From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2008 #78 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 Sunday, June 15 2008 Volume 2008 : Number 078 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Some thoughts to share [Peep Richman ] Re: Joni heading to Galway [Garret ] The Fiddle and the Drum ballet - part I - Jean Grandmaitre [Catherine McK] The Fiddle and the Drum ballet - part 2 - the ballet and guess who? [Cath] A wee bit more on "The fiddle and the drum" [Catherine McKay ] Early Joni, 1966-1968 Disc 2 [Bob Muller ] Blurb from "The Fiddle and the Drum" program - a bit about the ballet itself - and it's Grand-Maitre, not Grandmaitre - shame on me! [] Re: A wee bit more on "The fiddle and the drum" [Bob Muller ] Herbie Mentions Joni ["Dave Folks" ] Re: Herbie Mentions Joni ["gene" ] Youtube: Harry's House on Rosie [Michael ] "The Fiddle and the Drum" - program blurb - Jean Grand-Maitre on "The Fiddle and The Drum" [Catherine McKay Subject: Some thoughts to share Hi, I posted several hours ago, but regardless of the fact that it's now 4AM on Saturday morning, I wanted to share some thoughts and communicate to Jerry. Jerry, I'm so very sorry that your personal friend and our public friend (for me) has died so young. You have so many memories of Tim and I would imagine that you're grieving may be intense. I also want to share my condolences to Mr. Russert's family. Recognizing the loss of Tim Russert engenders two primary feelings in me; I realize that I feel extremely close to specific journalists, Tim being one major journalist I looked forward to listening to....and I wonder, in the greater cosmic universe why are such important people with remarkable skills and talent taken from this dimension of life. I will miss Time Russert and I'm sending you, Jerry, my deep regret for your very personal loss. Marcel Proust once said, "Let us be GRATEFUL to people who make us happy. They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom"...this particular quote came to mind when I learned of Tim's death. Of course, this quote applies to our Joni and to many, many musicians, artists and actors not to mention special lesser known (or not known at all by the public) people who are "the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom". Jeannie, right at this moment I so agree with you when you told us that Dennis Kucinich is your number one object of your affection. I think Dennis Kucinnich chose this time to introduce this bill to congress in the most perfect and stratigic time. I doubt that any impeachments will actually come to fruition, but the timing is absolutely fantastic when you consider these crucial 6 months prior to the election. When public figures die, I often immediately wonder how Joni is reacting. Joni is so pure with her emotions and combines her feelings with a tremendous amount of philosophical and political understanding. I'm very sad about our loss of Tim Russert and I'm reminded to feel so much more aware and conscious of my feelings for public figures who have impact in our collective lives. oh please..please..please....get sleepy old Bo girl...I just can't seem to sleep. But I've had a great deal of happiness when I'm on this type of jag and am productive positive! Peace & love from Bo ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:24:59 +0100 From: Garret Subject: Re: Joni heading to Galway Hi Patti, I'm in Dublin, Galway is the other side of the country. That said, it is not more than 3hours by train, maybe two and a half. It's a pretty cool city. I will more than likely get to the exhibition. If any other jmdlers are around it would be fun to meet up - Paz?? It says on the Galway Arts Festival website that it is in the festival box office and that entry is free. I emailed them for details but have not heard anything yet. i'm going with Bob's optimistic reading that Joni herself will be there, so yea, that would make it very cool. GARRET NP - well, listening to the radio, the dissection of just why the Irish voted down the treaty is fascinating stuff On Sat, Jun 14, 2008 at 12:39 AM, Patti Parlette wrote: > > > I hope you get to go, Garret. Is it far from you? > > Can you imagine seeing JONI in PERSON? > > I think I'd faint! > > Love, > > Patti P. > >> >> i nearly got sick when i read this patti!! holy phook, this is exciting. >> >> i hadn't read digest all week and just took in at the most recent one. >> >> i really logged on to whinge to you all about the stoopid irish voting >> "no" too the lisbon treaty and i see this. will joni be there? >> GARRET > > _________________________________________________________________ > Now you can invite friends from Facebook and other groups to join you on Windows Live Messenger. Add