From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2009 #326 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 Wednesday, December 2 2009 Volume 2009 : Number 326 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Joni Covers, Volume 119 - Ho Ho Ho! [Bob Muller ] Amchitka 1970 ["Peter Holmstedt" ] Stumped on what to get me for Christmas? [Bob.Muller@Fluor.com] Bess Hawes RIP [] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 02:39:33 -0800 (PST) From: Bob Muller Subject: Joni Covers, Volume 119 - Ho Ho Ho! Since we're in the midst of being thankful and holidays and celebrations and all that sort of thing, let's count our blessings and sink our collective teeth into yet another CD's worth of wonderful JONI COVERS! This month it's Volume 119 in the continuing series; as always an eclectic bunch of artists covering Joni's well-known and lesser known classics to varying degrees of success. Thanks to my good buddies Paul and Mark-Leon for contributing tracks to this month's edition. And speaking of milestones, as I write this I am sitting at 2,998 Joni covers in our database, so sometime soon I will pass the 3,000 mark - whoa, that's a LOT of Joni covers! But getting back to #119, let's have a gander at what's on it - you can go get it here: http://tinyurl.com/yhssbbs 1. Yvette Tollar - Edith And The Kingpin: Toronto's own Yvette Tollar gets us going in a good way with a nice jazz-infused version of one of my favorite Joni songs. She sings it nicely and soulfully without a lot of grandstanding and there's a nice drum-electric piano solo as a bonus. The release this comes from, Ima, was nominated for a 2009 Juno Award for Vocal Jazz album of the year - impressive! Maybe someday she'll cover Yvette in English. 2. Laura Zakian - Two Grey Rooms: Another of my favorite Joni songs, and gaining in popularity as a choice of Joni covers - hard to believe it's almost 20 years since its release. Laura studied in NYC and began her career in Italy. She's been recording for about 10 years, this one comes off her 2008 album. The piano is especially tasty on this track, Laura's voice is somewhat lackluster in comparison but this track is very much an enjoyable experience. 3. Michael Davis - Both Sides Now: Hailing from Portland, OR, Michael offers up a warm, inviting instrumental take on the franchise played on a 7-string electric guitar. His style reminds me a bit of Tuck Andress, lots of nice harmonics and some intersting chords thrown in as well. 4. Michael Monroe - River: This is Michael's second entry in the Joni Covers pantheon, his cover of "A Case Of You" was included a while back - this one was a much tougher find as the Christmas CD it's on is out of print. Hailing from Minnesota and using only solar power to record and produce his albums, his voice is soft and warm and reminds me a bit of Gordon Lightfoot. Not to be confused with the vocalist of the same moniker who sang with the heavy-metal band Hanoi Rocks. 5. Stefan Gwildis - Wenn Es Weg Ist (Big Yellow Taxi/German): This one's a German language-take on BYT as filtered through the Counting Crows cover...I guess the German translation for "oooo bop bop bop" is the same. Stefan's voice has some of the same gritty blue-eyed soul characteristics as Adam Duritz as well. I love the non-English covers so this one's fun for me. 6. Back To The Moon - Woodstock: This psychedelic 2008 recording is a mostly instrumental synth and guitar take on Woodstock, a Joni song which over the years has opened itself to a wide variety of treatments. 7. Liza Lee - Blue: This one comes from a 2009 release - "Anima" (perhaps also giving a nod to Joni) came out in January of this year. The album consists mostly of songs written by women and her take on Blue is a lovely and quietly introspective version, giving the musicians, particularly the flutist, some room to stretch a bit. 8. Chie Ayado - Both Sides Now: Japanese jazz chanteuse Chie Ayado approaches the franchise with a flair for the dramatic - her deep vibrato commands your attention and the instrumentation is sparse and haunting. I really enjoy this one for its darkness and originalty. This 2002 recording was not an easy one to come by but was worth the effort. 9. Lili Layton - Twisted: Lili came to jazz through beginnings in classical voice - to me, she hits a couple of wrong notes, not sure if she's intending to jazz-flat them or not. Lili and her band are mostly based in the San Fransisco Bay area these days. 10. Overboard - River: Overboard is an all-male acapella group from Boston, and their voices make for one harmonious blend indeed. This comes from their 2008 holiday album titled "Tidings". 11. Neal Phillips - Morning Morgantown: Neal's voice is very pleasant - reminds me of someone but I can't put my finger on who. Neal's an East Coaster, currently in Philadelphia, and is also a writer in his own right, his songs have been recorded by Pete Seeger and many others. 12. Alicia Wiley - Little Green: One of the best tracks in this collection to my ears. Given some slight arrangement changes, the song retains its bittersweet passion. Alicia sounds a lot like Fiona Apple and her vocal and piano style adds to that comparison. This track was first offered up on a fundraiser album and then made it onto Alicia's own release titled "Halfway Home". 13. Jolize - Free Man In Paris: "Jolize" is the name given to the duo of Jody Calcara & Elize Winby Wall. They perform along the west coast and met there originally in the late 60's. This track comes from their one and only CD, released in 2004. 14. Tim Hinkle - Both Sides, Now: They Might Be Giants haven't given us a Joni cover as yet, but this one's awfully close, albeit lacking the typical TMBG energy. Don't have a lot of biographical information on Tim, but I can't help but think he's being a little tongue in cheek here. Purists beware. 15. Mark Bobb - The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines: From the UK, Mark's a vocalist, a violinist, and a contributor to a variety of groups. This recording is from one of the permutations he performs with, The Triptych Jazz Trio and is somewhat of an abbreviated version. 16. Evan Borkowski - Carey: Evan Borkowski is a school teacher by day (Algonquin Middle School in Algonquin, IL -Go Indians!) and a guitarist by night. This recording of "Carey", featuring Liz Miller on vocals, comes from his website and is a playful homage. 17. Salyu - River: This one's a bit of a rarity; Salyu is a Japanese recording artist with a number of hits to her credit. Her 2007 CD-single of "Iris" reached #26 and included a bonus track of this recording of "River". She stumbles a bit with the English but this is a very interesting version, including some elements of pop, techno and other genres. 18. Doug Flor - Woodstock: Don't know much about Doug Flor; this audio comes from a video he posted on YouTube. It's an original interpretation of Woodstock as opposed to being a duplicate of Joni's or CSNY's or Matthews Southern Comfort's. Features some nice harmonica and some Little River Band-ish harmonies. 19. Azman - Both Sides Now: And here I thought that Zamfir was the master of the pan flute! Looks like he needs to move over for Azman (I guess that by law these guys can only have one name). Or he may win on a technicality as Azman plays the ocarina which is not the same thing. Anyway, this is a pretty mundane instrumental but adds to the list of instruments that BSN has been played on. 20. Jerry Cox - The Circle Game: This track has a dated sound but actually came out last year on a European collection of "West Coast Music"...ummm, OK. Jerry doesn't take it at Ian & Sylvia speed but he does accelerate things a bit which is a good thing as this is one that you want to reach the end of sort of quickly. And that closes out this month's edition of NEW Joni covers - I'll come back mid-month with a stocking-stuffer retro edition and back in a month with more brand-new tunes...hope you like it, hope you like some of it, your feedback and thoughts are welcome as always - onlist or off. And thanks to Les you can check out the artists' websites if you want to hear or learn more or pick up some of their stuff. Bob NP: Tom Waits, "Walk Away" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 12:43:06 +0100 From: "Peter Holmstedt" Subject: Amchitka 1970 http://nbtmusic.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/the-amchitka-concert-1970/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 09:29:51 -0500 From: Bob.Muller@Fluor.com Subject: Stumped on what to get me for Christmas? Look no further: http://tinyurl.com/ybnwqjc Bob NP: Harry Nilsson, "So Long Dad" - ------------------------------------------------------------ The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain proprietary, business-confidential and/or privileged material. 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Reminds me of Smurfy. :) Victor Sent from Comcast Mobile ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2009 #326 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe