LENOX TRIBUNE - A sophisticated self-assuredness and musical hospitality showed almost 7,000 fans at Tanglewood that the broad range of musical talents is as far-reaching as the western landscapes she sings of. Like Woody Allen (whose recent film "Manhattan" contains some of Mitchell's most original songs in one of the more important scenes today), Ms. Mitchell has always been a pioneer of experimentation in the genres of jazz, rock, and folk, and remains a brilliant, refreshing art form one can always count on to hear something new today.
35-year-old former folk queen opened her set with a 17-member orchestra tuning up to "Alice," "Big Yellow Taxi," an easily acceptable cheer producer, and "For Free," a little more avant-garde and unfamiliar from her recent jazz-based "Mingus" album that we welcome.
Mitchell's recent and sporting diversion to jazz, however, did not overwhelm the audience. The New York Times and Rolling Stone lauded her "Mingus" collaboration with jazz great Charles Mingus (before his death earlier this year). It probably was not unlikely step for an artist so musically curious, to explore a wider range in areas outside her traditional folk roots.
As Ms. Mitchell said in an interview with the Boston Globe published Aug. 19 edition of the New York Times:
"...Musicians are more audio-oriented, and I'm drawn to them. I have much more color available to me now. I can play with shadings. I have this painterly ability now like strokes. If I want a line, I can break it and make it wavy. It can be a very strong straight line."
After "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Mingus," Ms. Mitchell realized she was losing some of the initial crowd and came back with applause-winning renditions of "Help Me," "Free Man in Paris," "Raised on Robbery" and "Amelia."
Mitchell, however, appeared to be painting her own picture from the stage, unperturbed by those leaving the scene. Her own picture from the solo flute-man backup band to her own private backup look - a backbeat to the blonde hair.
Her 1974 performance at Tanglewood was more controlled, personal for fans - she conversed with the audience, drank wine, and smoked onstage and tossed a rose into the crowd during the set.
In 1979, she relied heavily on the jazz-tinged "Mingus" album and "A Express to Her Door" and "A Chair in the Sky" and stuck to the center stage and held that position throughout. Her recent dive into the jazz world, however foreign it may seem to traditional Mitchell fans, is a serious necessary venture for an artist so concerned with personal and professional growth.
Ms. Mitchell's poetic, dreamy lyrics, her flutelike voice, and her natural ability to characterize human emotions with her music is just as strong, if not stronger, than it ever was.
Her sensitivity and respect for the legacy of rock 'n' roll were exhibited with a rocking version of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" sung a-cappella with the Persuasions, the warm-up act.
That old time rocker sent fans into a frenzy, calling Ms. Mitchell back for her usual double encore.
A Mitchell concert would not be authentic without a sit-down piano solo of "The Last Time I Saw Richard," the ultimate "Joni Mitchell-blue" ballad from the 1971 "Blue" album.
That led a cheering throng into an almost pious hush for a genuine Mitchell delivery of "Woodstock." The lyrics filled the music shed with an eerie echo of the festival 10 years past:
"We are stardust. We are golden.
And, we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."
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