From: les@jmdl.com (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2005 #144 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/onlyjoni Websites: http://www.jmdl.com http://www.jonimitchell.com Unsubscribe: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe onlyJMDL Digest Wednesday, May 18 2005 Volume 2005 : Number 144 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Joni article in "New York" [Kerry ] Re: THE JONI PROJECT: AN EVENING OF JONI MITCHELL MUSIC COMES TO ALTA DENA CONCERT VENUE [Michael Paz Subject: Joni article in "New York" De-lurking briefly here....Not sure if this has been discussed, but this short interview with Joni appeared in New York magazine on May 9: http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/music/pop/11888/ Hope everyone is well! Kerry - --------------------------------- Discover Yahoo! Use Yahoo! to plan a weekend, have fun online & more. Check it out! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 18:56:32 -0500 From: Michael Paz Subject: Re: THE JONI PROJECT: AN EVENING OF JONI MITCHELL MUSIC COMES TO ALTA DENA CONCERT VENUE Hi Kakki I am so glad to see you on the list again. Have you confirmed your summer plans yet?? Give my best to Chuck and the gang when you see them. I wish I could go to this with you. Maybe my Uncle Ray will send me a ticket! LOL! Love Paz > Hey SoCal and visiting Cal JMDL'ers - I heard about this group from my > buddy Chuck Alvarez (plays with Lisa Haley and the Zydecats who famously > jammed at my place during NAMM with Paz). They are supposed to be pretty > amazing and devoted to tackling Joni's entire catalog of work - we are > talking the more esoteric realm - Mingus, DJRD, the works. I heard that > they don't just retune but have an assortment of guitars onstage already in > Joni tuning. And they got some brass, too, baby ;-) I'm looking forward to > checking them out and might just snag some new cover material (hi Bob) in > the process. Kakki > > > The Joni Project, an evening of the music of Joni Mitchell will be performed > by 5 musicians from Idyllwild on Sunday evening, June 5th at 7 p.m. at the > Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N. Lake Ave. Altadena. > > Tickets are $15, and can be reserved by calling 626-398-7917. This is an > intimate venue, and seats go quickly. > > Performing as the "Joni Project" are musicians well-known to the local > Southern California music scene. > > Sandii Castleberry, (vocals, guitar and dulcimer) is originally from > Claremont, and is known in local folk and bluegrass > circles. She has performed at the Claremont Folk Festival, Huck Finn > Jubilee, Topanga Bluegrass Festival, > and is in her 14th year at the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival. She is also > on the roster for the Orange County > Performing Arts Center and the California Traditional Music Society's school > outreach programs performing > folk music assemblies in schools. Sandii also performs a cross-genres of > music. > > Sue Parker (vocals, guitar) and Pete Holzman (electric guitar, keyboards and > percussion) perform regularly in Idyllwild as the duo: "Polliwog." They > are currently working on the musical soundtrack for an independent film. > > Paul Carman (saxophone) toured for several years with Frank Zappa, played > weekly at the Marine Room in Laguna Beach, and is a regular performer of the > Idyllwild Jazz Festival. Besides performing jazz with some of the Southland > 's top players, he also teaches privately in Orange County, as well as at > the Idyllwild Arts Academy, a private boarding high school for performing > arts students. > > R & B and blues bassist Kevin Hamby performs with the Chuck Alvarez Blues > Band. He also is the bassist for the Signature Band, a favorite at local > casinos. He is also currently playing with country vocalist Shawntees, and > plays weekly at Cafi Aroma in Idyllwild in a duo with Sandii. > > This diverse group of musicians all share a passion for the music of Joni > Mitchell. Come and share a special evening of Joni's music interpreted > through these fine musicians in a concert that will no doubt take you back > to a special place in in your life. > > For more information, call The Coffee Gallery Backstage at 626-398-7917, or > visit their website at www.coffeegallery.com. > You may also email Sandii with questions at: Sandii1@sbcglobal.net. > > > ### ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 18:52:56 -0500 From: Michael Paz Subject: Re: Paprika Plains - the remix (long) Thanks for this. I really enjoyed this a lot and it has inspired me to load this into my HD-24 and do an A/B. Hope all is well with you and I have not forgot about my offer to you, but I have to find the music which is in some plastic storage box (we are remodeling the homestead). Best Paz > I've had the opportunity to do some careful listening to the new mix > of Paprika Plains on SoaPG, and to compare it to the first pressing CD > (not the HDCD version). > This is only the second time an original catalog Joni song has been > remixed (I think), the first being the Big Yellow Taxi version without > the doo-wop vocals from the Big Yellow Taxi Remix EP (I'm not counting > the espresso/taxi remixes since those were essentially new recordings). > I consider Paprika Plains to be a religious experience. It is Joni's > longest composition, and unique in it's conception. It started with 4 > half hour piano improvisations recorded in LA at a time when Joni was > feeling very 'in the groove' musically. These were edited to form > one seven minute piece, then seven months after starting the project, > she wrote a song inspired in part from a conversation with Bob Dylan, > and inserted the original improv piece into the middle of this. > Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter and John Guerin were added to the > last section, recorded in London. > It was orchestrated by English composer Michael Gibbs who also > conducted the sessions in New York. > So what's a remix? The instruments and voices were originally > recorded to separate tracks of a multi-track recorder. Probably 2" 24 > track. Big fat expensive analog tape. The mixing engineer then reduced > these many tracks to a stereo mix, probably on 1/2" analog tape, one > song at a time. These tapes of each song were taken to the mastering > engineer, who assembled them into an album and gave them a final > tweaking. > Remastering involves re-tweaking the existing stereo mixes (either > because digital audio technology has improved, or because the record > company was too lazy to do it right the first time, in this case both). > Remixing involves going back to the multi-track recordings, and > reducing them down to a new stereo mix. Every engineer will do this > slightly differently. > [A little background on PP is in order. When Joni met Charles Mingus, > he commented that the strings on PP went in and out of tune. Joni had > been saying this all along, but no one else involved in the project > could hear it. The reason given for the pitch variation is that the > beginning and end piano parts were recorded seven months after the > center section, and the piano had been retuned. Joni specifically refers > to the edit points where the new and old pianos start and stop, where > the orchestra plays over the edits, as being out of tune. I can't really > hear this. See if you can-the center section "January piano" starts at > 5:14, the "August piano" comes back in at 11:13 on the original PP > (11:11 in the new version). I don't know if anything was digitally > retuned for this new mix, or if it's even possible, given that the > orchestra players would probably automatically adjust their > intonation as they played to the tape.] > What I did for my listening tests was to record the new mix and > the original side by side on 4 tracks of a digital recorder. That way > I could easily switch between them, and be in the same spot. Sort of. > Because I found that even though I started them together, they drifted > apart, and the new mix ends 2 seconds before the old one did. I > imagine the reason for this is that the machine they played the tapes > back on was running a little faster than the original. > Whether they were aware of this, or it was intentional, I don't know. > Presumably, they dumped the original analog tracks into ProTools > (digital) and mixed from there. Another thing to mention is the "pop" > that appears at 9:56. It sounds just like an LP pop, but does not appear > on the original mix, only on the new one. How and why this occured, ?? > It sounds like part of the track, rather than a data error. > Jim has mentioned the different dynamics on the new mix as compared > to the old one. The problem (if it is one) is that, in the old mix, if > you turn up the song in order to clearly hear the first part, then when > the band comes in at the end, it's REALLY loud. So the new mix makes the > volume on both parts more consistant. > The old mix was fairly dry, with the vocal right up front. The new > mix has more ambient space, and sounds very 3D, and the vocal is not as > loud. The orchestra has dimension, and feels more unified with Joni's > parts. The piano has a nice stereo spread. Joni's voice is clear and > detailed, and has a reverb ambience around it. Maybe a little too much > compression, robbing her voice of power during a few louder refrains. > The orchestra sounds excellent, much better than the original. Strings > have texture, percussion is deep and natural. Also, different > orchestra mikes are emphasized, resulting in different sounds at > times. My one complaint about the orchestra is where Joni sings "I > dream Paprika Plains" and the orchestra hits a big crash (twice). On > the original mix, especially the second hit, there is a luscious, > wicked, thunderous roll looming ominously. This effect is tamer on > the new mix. (Rolling Thunder may have been a literal inclusion-PP > is based on a dream Joni had while on the Dylan tour of the same > name. The poem written inside DJRD and reprinted in SoaPG is that > dream.) > Another thing about the new mix is that it has much more low > frequency information. This was not audible without a subwoofer, but it > is there. You can hear the orchestra room breathing. Jaco's bass at the > end is the voice of god, you can see the notes slither through the air. > On the original, Guerin's drums are a bit more in your face, especially > the snare. On the new one, they are more refined. The cymbals are > pristine, the toms rich, and a good stereo panorama. Shorter's soprano > sax is more detailed and nuanced; you can hear him squeezing and > stretching the notes out of his horn. Joni's piano sound on the first > and end parts is very present and crisp, a beautiful piano sound. > The piano in the center part has a darker sound, perhaps, as Jim > suggested, because the lid is down. This section sounds better and > has a better stereo spread than the original, but still sounds > markedly different than the "August" piano. You can hear the change > in sound at the edit points mentioned above. > On the new mix, check out around 4:45, the recording is so clear you > can hear Joni's nails clicking on the ivories. > All in all, very well done, and a great way to spend 17 plus > minutes. > I don't know how much difference you would hear on a boombox, but > through headphones or on a good stereo, you will. > Concerning the package, it's a digi-pak (boo). > But the layout is very nice, mainly due to the B&W photos of Joni > on skates, in her black crow dress, and, contrary to the seriousness of > Hejira, looking playful. Thankfully no Joni self portrait this time. > The sticker on the cover says "A new collection curated by Joni > Mitchell. Musical Tales of Long, Cold Winters. With a Hint of Short but > Glorious Summers." Art direction and design are credited to Joni > Mitchell and Masaki Koike. The photos are great, and would make a good > print series. > I want to add how wonderful the jmdl searchable library archive is- > I was able to quickly refresh my memory on the details of PP. If you are > further interested in the story, type in the song's title. > RR, > vast and bleak and god-forsaken > > Gear used: Carver CD player/Alesis HD24 dig rec/Tannoy spkrs & > powered subwoofer/Hot House amp/AKG M240 headphones. ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2005 #144 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe ------- Siquomb, isn't she? (http://www.siquomb.com/siquomb.cfm)