now. > https://www.invite2messenger.net/im/?source=TXT_EML_WLH_AddNow_Now ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:09:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: The Fiddle and the Drum ballet - part I - Jean Grandmaitre Rachel and I went to see "The Fiddle and the Drum" last night at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. We got there a bit after 6:30 and went first to listen to a pre-ballet chat by artistic director Jean Grandmaitre at the centre's amphitheatre, which is all pale wood and soaring glass overlooking University Avenue and Queen Street. Rachel and I arrived a few minutes after the chat began and most of the amphitheatre seats were already taken, but we stood at the glass and metal catwalk overlooking where he was speaking. I really wanted to take a picture of him speaking because the backdrop of him speaking, while in the background cards and streetcars were whizzing past would have made a great shot, but there were theatre personnel all around and it would have been hard to get a good shot while trying not to be noticed. He's a very charming (and good-looking) man and an engaging speaker. We missed the first minute or two of his speech, but, as we arrived, he was talking about how Alberta had up until recently not really paid much attention to the arts but with a booming economy because of oil, the government had become very generous and was providing money for the arts. I believe the idea of the ballet first began as an Alberta centennial project. Grandmaitre said that, as a French Canadian, he wasn't really famiiiar with Joni's music, since his family had listened mainly to French music. However, he began to listen to her music to form the idea of the ballet. He worked for a long time on a letter of introduction which he sent to her agent in Vancouver. Several weeks later, he heard back from the agent, who asked for more information. He then sent a large package through the agent and heard back a few weeks later that Joni wanted to meet him. He flew to Los Angeles where he had a lengthy dinner and conversation with Joni. His initial concept had been to base a ballet on Joni's life through her songs. She immediately nixed that idea, saying that she didn't want anything based on her life and didn't want it to be mindless entertainment. Instead, she felt it should be on important themes of today - war and environmental issues. Grandmaitre and Joni collaborated on the ballet and she provided coaching for the dancers, talking to them about how to use the jazz groove and Shorter's shaved notes. Joni conceived the idea for the backdrop for the stage. The stage itself is stark and black. The backdrop is a large circle, based on an Indian drum, on which various images of the earth and images from Green Flag Song are projected. Grandmaitre said that Joni spent four months in Alberta working on the ballet and on the graphics for the backdrop. Grandmaitre said that Joni is an all-around artist and that she "speaks the way she sings." He described her as a locomotive of creativity. When he had finished his chat he opened the floor up to questions. One person did ask him about the ballet being made longer, and he did say that they were expanding it with the addition of four songs, including "Woodstock." I can't remember just now the other three but I think it has already been mentioned elsewhere. The chat was being recorded on videotape and I hope it will turn up somewhere in a little while. It looks like the videographer may have been staff of the centre. __________________________________________________________________ Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! http://www.flickr.com/gift/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:59:24 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: The Fiddle and the Drum ballet - part 2 - the ballet and guess who? Once Jean Grandmaitre's pre-show chat was done, Rachel and I headed for our seats in the threatre itself. Our seats were almost at the very back, but also almost dead-centre. The theatre itself is very new. It was completed in 2006 and is home to the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet. It is in a horseshoe shape with five levels (rings). It's all bleached wood and glass and, from what I've read and from what I saw myself, you would get a good view and sound from wherever you sit. The Fiddle and the Drum was the last ballet to be presented. The opening ballets were "The second detail," "Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan" and "Etudes." Each of these ballets was very different from the next. "The second detail" was very modern and used a combination of some classic ballet and modern dance set to modern, electronica-sounding music/ "Five... Duncan" was stunningly beautiful, with