From: les@jmdl.com (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V1 #262 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk onlyJMDL Digest Saturday, November 13 1999 Volume 01 : Number 262 The Official Joni Mitchell Homepage is maintained by Wally Breese at http://www.jonimitchell.com and contains the latest news, a detailed bio, original interviews and essays, lyrics, and much more. ------- The JMDL website can be found at http://www.jmdl.com and contains interviews, articles, the member gallery, archives, and much more. ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- S+L and M of A on cd [Gertus@aol.com] Re: Greetings and introduction fom Oxford ["Raffaele Malanga" ] Re: Millennium Coutdown to be Jonified [FMYFL@aol.com] Gastwirt ["Gerald Notaro (LIB)" ] Re: Millennium Coutdown to be Jonified [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] VIBE magazine [pattihaskins@mindspring.com] Joni at Barnes & Nobel & Sarah Mclaughlin at drugstore.com!!!! [mann@chic] Re: VIBE magazine ["Patricia O'Connor" ] Re: Millennium Coutdown to be Jonified ["Mark or Travis" Hi Tony and welcome to the JMDL. It's always nice to see new British contributors. Re: the cds you mention, it is possible to buy both in the UK. You have to watch the Shadows and Light one though because I've seen the single cd edition (at budget price) in a few shops recently but the best version is the double cd one which may be obtained as an import. I love that album so much. What you will have difficulty getting, though, is the video of that album. Don't forget you can go to the CD Now site via Wally's site and buy your Joni albums there. I hadn't known that the Homepage got a mention in The Independent. That's great! Look forward to your next contribution. Jacky (East Sussex) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 02:22:32 PST From: "Raffaele Malanga" Subject: Re: Greetings and introduction fom Oxford Hello Tony and welcome. I am also new to the list (digest) having joined just a couple of weeks ago. I am sure you will enjoy it as I am. It's not just because of all the news about Joni that you get to know, there is a real sense of community between 'members' (? I am not sure this is the right word). It might sound crazy and irresponsible maybe, but personally I tend to trust people more if I get to know that they love JM's music. <> The period C&S - Shadows & Light is my favourite as well, and Song for Sharon is in my top list. I just can't resist when she sings: "there's a wide wide world of noble causes, and lovely landscapes to discover, but all I really want to do right now is find another lover". It does sum up brilliantly *that* feeling ... Anyway, as for Miles of Aisles and Shadows and Light on CD you might easily find them in big stores in London. Try the new Virgin on Piccadilly or HMV on Oxford Street. (I am assuming here that you are from Oxford, UK, and not Oxford in some USA state). Welcome again. Raffaele (from London, UK) NPIMH (now playing in my head): Song for Sharon ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 08:58:32 EST From: Julian51469@aol.com Subject: Re: Live at the Troubadour!!! In a message dated 11/12/99 3:04:03 AM Eastern Standard Time, les@jmdl.com writes: << From: "Jamie Zubairi" Subject: Eurojonifest2000 Dear friends, I have just spoken to the bookings person at the Troubadour Coffee house in Earl's Court >> Damn!! That's awsome (as they say in my country)!!!! I wish I were back in merry ole' England. Best of luck to you and to all that performs...(just dreaming here, but maybe the word'll get 'round) Richard Thompson, Fairport, Elvis C., Sade, Pooka, John Martyn, Robyn Hitchcock, Peter Gabriel, Nigel Kenedy, hmmmm who else could possibly "just pop by" for a tune or two??? Does this mean we might hear another great "Live at the Troubadour" tape in the future? Yes, very cool, indeed. Julian ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 09:08:44 -0500 (EST) From: "Duane J. Corpis" Subject: the politics of language, etc. (long) and Dreamland, DJRD First, there is Joni-content at the end of all of this! I just wanted to respond to a few things said recenlty on list. The entire discussion about language has been fascinating. In general, I tend to agree with those who believe that language should be captured and manipulated for political ends. Perhaps "should be captured" is the wrong way to put it. The fact of the matter is that language has and always will be captured and manipulated for political ends. The term "political correctness" for example is a loaded word fashioned and re-fashioned by conservatives to blast away at liberal or progressive reforms -- those reforms have not just been linguistic, but have involved the revitalization and extension of the basic gains made through the Civil Rights Movement. But few Republicans would dare admit that their agenda is to dismantle Civil Rights, so the language they use to identify their political opponents gets changed to mask the underlying agenda. The term "PC" carries such baggage, such dirtiness, that the mere accusation of PC'ness creates defensiveness in the person accused of it. Or take the way that Republicans transformed liberalism into the "L" word during recent presidential campaigns. The claim that language should evolve "naturally" strikes me, therefore, as another linguistic act of power, or at least one laden with all kinds of problematic assumptions. In some sense, language is the most "artificial" of attributes. That's not to say that other species don't communicate, but that the use of language - -- which is foundational for all creative acts in human society from writing songs to building bridges -- is one of the things which enables people to capture, manipulate and transform nature. To see language as "natural" to me is strange. Yes, language does change slowly over time, but that process is a social, artificial and wholly unnatural one that involves things like the codification of words and grammars in dictionaries and grammar texts, the spread of words through jargon, colloqiual speech or popular literature and media, and through laws (yes, many countries in fact have regulatory agencies monitoring the introduction of new words into the language). If language is social rather than natural, then we all have some claim upon it. Furthermore, teh claim that language changes slowly over time does not mean that language can't change quickly, that we can't introduce new words, new phrases, etc. That's, after all, what poetry and literature are all about -- reconfiguring words and languages into a new arrangement that seem original and though-provoking. But the attempt to stifle the claims of minority groups in society to lay claim to the linguistic tools necessary to identify themselves as groups and as individuals has always been a part of the exertion of power by the elites within a society. For example, the racial diversity of the U.S. during the late 19th and early 20th centuries was linguistically masked and obscured by teh government, which foced many non-African American immigrants to identify as "black" or "non-white" -- including many European immigrants (Jews, Italians, Poles). The reason was simple: the racial ideology of the U.S. government was radically bi-polar, a linguistic choice to define people as either white or black that benefited nobody except Old Stock white Americans. Leaving language to some "natural" development actually leaves it to the "status quo", and since language in teh status quo is already politicized (and usually with a conservative politics that imposes racial, gender and sexual categories upon people without their consent), it seems to me that this argument actually represents the greater threat of a group (i.e. Old Stock American) imposing itself upon individuals (the large majority of women and men who are in fact NOT Old Stock Americans) than of some politically correct militia of feminists or queer activists who want to introduce linguistic and policy reform. Those reforms, after all, represent a larger cross-section of the American population than we might at first assume. The image of Old Stock America is rapidly out of synch with the reality of a pluralistic, multicultural (and perhaps even multilingual) society. Medieval heretics didn't see themselves as "heretics" -- they saw themselves as reformers, as believers, as legitimate voices against the institutional domination of the established church. But once the church labelled them as "heretics", they could be burned. The term "Protestants" were given to reformers in the 16th century b/c they were "protesting" the church -- it was a derogatory term in a sense. But Lutherans captured the term and made it their own. They used language to identify themselves, and were in some sense the first "heretical" group in western Europe to ahve such success at combatting the term "heretic" (through linguistic force, but also through the force of violence) to resist the institutional power of the Catholic Church and survive. Words have power. Individuals have a responsibility to wield power justly and with a measure of self-awareness and self-reflexivity. Thus, individuals have a responsibility to wield words with care. We should not take language for granted as something "natural" that is defined for us by impersonal processes that lie beyond our own daily control. That would be to surrender our power and our responsibility over our power. Language mediates between individuals and communities, and the assertion that we should just let language go about its natural course denies the way that language operates (a set of negotiations between people and groups) and leaves language to the domain of those who have already "defined" it (by-and-large, those MEN who have translated the Scriptures, written the grammar books, composed our canon of literature and philosophy, etc. etc.). A Darwinian notion of language that believes taht terms will live and die according to their "usefulness" or their popularity ignores the fact that in nature, new species are formed by genetic mutations beyond the control of the individual animals or the species as a whole. Changes in human language, however, are always made from within the species. Individuals and teh society at large are constantly in a linguistic battle -- the society sets the norms of speech, but every utterance by an individual claims the grammar and vocabulary of society as a kind of personal language. We can't surrender the battle to society, because "society" is already governed by a set of political rules, ideologies and elites with particular class, racial and gender commitments (Simply put, Washington is still run by rich white men, as are most universities, most state legislatures, most Wall Street companies). Now, having lectured to you all about topics I am teaching in my class this week, I do think that some politically motivated linguistic choices don't