limits of the possible in music. This album, the latest chapter of a creative partnership spanning five decades, is a major step in their collaboration and is thus much more than just the sum of the immense talent of each of them. Recorded live … at CTM Festival on February 2nd 2018 at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin, Germany.