From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2007 #475 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org 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 Saturday, March 1 2008 Volume 2007 : Number 475 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- NYT review of kd lang 2/29 ["Barbara Stewart" ] Tift Merritt sjc ["Richard Flynn" ] Re: Tift Merritt sjc [Jerry Notaro ] kd lang Variety review 2/29 ["Barbara Stewart" ] A Joni Fan on American Idol, SJC [rian afriadi ] Joni's Voice (smoking!) [Eric Taylor ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:08:35 -0500 From: "Barbara Stewart" Subject: NYT review of kd lang 2/29 February 29, 2008 Music Review A Hardy Cowgirl Endures the Pain and Longing on the Trail to Love By STEPHEN HOLDEN ( http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/stephen_holden/index.html?inline=nyt-per ) A prairie wind swept through the Allen Room on Wednesday night as the singer K. D. Lang ( http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/k_d_lang/index.html?inline=nyt-per )and a five-member band conjured big-sky country where romantic dreamers infused the wide-open spaces with swooning desire. Listening to Ms. Langbs languid interpretations of songs from her new album, bWatershedb (Nonesuch), as well as selections from her older records, an image surfaced of the singer as a hardy cowgirl, lost in reflection as she leans on a fence post and gazes toward the horizon. The concert was the second of Ms. Langbs three performances in Lincoln Center ( http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/l/lincoln_center_for_the_performing_arts/index.html?inline=nyt-org )bs American Songbook series. As Ms. Lang pointed out, she is actually Canadian. But records like bA Wonderful World,b her 2002 duet album with Tony Bennett ( http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/tony_bennett/index.html?inline=nyt-per ), in which they sing standards associated with Louis Armstrong ( http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/louis_armstrong/index.html?inline=nyt-per ), have established Ms. Lang, 46, as one of the two or three great under-50 interpreters of American popular standards. Ms. Lang likes to take her time. Possessed of one of the worldbs most beautiful and steady pop voices, she flexes her instrument like a sleepy cat stretching on a carpet. As she unabashedly luxuriates in the sound that she makes, her showmanship and sheer enjoyment of playing the diva transform the angst and self-questioning of her lyrics into a personal credo: If you can manage all that pain and longing, emotional turbulence can be pleasurable. As she savored Neil Young ( http://movies.nytimes.com/person/1300573/Neil-Young?inline=nyt-per )bs bHelplessb on Wednesday, the first syllable of the title became a drawn-out cry of loneliness, the drums delineating a slow pounding heartbeat, the pedal steel guitar evoking the wayward wind moaning through the rafters of a barn. Equally impressive was her rendition of bThe Valley,b her fellow Canadian Jane Siberrybs take on the 23rd Psalm, which like bHelplessb comes from her previous album, bHymns of the 49th Parallel.b This funereal folk-rock meditation built slowly from a simple voice and piano introduction into a mighty oracular statement by a pilgrim walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Ms. Langbs excellent quintet included Grecco Buratto on guitar, Joshua Grange on pedal steel guitar, Daniel Clarke on keyboards, Ian Walker on bass and Danny Frankel on drums. All but Mr. Frankel supplied discreet vocal harmonies. The most accurate description of Ms. Langbs music is still the one she applied to her 1989 album, bAbsolute Torch and Twang.b The torch part comes from the dreamy side of Peggy Lee ( http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/peggy_lee/index.html?inline=nyt-per ), a North Dakota farm girl whose b60s ballad style remains the ne plus ultra of a dreamy passivity. The twang comes from another Lang idol, the country singer Patsy Cline ( http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/patsy_cline/index.html?inline=nyt-per ), in whom true grit battled heartbreak and won by a hair. In bWatershedb the two aspects are boldly overlaid. The instrumental textures, dominated by steel guitar are country-rock with a western tilt. Strings playing long, flat lines supply a thread of urbanity. Like most of Ms. Langbs songs, those on bWatershedb lack the grandeur of bHelplessb or bThe Valley.b But their descriptions of desire and ambivalence portray the vulnerable self-questioning introvert inside the swaggering tomboy. In bFlame of the Uninspired,b she says: My very nature is to criticize And cut myself down to size On the cusp of compromise To living hell. In another song she calls this gap between her inner turmoil and outer confidence bshadow and the frame.b If the old obsession with romantic love, expressed in bConstant Craving,b the driving ballad that remains her biggest hit and which she performed on Wednesday, still nags, she has acquired some perspective. In the song bOnce in a While,b she laments, bLove beyond reason/Is a love so hard to find.b She is not quite ready to abandon the search. from : Barbara L.Stewart, MLS Library - Sesame Workshop 1 Lincoln Plaza, 4th fl, NYC, NY 10023 USA tel: 212-875-6393 fax: 212-875-7309 barbara.stewart@sesameworkshop.org "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." - ML King ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 07:21:12 -0800 (PST) From: KEVIN DOHENY Subject: RE: Joni and Stills (and Judy) I was all excited seeing the subject hoping you could somehow meld together the careers of joni, steven and judy...garland..lol..Oh well collins is almost as great haha...The key to me knowing who plays on what is my undying love for liner notes(I know i am not alone)..I sometimes red them before I listen for the first time and re read them again and again in case I missed something...One of my favorite "discovery" came with Carole King's Will you love me tomorrow...The liner notes say backing vocals by the "mitchell-taylor upstairs downstairs choir" or something like that..I never gave it a second thought..until I listened closely and figured out it was Joni and James..Now when i listen to it I focus on the backing vocals more than the actual song..lol..the song is a classic and to hear joni on it makes it even better...So your homework tonight kids is to break out your joni records(LP's are easier to read) or cd's and read those liner notes...Hope all are well! XOXO Kev David Eoll wrote: Didn't know about Stills on Blonde In The Bleachers. In fact I'd never really focused on the harmonies in that song. They are something else, though, thanks for pointing them out. I'm only hearing Stephen sing the "Very long"s near the end. The harmonies nearer the beginning of the song sound like Joni's usual style of harmonizing with herself (I call it the Joni quartet). But, I could be wrong. And the two electric guitars (one in each channel) are unmistakably Stills. And once again, I've listened to that album 1000 times and never noticed. Sheesh. Since there appear to be a few Stephen Stills fans on the list, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out his fantastic accompaniments on Judy Collins' album, Who Knows Where The Time Goes. He's all over that album on bass and guitars. The standouts, for me, are Pretty Polly and First Boy I Loved. The latter song, in particular, is just beautiful anyway, and Stills plays wonderful fills throughout on electric. The last verse is a reference to him (Judy and he were an item then), and he plays that part with particular flair. :) Before I get off this sub-topic, I have to let you Stills fans know what happened after Stills finished doing those sessions with Judy. He paid the engineer a few hundred bucks to record some demos for him of some songs he'd been working on. It was April 1968, so Buffalo Springfield was in the process of disintegrating, and CSN had yet to come together. But, three of the demos were of songs that ended up on the first CSN album. About half a dozen others appeared on Stills first few solo albums, including a couple songs from Manassass. This reel of demos gathered dust for nearly 4 decades and recently surfaced and was released as Just Roll Tape. If you're a Stills fan _at_all_, you simply must check it out. Its rough in places, the levels are off, and the guitar's not miked very well, but what the hell do you expect? They're demos. And the man was on fire. Back to Joni and Blue. I knew that J.T. appears on that album, but I was never sure where. Wiki says he's on "California", "All I Want", "A Case of You". That certainly sounds like it could be him, but I'm not nearly as familiar with his playing. My question is, I know he and Joni had a relationship at some point. Is James appearance on Blue before, after, or during that relationship? Anyone know? I'm glad I found this list. I love talking about music with other music lovers almost as much as I love listening to music. Well, I guess "almost" is a bit of a stretch. But, I do like discussing music. I'm glad to be here. Toodles, David - --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:33:05 -0500 From: "Richard Flynn" Subject: Tift Merritt sjc I liked Tift Merritt's first two records a lot, but I can't stop playing her new one, "Another Country." In the liner notes and in interviews, she has said that thematically it is inspired by Hejira. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2008/02/24/2008-02-24_tift_me rritt_knows_about_living_in_anoth.html "You try not to make your life parallel other artists'," Merritt says. "But I couldn't help but think of the time [Joni] took her trips. I must have had some of the same feelings." I LOVE this record and recommend it with great enthusiasm. Sample and read more about it at http://www.tiftmerritt.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:52:33 -0500 From: Jerry Notaro Subject: Re: Tift Merritt sjc Richard, Always been a Tift Merritt fan. Love her first album. Will have to get the new one. Doesn't surprise me at all that she is "Joni inspired." Jerry > I liked Tift Merritt's first two records a lot, but I can't stop playing her > new one, "Another Country." In the liner notes and in interviews, she has > said that thematically it is inspired by Hejira. > > > > http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2008/02/24/2008-02-24_tift_me > rritt_knows_about_living_in_anoth.html > > > > "You try not to make your life parallel other artists'," Merritt says. "But > I couldn't help but think of the time [Joni] took her trips. I must have had > some of the same feelings." > > > > I LOVE this record and recommend it with great enthusiasm. > > > > Sample and read more about it at > > http://www.tiftmerritt.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:09:08 -0500 From: "Barbara Stewart" Subject: kd lang Variety review 2/29 http://www.variety.com/story.asp?l=story&r=VE1117936352&c=34 Posted: Thurs., Feb. 28, 2008, 2:45pm PT kd lang (Allen Room; 550 seats; $100 top) Presented inhouse. Opened, reviewed Feb. 27, 2008, closed Feb. 28. Band: kd lang, Grecco Buratto, Joshua Grange, Daniel Clarke, Ian Walker, Danny Frankel. By DAVID SPRAGUE ( http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=bio&peopleID=1357 ) If there were still room on primetime television schedules for a good old-fashioned variety show, the network exec who signed kd lang up for one might well be rewarded with a left-field hit, judging by the flair she displayed at this intimate warm-up gig advancing her upcoming North American tour. Not to say that lang is the next Carol Burnett -- although she did display copious self-effacing humor. But the combination of stylistic dexterity, warm wit and easygoing banter that permeated her 90-odd minutes onstage was reminiscent of a vintage episode of the short-lived -- but much-loved -- skein hosted by Johnny Cash. The Canadian singer brought Cash -- and a slew of old-school country greats -- to mind when she bounded onto the stage, beaming, guitar slung over her shoulder, to deliver a swooning rendition of "Upstream." That song, drawn like much of the set from lang's just-released Nonesuch disc "Watershed," carried numerous delayed-reaction emotional depth-charges. The multi-tiered approach imbued the preponderance of the new material, a tenor lang explained -- -- in introducing "Flame of the Uninspired" -- by rolling her eyes at "the laziness of stopping at darkness as fodder for songwriting." No such laziness reared its head at this perf, with lang proffering guitar picks to lined-up aud members like a priest distributing communion and riffing on everything from the sex appeal of her band members to her belief that the banjo -- which she wielded credibly on "Jealous Dog" -- is "a chick magnet." She showed equal aplomb in engaging the audience up close and personal, leaving the stage to show off waltz-time dance steps as well as some vaudeville-era hoofing. The nattily dressed singer delivered several of the set's tunes from unexpected spots in the room, even parking herself at one couple's table to sing a loungey "Smoke Rings." While lang didn't reach into her back catalog often during the course of the evening, she did tap the Canadian Songbook at regular intervals -- ironic, given that the perf was presented as part of the venue's American Songbook series. She put her individual stamp on several classics from her homeland, including a gripping take on Jane Siberry's "The Valley" and a version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" in which she used little more than pained expression to convey the depth of despondency inherent in her interpretation. As ever, lang's voice was pristine and remarkably supple, with woodsy baritone notes giving way to keening trills reminiscent of her muse Roy Orbison. But more than simply interpret songs, lang positively inhabits them, guiding listeners through their dark corners with an all-too-rare loving care. ========= from : Barbara L.Stewart, MLS Library - Sesame Workshop 1 Lincoln Plaza, 4th fl, NYC, NY 10023 USA tel: 212-875-6393 fax: 212-875-7309 barbara.stewart@sesameworkshop.org "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." - ML King ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:20:20 +0000 From: Michel BYRNE Subject: more on k d This repeats what others have said, I know, but I saw k d on the first night of her tour, in January in Glasgow (Scotland), and yes, she was breathtakingly good. Her command of her voice just seems so effortless, and even when she seemed to be improvising, her pitch and her phrasing were absolutely faultless. I too was hoping she'd do Case of You or Jericho, but the three canadian songs she did cover (Jane Siberry's The Valley, Neil Young's Helpless and Cohen's Hallelluia) she totally made her own - the Young and Cohen in particular were even better (much better, which I didn't think was possible) than on the Hymns CD. She's obviously grown into them. I'm not convinced she would have made as good a job of the joni songs, especially Case of You. They're more of a risk with a live audience, in that they're not 'catchy' or easy to get a grip on like Helpless and Hallelluia are. Must say too, she was superb with the audience. Glasgow folk don't like silence - if there's a gap they'll fill it, and there was plenty heckling (all friendly), but k d responded well, with humour and good grace. I'd recommend to anyone to go and see her live. Unforgettable! Mich _________________________________________________________________ Who's friends with who and co-starred in what? http://www.searchgamesbox.com/celebrityseparation.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:08:32 -0800 (PST) From: rian afriadi Subject: A Joni Fan on American Idol, SJC From the very first time i saw her singing Carole King's Beautiful, i knew she must be a fan of Joni. A Carole fan must be a James Taylor fan must be a Joni fan must be a Carly Simon fan. Then she sang a Carly's song... So, i checked americanidol.com to find her info. And yes, she is a Joni fan. And she is Brooke White. Rian NR. Mahatma Gandhi's Speeches. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2008 01:58:05 -0500 (EST) From: Eric Taylor Subject: Joni's Voice (smoking!) i feel like a broken record stating this yet again BUT i MUCH prefer joni's post Hejira voice ~ particularly post Night Ride Home. i find most Joni fans prefer her pre Hissing Of Summer Lawns. There seems to be a great divide over this album so just let me state that it is unquestionably my least favorite of all Joni albums (although i LOVE Sweetbird) Apparently i am among the very few fans who joniphiles who thinks she just keeps better with each album. i LOVED Dog Eat Dog & Chalkmark when they came out! Night Ride Home made me realize we are dealing with a genius not seen since Yeats. b u t Turblent Indigo convinced me that our world has NEVER witnessed an artist quite like Joni. Obviously i am in the vast majority for absolutely ADORING Travelogue. SHINE propels me to conclude she is our world's most original artist since Beethoven!!! May i just say that IT REALLY PISSES ME OFF that people "blame" Joni's latest greatest vocals on cigarettets! MY GOD she only sounds warmer & better with every album Apparently i am the only JMDL member who appriciates Joni's latest music more than ever before (pleae prove me wrong people!) i could quote Joni from MOJO on the 'stupidity' & 'ignorance' of people who blame her deeper voice on tobacco but ARE u too lazy to read it??? All i can say is that Joni BY FAR is the most important artist since daVinci..... The big question is: would u want to sound the same way u did 40 years later? i can't blame Biz & Joplin for wanting to break her leg Our Joan IS surviving HISTORY unfolding soooo beautifully & i am SO grateful that i am aware of what a HUGE contribution she continues to make! IS EVERYONE STUCK IN THE 70's?????? It's SAD to see that everyone seems to judge Joni by her early folk stuff. i am a Joni fan who appriciates her music more with every album Not lying! ET NP: ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2007 #475 ********************************* ------- 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)