resonate. The claim that "history" has to be transformed into "herstory" in order to rectify the systematic exclusion of women from history books ignores the fact that for two decades, women and men have labored as historians to reintroduce the voice of women (and of African Americans, Native Americans, gays and lesbians, etc.) into the historical narrative of the United States under the rubric of "history". The History of Women and Gender program at my university occasionally uses the term "herstory" to make a rhetorical statement to catch people's eyes. But while this occasional use of "herstory" has a political agenda -- i.e. to remind students that "her" side of the story is as valid as "his" -- it does not possess the force of a political program for linguistic change. On the other hand, the quite contentious debate arose two or three years ago to change the program's name from the History of Women to teh History of Women and Gender, since the very feminist theory which gave rise to an interest in women's history also criticized the naturalized but always socially constructed distinction between man and woman (between their social and sexual roles in society, NOT their biological body parts -- although the question has arisen, where do hermaphrodites fit into the language of "normal" as the word is defined medically? Should we take for granted medical definitions, norms and knowledge simply because they have the authority of a "scientist" behind them?). In other words (and to simplify positions within the debate) the debate over the title of the program was a political battle between those anxious about including the study of lesbians and gays within the field of historical research and those who saw it as absolutely necessary to broaden the words we use to understand "history." Why did I spend SO much time spouting all of this out in this forum? First, because I really have enjoyed (for the most part) the level of intellectual debate that has been fostered over this and other recent topics, espcially the debate about the "racist" overtones in Dreamland. I tend to think that Dreamland is actually a critique of American economic colonialism represented by the tourist and of the historical colonialism represented by Walter Raleigh and Christopher Columbus. The word Dreamland reminds me of the dream world of the aboringes in Australia, who see time as a kind of dream. Or perhaps it reminds me of the dreamy qualities in the Latin American magical realists like Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In any case, I read Dreamland as a kind of magical realist poem. The Tar Baby and the Great White Wonder are not names that these people adopt for themselves, but reflect the broad social represenations cast upon them in the cultural logics of the colonial encounter between white colonizers and the non-white colonized. The burn on the inside with knowledge of things to come -- I've always though this was a strange slippage into the dream that projects the narrator backwards in time. The knowledge of things to come are the centuries of colonial oppression and rule that ultimately transformed much of the Caribbean into a mecca for tourists. The magical grandeur of conquest and the mundane and somehow pathetic experience of the tourist are linked as one-and-the-same, or at least deeply linked to one another. The narrator witnesses simultaneously the white tourist encountering the non-white resident of her Caribbean tourist spot AND the initial encounter between the white colonizer and the non-white "natives" of the island back in teh 16th century. That's why Walter Raleigh and Chris Columbus come marching out of the waves as if in a dream. The dream is a moment of connection between two historical moments that are not connected in real-time, but only in the time of HISTORY write large. It is history as myth, that often mythologized Columbus and defined colonial conquest and domination with words like "the age of discovery." The song both incorporates mythic elements of the dreamworld but it also lays bare the myth through a form of ironic criticism of the tourist. But given this interpretation, I must admit that this song and the song about Marlena and Otis have always made me a bit uncomfortable. The play on Muslims sticking up Washington seems to be about (as others have said) the ignorance of small-minded folks who don't pay attention to the larger world around them -- Marlena and Otis are therefore typical Americans (whatever their ethnic or racial background). But Joni constructs this image by creating a caricature of Middle Eastern politics, turning Muslims into terrorists. It is at once a powerful criticism of America, and yet it necessarily validates one of the constant political mythologies of the U.S. government -- that believers in Islam pose an implicity or explicity threat as terrorists and fundamentalists. Well, enough said. Sorry for taking up so much bandwidth. One of my teachers complained to me that I rarely spoke (yes, I'm a lurker on this list!) but when I do, its in torrents! Ciao, Duane Corpis ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 10:19:32 EST From: Julian51469@aol.com Subject: Three Meals w/ the Jonimeisters!!! Hello Wally and JiMDLites, Wow!!! What a cool update. The new picture of Wally and Joni is tiling my computer screen now. <> (How's Joni's pool game?...Does she favour stripes or solids?) I'm going right now to send some energy your way right now. So