a single ballerina dancing to the music of a piano set on the stage. The Brahms waltzes was more in the class Degas-style but with a bit of a twist. To these eyes, it combined a lot of very classical ballet with the feeling from time to time that you were also witnessing the prelude to a gang fight with various teams of dancers competing with one another in a sort of dance-off. Finally, we come to the part we've all been waiting for - The Fiddle and the Drum. Many of you have seen the Bravo TV presentation either on TV or as videos that have circulated here on the list. The ballet opens to Joni's a capella "Fiddle and the Drum" as the dancers emerge from the shadows centre stage, one behind the other, merging and developing into a cluster of people dressed very minimally, with a few wearing army helmets, some falling as if dying but all still held together. Then follows "Sex kills," "Passion Play," "The Three Great Stimulants," "For the Roses" (Travelogue version), "Slouching towards Bethlehem," "The Beat of Black Wings," "If I had a heart, I'd cry, " "If," and finally "Big Yellow Taxi" (Shine version.) I won't go into detail on each, since it's hard to remember all the details but I think the one that stood out most for me was "The Beat of Black Wings." There is a dancer who represents Killer Kyle and two other dancers, fellow soldiers, while in the background other dancers whirl by bearing flags. The dancer who played Kyle was amazing. We could feel the emotion all the way to the back of the theatre and there were tears in my eyes. The songs and dancing to this point had been rather gloomy, speaking out against war and the rape of the earth but the last two songs turned the mood lighter. During both "If" and "Big yellow taxi," the dancers were stomping and clapping and shouting. "If" raised a promise of hope and "Big Yellow Taxi" was full of humour, as dancers whirled about while one, dressed in trench coat and carrying a briefcase and constantly raising his hand to look at his watch as he pressed across the stage, would appear with every, "Don't it always seem to go." From time to time throughout various songs, a young girl of about 8 or so, dressed in a blue dress, appears. During this song, she appears near the end, at the last, "Don't it always seem to go," dressed in trench coat with a briefcase and a watch, apparently intent on becoming a business person. However, she arrives at centre stage front, stops, sees the other happy dancers and sheds the coat and briefcase, to the cheers of the other dancers, and the audience too. Then it's curtain time and bows, with much, much clapping, applause and "bravos". The dancers form a line across the stage to bow. They are joined by the little girl and bow again. They are joined by Jean Grandmaitre to many many loud cheers and then... the moment some of us have been waiting for - Jean brings Joni onstage! And there she is bowing to cheers, applause, total mayhem. She joins the dancers in their line and dancers, little girl, Jean Grandmaitre and JONI take many more bows and curtain calls. After at least ten minutes of wild applause, the curtain goes down, the lights go on, we all emerge from the theatre and it is raining, raining, raining outside, but home is a short subway ride and then a bus ride home for Rachel and a short subway ride followed by a short walk through rain, high as a kite, home for me. Joni will be there again TONIGHT, so anyone who has tickets or can beg, borrow or steal them, get your ass down to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts and bask in the glow of the goddess! __________________________________________________________________ Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! http://www.flickr.com/gift/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:05:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: A wee bit more on "The fiddle and the drum" There are some blurbs from the programme for the ballet which I will transcribe and send to you as soon as I can. One is the blurb about the ballet itself and is quite short. One is Jean Grandmaitre's blurb, which is fairly long. The third is Joni's words about the ballet, which is somewhere in between. A few more things I've remembered about Grandmaitre's chat. One of the other songs that will be added is "Ethiopia." I'm sure I'll remember a third just after I send this and the fourth will elude me until about 4 a.m. within the next few days, when it will wake me up and drive me nuts trying to decide whether or not to fire up the computer for it. Grandmaitre also said that, when he went to visit Joni, she played for him four songs from her then-forthcoming album, "Shine" on piano, so he had the privilege of being one of the first to hear these songs. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:11:52 EDT From: FMYFL@aol.com Subject: Re: The Fiddle and the Drum ballet - part 2 - the ballet and guess who? Thanks for the wonderful review, Catherine. You and Rachel must have been on a cloud. I would have given my left conjone to have been there with you last night. Happy Weekend, Jimmy ************** Vote for your city's best dining and nightlife. City's Best 2008. (http://citysbest.aol.com?ncid=aolacg00050000000102) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:10:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Muller Subject: Re: Joni heading to Galway Garret - just for your planning purposes...looks like it IS a definite that Joni will be there! This quote from an article in the "Galway Advertiser": It was just persistence, really, he laughs. Ive been writing to Joni Mitchell to come to Galway for 10 years - initially to come for Czirt when I was working with the Arts Centre - and even though she kept saying no they were always lovely, considerate responses. Then this year I was in New York at an exhibition of her work and was talking to her visual art manager, and Joni was in NY at the time and heard Id expressed an interest. Shes been in Ireland before and loved it so this time she said yes straight away. While shes best known for her music here, shes a prolific painter as well whos exhibited a good deal in the US. The paintings shes done for the show are almost like an installation rather than an exhibition, the pieces are like triptychs, theyre very strong and very powerful. ***Shell be coming to Galway herself as well for the show.*** So you can officially be excited! The full article: http://www.galwayadvertiser.ie/content/index.php?aid=12351 Bob NP: Joni interview w/Ed Sciaky, soon coming y'all's way - ----- Original Message ---- From: Garret To: Patti Parlette Cc: joni@smoe.org Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2008 6:24:59 AM Subject: Re: Joni heading to Galway Hi Patti, I'm in Dublin, Galway is the other side of the country. That said, it is not more than 3hours by train, maybe two and a half. It's a pretty cool city. I will more than likely get to the exhibition. If any other jmdlers are around it would be fun to meet up - Paz?? It says on the Galway Arts Festival website that it is in the festival box office and that entry is free. I emailed them for details but have not heard anything yet. i'm going with Bob's optimistic reading that Joni herself will be there, so yea, that would make it very cool. GARRET NP - well, listening to the radio, the dissection of just why the Irish voted down the treaty is fascinating stuff On Sat, Jun 14, 2008 at 12:39 AM, Patti Parlette wrote: > > > I hope you get to go, Garret. Is it far from you? > > Can you imagine seeing JONI in PERSON? > > I think I'd faint! > > Love, > > Patti P. > >> >> i nearly got sick when i read this patti!! holy phook, this is exciting. >> >> i hadn't read digest all week and just took in at the most recent one. >> >> i really logged on to whinge to you all about the stoopid irish voting >> "no" too the lisbon treaty and i see this. will joni be there? >> GARRET > > _________________________________________________________________ > Now you can invite friends from Facebook and other groups to join you on Windows Live Messenger. Add now. > https://www.invite2messenger.net/im/?source=TXT_EML_WLH_AddNow_Now ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:25:17 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Muller Subject: Early Joni, 1966-1968 Disc 2 Here's Disc 2: https://download.yousendit.com/03A08B3F023A3AAE I hadn't heard this in a while and I had forgotten how very cool it is. Just spell-binding and such a historical document. The contents: 1. Born To Take The Highway 2. Winter Lady 3. London Bridge Song 4. Interview 5. Sisotowbell Lane 6. Interview II 7. The Gallery 8. Go Tell The Drummer Man 9. Conversation (with extra verses) Most of the songs also contain bits of Joni talking about them, introducing them, etc. And if you missed Disc 1, it's still out there for the taking (until the 20th) and it can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/5q4xmr Bob NP: Joni talking about Posall & Mosalm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:27:14 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Blurb from "The Fiddle and the Drum" program - a bit about the ballet itself - and it's Grand-Maitre, not Grandmaitre - shame on me! Here is the blurb from the ballet program. I've been spelling Grand-Maitre's name wrong all along as Grandmaitre. (FYI, there's an accent circonflex over the i.) This blurb is quite short and probably tells us nothing we didn't already know, but here it is anyway. (Tiny note from me