Shadows and Light

Joni Mitchell's Shadows and Light performance is one of my favorite recordings. The Dry Cleaner from DeMoines sax solo is mind-blowingly great and much of the album is also at that level. I was visiting a friend recently and learned that he had a video of the performance. Seeing her and the band perform was a treat.

I loved Joni Mitchell's music from 1974 - 1976 and consider her three albums from that period, "Court And Spark" "The Hissing Of Summer Lawns" and "Hejira" among my most favourite albums ever. "Mingus" and "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter" I'll have to check out later.

I remember watching this imaginative concert film on BBC TV way back in the day and being entranced by the quality of the individual and collective musicianship, the juxtaposition of the inserted video clips and of course the brilliance of the songs. If you want a reference point for what to expect here, look no further than the cover sleeve to "Hejira".

Her band of Lyle Mays, Don Elias, Michael Brecker and particularly Pat Metheny and Jaco Pastorius can truly be described as stellar but presiding over them all, brilliant as they are, is Mitchell herself, confident and relaxed, singing beautifully and ably leading this group of crack musicians. There's no between-songs banter, or even a spoken thank-you to the open-air audience, she just lays the music out there to speak for itself.

The recorded sound is excellent, the set-list is near-impeccable and the performances of said songs at times take them to even greater heights than the studio originals. Mitchell herself is resplendent in her chic knee-cropped trouser suit and her rhythm guitar playing is an important component of the group collective, in particular listen to her impeccable timing through the choppy chords of "Amelia".

Master musicians Metheny and Pastorius get short solos of their own, the latter having fun with Hendrix's "Third Stone From The Sun", before Mitchell brings on soul vocal group The Persuasions to close proceedings with her in acapella style with the atmospheric "Shadows and Light".

I really do think that this recorded concert is practically perfect in every way, to coin a corny cliché. Yes, it gets a little pretentious at times, like when she gets a professional ice-skater to perform a routine to "Hejira" but in the whole it's well edited and seems to catch the band on a particularly good night.

I fell away from her music in the 80's when she recorded that awful "Wild Things Run Fast" album and felt she never really rediscovered her once so-prolific muse, but there's no question she's at an absolute artistic peak here and I'm just glad I got the chance to see this again, now much older than my 20 year-old self and to savour it all the more today.

This is the most inspirational pop bass playing I have ever heard. Everybody thinks of Jaco as the king of jazz bass, but I don't think that's accurate. He was a better funk player than jazz player, and used both skills to be the most innovative bassist in pop (if that's what you want to call Joni Mitchell). Jaco was in peak form, without the crazed look in his eyes that is unsettling in the live laserdisc show from the early eighties, and without the pasty complexion, short hair, and extra 20 lbs. from the instructional video.

If anyone wants to learn to play bass the right way, try transcribing his lines on "In France They Kiss On Main St." It's worth the work.

Also, has Pat Metheny played any better than on this video? His tone was never better... Ditch the Ibanez!

The music icon surrounded by as talented a group of performers you can find including Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius and The Persuasions. The sound and video quality complete the 'live' experience for those of us unfortunate for not having been there. Joni Mitchell's music is as evocative as ever with the blending of jazz and soul augmenting a special experience. This is a slice in musical time, well directed and produced with an enjoyable mix of of montage complimenting certain tracks. The selections will satisfy the palate of all Joni Mitchell fans as she spans the breath of her work to that point. Obviously, I enjoy this very much.