that you may be more comfortable, healthy and whole. Please receive it. I see many more of these "My Dinners With Joni" in your future and you need your practice telling them to us. Be happy and clear my friend, Julian ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 09:51:44 -0800 (PST) From: zapuppy2@webtv.net (Penny) Subject: Millennium Coutdown to be Jonified Hi Gang! Here's the next installment of the millennium countdown to be Jonified. And wow, Joni is going to place better than Gerswin! (although I must say I'm not particularly impressed with the placement of all the artists to date) BTW should these countdown posts be labeled NJC or not? 59 Sheryl Crow    58 Louie Armstrong    57 Dave Matthews    56 Sarah McLachlan    55 Glenn Miller    54 Peter Gabriel    53 Muddy Waters    52 George Gershwin    51 Roy Orbison 50 David Bowie   :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Grace dies when it becomes us verses them......Philip Yancey ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 14:05:58 EST From: FMYFL@aol.com Subject: Misc. (VLJC) Boy it's a hassle not having my home computer!!! It has been in the shop since Monday, and it's a little difficult for me to keep up with the email at work. There were almost 100 emails from the JMDL when I signed on this morning so I missed out on a few threads, but I did want to mention a couple of things. As for Joni's Jazz tape, Bob M. remarks: <<3. The more I listen to the whole collection, the more I like it, so give it some extra listens and let it grow on you...the first time through IS pretty rough. Surely Joni's opinions regarding her "peers" weren't aided much by hearing singers with no feel for pitch or rhythms.>> I found this to be so true. The more I've listened to the concert, the more I like it. The first time I listened to the tape I thought Chaka had the only great performance (probably because I'm a big fan of hers). I guess when we hear a concert of Joni tunes, we start to compare the songs with how Joni sings them. There's only *one* Joni, and no one can sing her songs like she does! Realizing that fact and after several listens, the rest of the artists have grown on me (even Jane Siberry who I thought was Anne Margaret singing "Strange Boy".........I was waiting for her to start singing "Bye Bye Birdie". I'm sorry to all of the Siberry fans, I need to listen to one of *her* CD's for a fair assessment. And for an old dying thread "Racial Slurs", I learned something new this morning. Someone mentioned the term "Cracker" which being from the south, I've heard all of my life. Growing up I never thought of Cracker as a racial slur. Later in life I learned that it was not PC to call someone a Cracker as it meant a poor white person of the rural southeastern United States. My older sisters and brother always referred to themselves as "Florida Crackers", and they would tease me just because I was born in Jacksonville (which IS in Florida) as a *Jacksonville Turd*. I have no clues where they came up with that, but that's older siblings for ya. As for what I learned this morning after reading the newspaper, this weekend is the Cheese and Florida Cracker Festival in Everglades City (not far from me). The article states " Cracker is the name given Florida natives in honor the first settlers who were mostly cowboys and *cracked* the whip to round up cattle". So I've learned something new and now I can say I'm proud to be called a Cracker .........even though my brother and sisters still call me a "Jacksonville Turd". Jimmy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 14:10:42 -0500 From: Anne Sandstrom Subject: RE: Millennium Coutdown to be Jonified Wow, I used to think I was good at this - oh well, here's my attempt... > 59 Sheryl Crow - performed at the Walden Woods benefit recorded on the AT&T CD w/JM >    > 58 Louie Armstrong -- (could there be some connection thru Furry Lewis - like he and LA both recorded something?) >    > 57 Dave Matthews - does Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" and Joni has toured w/Dylan >    > 56 Sarah McLachlan - recorded JM's "Blue" >    > 55 Glenn Miller - recorded "Summertime" which JM has also performed >    > 54 Peter Gabriel - JM recorded DED (or was it CMIRS) at PG's studio >    > 53 Muddy Waters - Bonnie Raitt recorded (can't think of song title...help!) by MW, and also recorded JM's "That Song About the Midway" >    > 52 George Gershwin - wrote "Summertime" which JM has performed >    > 51 Roy Orbison - recorded w/Traveling Willburys w/George Harrison who started Apple Studios w/the rest of the Beatles. Apple was the label James Taylor first recorded for... the rest is history (herstory, songstory?) > > 50 David Bowie - (if Bing Crosby ever recorded "Both Sides Now" (did he?) then he and DB did a Christmas special together-you get the idea...) some of this feels like I cheated... Anne ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 12:11:00 -0600 From: Today in Joni History Subject: Today in Joni History - November 13 1975: Joni, as part of the Rolling Thunder Revue with Dylan and others, performs in New Haven, Connecticut at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. She performs the song "Jungle Line" from her just released new album "The Hissing of Summer Lawns". 