here. From where we were seated, Rachel and I couldn't see much of the projected art except for the bottom, since the angle from where we were seated to the stage is quite acute and not good for anyone who suffers from vertigo.) - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Fiddle and the Drum performed by Alberta Ballet Featuring the music of Joni Mitchell June 13-22, 2008 "The Fiddle and the Drum" is a collaboration between Jean Grand-Maitre, Alberta Ballet's Artistic Director, and renowned singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell. The work was first performed by Alberta Ballet in February 2007 as one of several pieces in a program entitled "Dancing Joni and Other Works." It features nine songs from Mitchell's musical repertoire, including two new compositions. "The Fiddle and The Drum" has a series of modern themes, which Mitchell and Grand-Maitre were interested in exploring. These themes include environmental and world violence, war and revolution. Throughout the production, a series of Mitchell's paintings are projected on a screen behind the dancers, further articulating these themes. __________________________________________________________________ Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! http://www.flickr.com/gift/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:28:30 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Muller Subject: Re: A wee bit more on "The fiddle and the drum" Thanks for your outstanding write-up, Catherine, it was "Kakki-esque" in its ability to make me feel as if I was there. I'm very happy you and Rachel got to share this special time. Ethiopia....cool. Bob NP: Joni, "Sisotowbell Lane" ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:31:22 -0700 (PDT) From: Peep Richman Subject: Re: JMDL Digest V2008 #102 Hi Jonilista's, I READ Friday's DIGEST AND WANT TO ADD MY CONGRATULATIONS TO Jimmy AND ED ON THEIR ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!! Monika, I'm right there with you in wanting to believe and as you so beautifully wrote "unattainable Utopian world". I hope you're feeling cheerier now and sorry to woke up in an unhappy mood. I can't imagine why I haven't been getting most Digests. And I know I created a folder for JMDL. On to getting a g-mail account!!! Mark from Florida has encourage me to check this out....Mark, thank you! I'm just a little stuck in not wanting any additional sad events in my life. I certainly am not looking forward to tomorrow morning....Tim Russert was such a wonderful, honest journalist. Hope everyone is enjoying this weekend. I e-mailed a few people off-list and am wondering if they received my e-mails. Be safe...be blessed. Love from Bo ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:49:21 -0500 From: "Dave Folks" Subject: Herbie Mentions Joni For those of us old geezers, Herbie Hancock mentions Joni in the AARP Magazine July/August issue. ~ Dave When you don't know where you're going you've got to stick together, just in case someone gets there! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:16:02 -0700 From: "gene" Subject: Re: Herbie Mentions Joni OMG!!! Joni mention in AARP--------going to have to check put my copy for this month. Been great growing old with Joni. gene - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Folks" To: Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2008 3:49 PM Subject: Herbie Mentions Joni > For those of us old geezers, Herbie Hancock mentions Joni in the AARP > Magazine July/August issue. > > > > ~ Dave > > > > When you don't know where you're going you've got to stick together, just > in > case someone gets there! > > !DSPAM:144,48544e7f178651651515911! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 23:24:31 +0000 From: Michael Subject: Youtube: Harry's House on Rosie Ah, 1996. It was a very good year ! Stumbled onto this clip tonight - I had never seen it - Joni singing Harry's House, solo with guitar, on Rosie TV - a haunting and beautiful performance - like revisiting the Hissing Demos, 20 years later. Joni never looked lovlier. If you haven't seen it ... http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=RG9K6Zoa7FY Michael in Quebec _________________________________________________________________ Find hidden words, unscramble celebrity names, or try the ultimate crossword puzzle with Live Search Games. Play now! http://g.msn.ca/ca55/212 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:53:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: "The Fiddle and the Drum" - program blurb - Jean Grand-Maitre on "The Fiddle and The Drum" Here is the blurb from Jean Grand-Maitre in "The Fiddle and the Drum" program - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Jean Grand-Maitre on "The Fiddle and