Joni Mitchell
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The fourteenth album by Mitchell (we’re in 1991) puts her guitar back at the center stage, both in the arrangements and in the sonic balance of her compositions. In fact, Joni relies on her six strings as the guiding instrument for ten out of eleven tracks. Only the final piece, “Two Grey Rooms”, is piano-based (and orchestral): incidentally, it’s among the best of the lot—possibly the highlight of the album.

Her voice, once soprano in her youth, now steadily occupies contralto, or at most mezzo-soprano, tones. The entrenched habit of smoking has a lot to do with it, nevertheless this more “mature” delivery is no less prestigious or fascinating, constantly progressing in interpretive nuance and smoothness. Her passion for jazz, and her habit of surrounding herself with esteemed personalities from that sophisticated musical genre, is a big asset.

Oh yes… when Mitchell calls, all the heavyweights show up. Here, yet again, we hear the trusty Wayne Shorter on sax and Michael Landau on guitars—two guys who never go unnoticed when they let their breath or their picks loose on their instruments. This time, the drums are entrusted to Vinnie Colaiuta—her favored drummer, among other things, and famously a living manual on how to play this wonderful instrument at its best.

But it’s a treat to catch, on the track “Nothing Can Be Done”, a guest spot from the great and (over here) unknown David Baerwald, a songwriter from Ohio with a not-so-steady career, who was, in those very years, working on his absolute masterpiece, “Triage”—an album from 1993 that I personally consider among the twenty or thirty best I’ve ever heard.

The marriage between the blonde singer-songwriter and the jazz/fusionist Larry Klein still works wonders. As a bassist, he wraps her guitar with elegant grooves, and as a producer he ensures her a classy sound—even if it's fairly dry and appropriate for the genre she frequents.

Which genre is that? For many years now, more or less since ’74 and “Court & Spark”, it’s a jazz-folk with blues and rock undertones. There’s truly very little pop in this work—as always with her. Joni is definitely food for music lovers, for people with at least a bit of sophistication, and without a doubt for many musicians who see in her a clear avant-garde and an inexhaustible champion.

No one copies Mitchell—she’s too unique—but those who understand, can’t help but love her. This album of hers is excellent: the melodies aren’t as “fresh” as in the past, but the rhythmic and guitar dress, the lyrics, the vocal expressiveness are all at champion level.