1980: Today, Rolling Stone publishes a review of the album "Shadows and Light." It read: "The extraordinary power of Shadows and Light, one of a handful of great live rock albums, took me by surprise, since Joni Mitchell is primarily a studio artist, not a concert performer... This is the finest ensemble that Mitchell has worked with, and her exhilarating vocals reflect her complete confidence in these musicians." Read the full article at: http://www.jmdl.com/articles/revsalrs.htm 1997: Today's Rolling Stone publishes a story called "Women of Rock: The Seventies" as says of Joni: "Her difficulties as a lover, she decided, involved the same character trait that prodded her art past the blander boundaries of pop: 'I'm a confronter by nature,' she concluded. 'I have a tendency to confront my relationships much more often than people would care. I'm always being told that I talk too much.'" Read it all at: http://www.jmdl.com/articles/rs971113.htm - -------- Know a date or month specific Joni tidbit? Send it off to JoniFact@jmdl.com and we'll add it to the list. - -------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 14:42:29 EST From: FMYFL@aol.com Subject: Re: Millennium Coutdown to be Jonified I'll take Millinnium Countdown for $500 please Alex ; I'm sure someone will beat me to this but I know a few easy ones: 56 Sarah McLachlan Sarah will be singing "Blue" on the tribute album 52 George Gershwin Joni sang two Gershwin tunes on Herbie Hancock's "Gershwins World" CD "The Man I Love" and "Summertime" 51 Roy Orbison Roy performed his famous song "Crying" as a duet with k.d. Lang. k.d. will be singing "Help Me" on the tribute album Jimmy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 15:20:32 -0500 (EST) From: "Gerald Notaro (LIB)" Subject: Gastwirt There is an intersting article in the new Sound and Vision (formerly Stereo Review, formerly High Fidelity) on Joe Gastwirt who remastered Hits and Misses. It has a photo of the Hits cd in the article and discusses HDCD at length. Jerry ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 17:47:51 EST From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: Millennium Coutdown to be Jonified "Cheatin' Anne" said: << 58 Louie Armstrong -- (could there be some connection thru Furry Lewis - like he and LA both recorded something?)>> Possible, but he and Ella did a Gershwin album, so you can connect him that way too... << 54 Peter Gabriel - JM recorded DED (or was it CMIRS) at PG's studio>> And more directly, PG and JM duet on "Secret Place"...    << 51 Roy Orbison - recorded w/Traveling Willburys w/George Harrison who started Apple Studios w/the rest of the Beatles. Apple was the label James Taylor first recorded for... the rest is history (herstory, songstory?)>> And of course, Dylan was a Wilbury too as was Tom Petty, both have performed with Joni directly... << 50 David Bowie - (if Bing Crosby ever recorded "Both Sides Now" (did he?) then he and DB did a Christmas special together-you get the idea...)>> Well, I ain't no Bowie expert, but I DO know that Stevie Ray played guitar on "Let's Dance", and Stevie also covers some Hendrix (Little Wing, Voodoo Chile), and PM Dawn played on the Hendrix tribute CD and at Joni's celebration in Central Park. Stevie Ray also covers some Willie Dixon tunes, Willie played with Muddy, so that can cover Muddy too! Anyway, good job Anne...but like Hank said, your "cheatin'" heart will tell on you! :~) NP: Beatles, "Yellow Sub" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 17:48:57 -0600 From: pattihaskins@mindspring.com Subject: VIBE magazine Hi All, The new issue of VIBE magazine, Dec/Jan, is a double issue featuring the "100 Best Albums of the Century". They list the albums alphabetically, and Joni's Blue is among the exalted: "A white chick who strummed an acoustic guitar and sang about Woodstock, this Canadian-in-exile is the least likely influence you could imagine on The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. But he's paid her homage from day one, and her brutally bleak masterpiece show you why." Patti ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 20:42:45 -0600 From: mann@chicagonet.net Subject: Joni at Barnes & Nobel & Sarah Mclaughlin at drugstore.com!!!! Some Great Deals for all the JMDLrs tonight!! Here's another $10 off $10 Barnes and Nobel. They have Joni's Anthology in-stock among other Joni goodies! Just ordered mine thanks to Kaki's earlier post about Anthology. Here is the coupon code: CZVRCH7 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ This coupon code may also work for you: CBN2222 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.drugstore.com/ Okay, follow along here. If you use Biore products (the guys can use this too!) this will apply to you especially they have a special, buy 2 Biore products,and get a free LILLITH FAIR MUSIC CD free (one artist on it is the great Sarah Mclaughlin) I ordered 2 of the 6 count nose strips for 4.99 ea. once those are in your basket, the cd will automatically be added. Now go to http://www.drugstore.com/promos/mcdonalds.asp?code=kit to get your free first aid kit, and make the shipping cost only $1 then go to http://www.drugstore.com/user/promo.asp?code=rewards&aid=9531&aparam=10-promo to get $10 off your order for a $10 purchase. You need 2 cents more to purchase..I got toothbrush caps for .89 cents check your basket now, you should have the Philosophy gift set in there, free with any purchase...got mine already, a great little gift!!... if it didnt add in, go to http://www.drugstore.com/user/promo.asp?code=12A601AB&trx=4001? Now check your basket, you should have the 2 Biore products, your small item to round out the total to over $10, your free cd, your free Philosophy kit, your free First Aid Kit, and only $1 shipping fee. Need more? The last post said if you order one of the drugstore.com items, you will get a free bottle of 110 drugstore.com ibuprofen. I didnt try this, because of credit restraints on amount of total order price, but you could try ordering a drugstore.com product instead of the toothbrush caps..and see if it adds in the ibuprofen. i think you'll find the total order well worth the charged price :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In honor of Joni's cats!!! Go to: http://206.31.111.100/checkmark/purina/treats/treats.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Don't be a TURKEY. WIN ONE!!! The turkey's voice will have you rolling on the floor! What a riot!! Call toll-free 1-888-462-2538 UPC# 72290 01115 (Doesn't work in everyone's calling area. Sorry to those of you who can't connect!). The rest of you.........be persistant and you'll get a $15 check! After a week of trying I finally won one! I did this last year and they sent me a check made out to me and the grocery store of my choice. I brought it to the Service Desk (instead of going thru the check-out line) and they gave me cash! So, I could by ANYTHING in the store! VEGETARIANS SHOULD TRY THIS TOO!!! Last year it was a $13 check. This year it's $15. I won around 12:46 a.m. A few other people won early in the morning.....like 2:30, 4:30-ish. They are giving away 50 turkeys a day. Phone lines open 24-hours a day!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SWEEPSTAKES: For a Free "Shout" stain stick coupon, magnet & sweepstakes entry. http://www.scjbrands.com/docs/shout/sweepstakes/sweepstakes.asp ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FREEBIES: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Free Sample Hugo Boss Cologne http://www.women.com/beautifulyou/boss/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For a free sample of Kyolic Garlic and $1 coupon call 800-688-3933 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Taster's Choice Coffee Sample http://www.women.com/tasterschoice/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call 1-800-960-7951, talk to a machine, receive a 5 pack of Bounce Freshness Pouches Air Freshener. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fill-in the blanks for free CANDY! http://www.ethnicgrocer.com/eg/feature.asp?E=EG&T=H&path=halloween Have fun! Laura ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 00:25:46 -0500 From: "Patricia O'Connor" Subject: Re: VIBE magazine Patti Haskins wrote: >The new issue of VIBE magazine, Dec/Jan, is a double issue featuring the >"100 Best Albums of the Century". They list the albums alphabetically, and >Joni's Blue is among the exalted: >"A white chick who strummed an acoustic guitar and sang about Woodstock, >this Canadian-in-exile is the least likely influence you could imagine on >The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. But he's paid her homage from day one, >and her brutally bleak masterpiece show you why." Ignoring the description "white chick", forgetting about the "in-exile" thing, passing over the "least likely influence on The Artist..." jab, what has piqued my interest is "her brutally bleak masterpiece". Blue is a masterpiece, that is undeniable, but is it bleak?, is it BRUTALLY BLEAK? I've heard Blue described in this way before and I don't agree with this assessment. To illustrate my point I've devised The Blue Bleakness Scale. The scale begins at -5 and ends at +5. Negative five is Brutally Bleak. Positive five is Charmingly Cheerful. Zero is middle of the road. I rate the bleakness of the songs as follows: - -5 BLUE - -5 LITTLE GREEN - -4 RIVER - -4 THE LAST TIME I SAW RICHARD - -2 A CASE OF YOU - -1 THIS FLIGHT TONIGHT 3 ALL I WANT 4 MY OLD MAN 4 CALIFORNIA 5 CAREY So...6 of the 10 songs rate on the Bleak side, which does indicate a Bleak feel to the album, however it is not nearly enough to qualify it as Brutally Bleak. On the "O'Connor Bleakness Scale" the record averages out to a 0.5 degree of Bleakness, only 1/10 th of the 5 degrees of Bleakness needed to be Brutally Bleak. (Bleakness everywhere and little lights shine, Bleakness, Bleakness dragging me down...) And (as if I haven't wasted enough time on this already) some snippets of reviews of Blue: "The album is a marvelously sensitive portrait of love and romance, from the times of semi-desperation and regret to those of comfort and celebration." Robert Hillburn in the LA Times, June, 1971 "...and while the songs swing from slow sad songs to happier more buoyant numbers the overall feel is in fact reflected in the title. This is shown nicely in "Little Green" (a slower track with memories of the first album's sadness, then into "Carey", a bouncy song with a faster tempo and much rosier outlook." Billy Walker, Sounds July 3 1971 "River" is an extended mea culpa that reeks of self-pity ("I'm so hard to handle/I'm so selfish and so sad/ Now I've lost the best baby /that I ever had"). And yet, despite the title song, Blue is overall the freest, brightest, most cheerfully rhythmic album Joni has yet released." Timothy Crouse, Rolling Stone Aug. 5, 1971 POC NP: A pristine vinyl copy of Blue from my sister-in-law's (talk about Bleak!!!) record collection, I don't think she ever played the thing. P.S. Aside from "redneck" and "sunset pig" I can't find a slur, racial or otherwise on the entire record!! :>D ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 21:27:33 -0800 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: Re: Millennium Coutdown to be Jonified > > 58 Louie Armstrong -- (could there be some connection thru Furry Lewis - like he and LA both recorded something?) Louis recorded a couple of tunes with Billie Holiday and also starred with her in the movie 'New Orleans'. Billie recorded 'Comes Love'. Or you could also go with Billie being a close friend of Annie Ross. Annie wrote the lyrics to 'Twisted'. Mark in Seattle getting ready to write his report of Hendricks & Ross at Jazz Alley ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 23:05:34 -0800 (PST) From: zapuppy2@webtv.net (Penny) Subject: Re: Millennium Countdown to be Jonified Mark wrote: <> Joni serendipity, that of the 10 on the countdown, the only one you should chime in on is L.A., Mark! This week I was working for a NYC lawyer who also has a house out here on the West Coast a couple of blocks from me. Turns out he's a music slut and huge Joni fan. ;-) He's seen her on the street a couple times in NYC, to boot. So I took over some of the tape trees for him to hear while I was working (geez, I love my job!) and we visited on all sorts of music topics. But here's the serendipity part. Louis Armstrong's name came up, and he's starts telling me that about 4 years ago L.A.'s residence in NYC was made into a museum. Apparently Louis had a bunch of reel to reels from when he would set up his recorder at the beginning of a party and let it run for the duration of the time his guests were there. Dave, the lawyer, said that it's so cool to hear these tapes playing of Louis with all these friends he has over just joining in spontaneously during the party. The second Dave said "yeah, quests would just wander over to the mic, people like Billie Holiday,...." wouldn't ya know it, the first face that popped into my head was yours, not Billie's. ;-) Penny :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Grace dies when it becomes us verses them......Philip Yancey ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 23:38:44 -0800 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: Jazz legends in the flesh - Henricks & Ross at Jazz Alley (long) Last night I had the great pleasure & privilege of sitting about 10 feet from Jon Hendricks & Annie Ross as they performed at the Seattle jazz club, Jazz Alley. Most of you probably already know that this duo was once two thirds of the legendary be-bop jazz trio of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross which Joni cites as one of her musical influences. They also recorded the original versions of the songs 'Twisted' and 'Centerpiece'. Some of the work they did in the genre known as vocalese is truly amazing. Vocalese is the art of taking an instrumental piece & turning it into a vocal piece by writing lyrics and assigning the parts of the various musical instruments to different voices. LHR did an entire album of Count Basie instrumental numbers as exercises in vocalese that was called 'Sing A Song of Basie'. I just happened to have my vinyl copy of that record with me last night. It now has Annie & Jon's signatures on the front. ;-) I made a reservation for dinner for my friend Jan & myself for 7:00 so we could eat and then catch the 8 o'clock set. It was pouring rain when I arrived a few minutes before 7. Jan got stuck in traffic on the Mercer Island floating bridge & was 20 minutes late. But we finally settled in at our table which was maybe six feet from the stage and right smack in front of where the singers would perform. We had dinner & were finishing up when the quartet that accompanied Hendricks & Ross came on stage and played a nice, easy going, jazz piece. There was a pianist, a bassist, drummer & guitarist and all of them were more than up to the job. A very tight combo and all accomplished musicians in their own right, they each had a chance to shine periodically through the night during various solos. After one number from the band, Hendricks & Ross hit the stage and it was sheer bliss from then on and more fun than I've had since Labor Day! It may have been raining outside, but inside Jazz Alley the weather was fine! Hendricks was looking dapper in a long white coat that had a nautical look to it (he made a crack about looking like 'The Captain & Tenille' at one point) and Annie was striking in her close-cropped copper-colored hair and classic simple black dress. The energy they displayed belied their ages and they really made the joint jump. After a short set together, Jon left the stage and Annie let loose with 'Twisted' explaining its origins as a Wardell Gray sax solo before she started. This woman's voice may not be what it used to be but she still has the genius and ability to use it to excite an audience. While singing with Hendricks she made frequent use of her falsetto & she can still wail like a trumpet or punctuate a phrase with short trumpet-like bursts. 'Twisted' performed by its author was sublime. She thanked us, but I yelled 'thank *you* at the end of 'Twisted' She also sang a lovely lilting version of 'Speak Low' and another of her own compositions called 'Music Is Forever'. This song is Annie's tribute to musicians that have passed on. Her message to them and to all of us was that these jazz greats live on because *music is forever*. Hendricks joined her again and after another number or two that fully displayed this duo's amazing agility with a complex melody and rapid-fire lyrics, Annie bowed out and let Jon have his turn. Jon Hendricks' voice is still about as good as when LRH made their classic recordings in the 50's. Soulful and astoundingly nimble, he performed his version of an elegant bossa nova number that he called 'Everytime I Hear This Song'. He used a drum stick as a prop to pantomime playing a flute and whistled during part of this number and it was a wonderful, magical effect. He also performed what he called 'a work in progress', a vocalese version of a Charlie Parker composition. In his intro to this number he said that Parker sure was long-winded. This became quite evident during some of the long, tongue-twisting lines that came cascading from the man's mouth during this song. He hit each note with exact precision and enunciated each syllable & word (although quite a few of those words were sung much too fast for human ears to catch). Both of these singers have amazing ability to sing rapidly and precisely. It takes your breath away to watch & hear it. Annie came back on stage to complete the first set and they closed with a number from 'Sing A Song of Basie' called 'Avenue C'. The place exploded when they finished and most of us were on our feet. Jan & I were both so delighted, we decided we had to stay for the second set. I headed to the restroom during the break. The hallway that leads to the restrooms just happens to be the same hallway that goes to the dressing rooms. I could see Annie & Jon standing in the hall signing cds. So I hurried back to our table & grabbed my vinyl copy of 'Sing A Song of Basie'. While Annie was signing the album cover I told Jon that a copies of the Joni's Jazz tapes were in the mail to him. He was delighted and Annie piped up with 'I want a copy of that!' and I told her I was fairly certain that a copy was being included for her as well (I hope that's right Simon & Kakki). Annie seemed a little nervous & uncomfortable but she was very gracious. She seemed a little surprised when I gave her that old vinyl record to sign and said something like 'Oh my God!'. I told her there was more room for her to write than on a cd. Annie Ross was a friend of Billie Holiday's toward the end of Billie's life. Most of you probably know, apart from my admiration for Annie as a singer & writer, what it meant to me to stand so close to and converse even for only a few minutes with someone who was a friend of Lady Day's. I didn't mention this to Annie (I really only spoke with her very briefly) as I wanted her to know that I was thrilled to meet her just for herself. Jon was more relaxed and very friendly. Seemed like just a regular kinda guy. You'd never know he was a musical genius from his easy-going manner. But that is most certainly what he is. The second set had very few repeated songs from the first. I don't know if my choice of record to present for an autograph had anything to do with it or not, but they did quite a few songs from 'Sing A Song of Basie' during the second set. 'Everyday', 'Two For the Blues', 'One O'clock Jump', 'Little Pony', 'Fiesta In Blue' and 'Down For the Count', all from that album, were part of their second show. Hendricks had changed into a satiny gold suit that caught &reflected the various colored stage lights and Annie's simple black dress was changed for a simple bright red dress. She was a flame of energy & delight throughout. Jon repeated 'Everytime I Hear This Song' and sang another bossa nova interpretation that he called 'I Still Love You'. Both were sublime. He also performed a number that came from a Thelonious Monk piece which was another tongue-twisting, melodically-convoluted piece. He sang it perfectly. Annie did a version of 'I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)' during her solo stint that could have reduced a stone statue to tears. She also sang a song based on another Wardell Gray solo that had something to do with a mouse on her blouse who played the sax but couldn't get union scale when he went pro. It was a hoot! I think they closed with 'Down For the Count' but since all of their songs were electrifying it's hard to remember which one they ended with. 'Tickletoe', which is from a Lester Young (aka Porkpie Hat aka The Prez) composition was another standout & may have been the closer. Unfortunately for all of us in the audience, they did not do an encore. :-( I read in the paper that Hendricks & Ross were using the guitar to fill in the missing voice of Dave Lambert. It seemed to work fine. They were amazingly successful at recapturing the bounce & excitement of their recordings. Coupled with the special energy that passes back and forth between performers and their audience, the excitement this performance generated transcended into true magic. Joni isn't the only one who owes a debt to Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. I sometimes think 'The Manhattan Transfer' would never have existed without them. Watching & hearing Annie Ross & Jon Hendricks amounted to nothing less than pure, unadulterated joy. If I had the time & the money I'd go back & see them again. If any of you get the extraordinary opportunity of seeing them, grab it. It's well worth it and you won't forget it. I know I won't. Ever. Mark in Seattle ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V1 #262 ****************************** The Song and Album Voting Booths are open! 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