Now this was a bargain. Brand new, still sealed, £2 on a market stall.
It's Joni's 1979 tribute to jazz legend Charles Mingus, recorded around the time of his death, recorded with a myriad of jazz greats, such as Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock.
There are six songs all bookended by small, mostly vocal interludes, referred to as 'raps', so after a happy birthday sung to Mingus in 1975, there's God Must Be A Boogie Man, a song where Mitchell's soaring vocals are accompanied by a lazy, wavering bassline from Pastorius, and what sounds like improvised guitar chords (Joni herself, although she worked with John McLaughlin in rehearsal), and it's lovely. A Chair In The Sky is a Mingus tune, with Mitchell's lyrics, nice but unexceptional, while The Wolf That Lives In Lindsey is her own composition, again opening with some discordant chords, before a beautiful song, made lovelier by the contrast between Mitchell's voice and the harshness of some of those chords.
Sweet Sucker is a groovy, laidback song, with Pastorius and Hancock noodling underneath before Shorter sneaks in toward the end, with some sweet sax. Ah, nice! The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines is a lot more funky and big-band, with Shorter again stealing the show with his sax in Pastorius' horn arrangement. The album ends with Mingus standard, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, with Mitchell's lyrics and a fine accompaniment.
It was possibly Joni Mitchell's most experimental album at the time, and while it doesn't always work, it's a great piece. If all you know is Blue, try this.
4* - a lovely tribute to an old friend
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