The Drum" The creative process for "The Fiddle and the Drum" has renewed my faith in my relationship between art and life. Joni Mitchell's selfless and gentle participation will most likely be the highlights of my entire career. When I approached Ms Mitchell for this project I was keen on having her not only give us the rights to create dances to her mythical recordings, but to entice her into collaborating with us as well. This is not an easy enterprise as Ms Mitchell adheres to very high standards of integrity and excellence. And as Ms Mitchell is incensed with human folly, she made it clear to me from the onset that this ballet could not be escapist entertainment when the world is in such shambles. When I invited Ms Mitchell to collaborate with Alberta Ballet, I asked her to imagine "our beautiful Athletes of God moving their powerful bodies and their ethereal souls within a protective world of sound, colour and texture that you could create around them." Her response was swift and within a month I was having dinner with her in Los Angeles. Upon reflection, she probably wanted to meet me personally before committing to see what kind of fire I had burning in me, as I would be creating the ballet. During this three hour conversation, Ms Mitchell spoke of the humble potential for this ballet to have a transformative effect on our communities and of her deep concerns of ongoing social issues, such as warfare and environmental neglect - all of which she sees as stemming from shortsighted political visions. Ms Mitchell truly lives the life of a contemporary and engaged artist with its share of struggles and triumphs. She does not moralize nor pretend to have answers to the world's problems but she does have a knack for asking penetrating questions that dwell deeply in our human consciousness. It has been said that great artists carve themselves a superbly sharp needle which they insert deeply in the human soul; the greater the artist, the deeper the penetration. When I started to study the variety of her music, I discovered two Joni Mitchells. There is the one who sings and paints of human relationships and the struggles we all face, and the other, the engaged artist who speaks of global social issues. When you listen to both facets of her art, you realize that the painful realities that create volatile dysfunctions in intimate love are the same that feed the hatred and the aggression of entire nations. When I began choreographing the ballet and her legendary recordings suddenly echoed in our studios, I felt intimidated and the pressure was enormous. I told our dancers that they needed to breathe the voice and feel the hypnotizing grooves of her songs. I imagined her recordings to be symphonies: her voice as the string section and the musical accompaniment as percussion, woodwinds and brass. I wanted to contrast the brilliance of the counterpoint found in her sophisticated rhythms with the soaring and highly original melodic lines of her deeply moving vocal interpretations. Ms Mitchell's music demands great intellectual investment and very time I listen to her recordings my attachment for them grows. The creation of this ballet has enabled me to discover her art and it now escorts me through the turbulent challenges that I face personally and professionally. Her poetic images have become spiritual guides to many. These guides cannot lead us out of darkness, but they do help us remember that there is earth under our feet and that we are all standing on solid ground. As we were working out the details of projecting her latest artwork on a large screen above the dancers, I realized that the ballet could not be a literal translation of her lyrics. The overall effect would be highly redundant. It was clear to me that the choreography needed to be more meditative in nature, occasionally reacting to some metaphorical images expressed in her songs. I focused on creating dances that responded on a more subconscious level - vibrating to the inner-pulse and the hidden geometries of her tonalities - like an abstract, kinetic Greek chorus. Throughout this creation, Ms Mitchell has been very generous. She permitted me to dwell inside her world for a little while as I needed to understand her questions and her poetry on a deep level. Still today, after such an enriching collaboration, I know I have only seen but a glimpse of her. Ms Mitchell is a creative locomotive and the brilliance of her conversation often confused and exhausted me. I hope that much of what I have lost will remain in my psyche as seeds that will grow into realizations later. __________________________________________________________________ Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail. Click on Options in Mail and switch to New Mail today or register for free at http://mail.yahoo.ca ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:56:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: "The Fiddle and The Drum" - Joni Mitchell on "The Fiddle and the Drum" Here is Joni's blurb from "The Fiddle and The Drum" program: - ------------------------------------------------------------------- Joni Mitchell on "The Fiddle and the Drum" Jean Grand-Maitre approached me with a selection of my songs, whcih he wanted to choreograph and present as a ballet, tentatively entitled "Dancing Joni." He came to visit me and invited my participation, just as I was preparing a mixed media show of 64 large canvasses - tryptychs - depicting various wars and revolutions. The images had been collected from a dying flat screen TV and were a combination of dramatizations and documentary images - the dominating colours being green and pink - an odd palate for depicting death and destruction. Marching through the canvasses is a chorus line of green flag-bearing girls. When Jean saw the images, he wished to include them in the presentation. I suggested that I prepare a selection of songs that would be more compatible with the war images. We worked together through technical and budget limitations and came up with a ballet entitled "The Fiddle and the Drum." I designed and prepared an accompanying installation of art, which would be suspended over the dancers. The music includes two poems, which I set to music, but did not write. One is Rudyard Kipling's "If," and the other is a song I call "Slouching Toward Bethlehem," which was adapted from the Yeats poem "The Second Coming." With our situation for all earthlings - man and animals - becoming so dire, I felt that it was frivolous to present a lighter fare - like "fiddling while Rome burned." ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:47:25 -0700 (PDT) From: ann jensen Subject: Re: "The Fiddle and The Drum" - Joni Mitchell on "The Fiddle and the Drum" thanks - she mentions the word earthlings - maybe you've seen the film... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhxKnys7Ryw - --- On Sat, 6/14/08, Catherine McKay wrote: > > Joni Mitchell on "The Fiddle and the Drum" > > With our situation for all earthlings - man and animals - > becoming so dire, I felt that it was frivolous to present a > lighter fare - like "fiddling while Rome burned." ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:18:08 -0700 (PDT) From: Monika Bogdanowicz Subject: Re: Early Joni, 1966-1968 Disc 2 Thanks Bob! Always appreciated! I love Joni's stage chatter! -Monika Bob Muller wrote: Here's Disc 2: https://download.yousendit.com/03A08B3F023A3AAE I hadn't heard this in a while and I had forgotten how very cool it is. Just spell-binding and such a historical document. The contents: 1. Born To Take The Highway 2. Winter Lady 3. London Bridge Song 4. Interview 5. Sisotowbell Lane 6. Interview II 7. The Gallery 8. Go Tell The Drummer Man 9. Conversation (with extra verses) Most of the songs also contain bits of Joni talking about them, introducing them, etc. And if you missed Disc 1, it's still out there for the taking (until the 20th) and it can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/5q4xmr Bob NP: Joni talking about Posall & Mosalm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:21:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Monika Bogdanowicz Subject: Re: A wee bit more on "The fiddle and the drum" Thanks! It sounds like you had a lovely time. Can you imagine being one of the first to hear Joni's songs? Now I know there have been a good number of people who she has played her songs for first (generally other musicians or guys she was dating!) but can you imagine that? -Monika Catherine McKay wrote: There are some blurbs from the programme for the ballet which I will transcribe and send to you as soon as I can. One is the blurb about the ballet itself and is quite short. One is Jean Grandmaitre's blurb, which is fairly long. The third is Joni's words about the ballet, which is somewhere in between. A few more things I've remembered about Grandmaitre's chat. One of the other songs that will be added is "Ethiopia." I'm sure I'll remember a third just after I send this and the fourth will elude me until about 4 a.m. within the next few days, when it will wake me up and drive me nuts trying to decide whether or not to fire up the computer for it. Grandmaitre also said that, when he went to visit Joni, she played for him four songs from her then-forthcoming album, "Shine" on piano, so he had the privilege of being one of the first to hear these songs. ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2008 #78 ******************************** ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe