Joni Mitchell's new album—her 11th—began as a collaboration with Charles Mingus, who wrote the music for four of the tunes, and was completed as Joni's personal tribute to Mingus, who died on January 5, 1979, at the age of 56. She has chosen wisely to evoke the spirit of Mingus within the limits of her own style, rather than trying to mimic the sound of a Mingus' music. Joni acknowledges in the liner notes that: "This is a difficult and challenging project. I am trying to please Charlie and still be true to myself." She has largely succeeded, but the album presents a musical challenge as well—it requires focused concentration, and will appeal most strongly to those who are familiar with Mingus' music.

After recording test sessions with a number of fine musicians, Joni settled on a consistent group for the album: Jaco Pastorius on bass, Wayne Shorter on soprano sax, Herbie Hancock on electric piano, Peter Erskine on drums, Don Alias on congas, and Emil Richards on percussion. Their playing is in accord with Joni's post-Hissing-of-Summer-Lawns spaced and textural textures, with much of the emphasis on the counterpoint of Joni's voice and Pastorius' bass lines. While Mingus' music often frustrated many of Joni's old fans, who yearn for her folky days, it clearly represents a more sophisticated and artistic maturity. If she has narrowed her audience by remaining true to her evolving artistic ideals, we cannot fault her for being stale and repetitive.

This sort of defiant dedication characterized the entire career of Charles Mingus, and it is delightful that there is so obvious an affinity with Joni and chose to write some music especially for her. Although—or perhaps because—he was struggling with the final debilitating disease, Mingus wrote some of his strongest music in the last year of his life. Of the four melodies written especially for Joni, three tunes are on the album: "A Chair in the Sky," "Sweet Sucker Dance," and "The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines." The fourth Mingus tune, the classic "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," was adapted by Joni to close the album.

The album begins with a tape-recorded dedication from Mingus at one of his birthday celebrations. (Either his 53rd or 54th; there is a dispute about the matter). Other taped segments from four brief interviews punctuate the album. Fortunately, they are well chosen and brief, serving as windows into the life of Mingus without intruding excessively into the listening experience.

The first tune, "God Must Be a Boogie Man," (sic) is Joni's introductory portrait of Mingus' personality—the trinity of his characteristics: "Mingus the one attacking/so afraid," "Mingus the so sweet/so overly loving and groveling," and Mingus "in the middle somewhere/so cool that he did what the other two." The religious metaphor ("One in Three; Three in One") is particularly appropriate for a man who saw himself as a medium—an Eye of God—through which his music flowed. (Thus the title of his last album, "Me, Myself an Eye"—a gospel-tinged response to the critics.)

The Spirit of Mingus

"A Chair in the Sky" evokes not only the spirit of Mingus, but also those of two of his idols, Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker. The tune is wistful, with its images of Birdland and the young Mingus "burning up on the bandstand." Joni's vocal delivery delivers the purest jazz vocal of her career, too, suggesting both the sweetness and the sax at the end. The title is particularly fitting, suggesting both the precariousness of Mingus' last days (while he could not control his failing talent), and "A Cabin in the Sky," a 1943 Vincente Minnelli musical featuring Ellington's band. In the movie, the young black hero lies unconscious and dreams of good and evil struggling for his soul.

Side one closes with "The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey"—a tune that sounds out of place—a displaced cousin of "Coyote." If it fits at all, it is as a dark portrait of the evil within man—the evil that Mingus grappled with, as expressed in his autobiography, "Beneath the Underdog." The taped segment, "Hellview from Bellvue," if it takes a little getting used to, fits the mood of the song into context. It takes none for the music, again brooding and percussive, with Joni's haunting horn-like soprano sax guitar and making it sound most unguitar-like. The taped segment, which sounds punctuated by eerie wolf-howls, the tune closes side one in a mood of funeral despair. That mood is instantly lifted—literally laughed away—by the seven-second tape of Mingus saying, "That's right, Lionel Waller—'I's A-Muggin'." That opens side two. Joni's giggle kicks right into "Sweet Sucker Dance"—a strong Mingus tune with a characteristic Joni Mitchell lyric about the phoniness of life. "Why do we lie to each other/Why do we go out and get it/Just to turn around and debut it?" is true to the front-porch theme of many of Joni's songs, the song celebrates the joy of being a happy smoker in a world of "sweet sucker dance," and if you see yourself as a sucker.

"The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines" is a celebration, despite its ironies, then "The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines" is a Mardi Gras parade of losers. Especially effective is the Dry Cleaner's roar along on a frenetic bass line and percussion break. Despite its title, Joni's lyrics are sharp and funny, the incredulous observations of an out-of-luck gambler watching as a "Midas in a polyester suit" cleans up in Vegas: "But the cleaner from Des Moines/Coulda picked up a John/And get twenty for one/It's just hard to tell/Said there's no such thing as easy money?"

After a last, dead-center perfect quote from Mingus—"What is music?/Music is a blessed me, you know! I was blessed by God"—side two closes with a haunting rendition of Mingus' lyrics ballad "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat." Joni's lyrics take off from Mingus' original intent—a tribute to Lester Young—and evolve into a tribute to Mingus, evoking images of a New Orleans funeral party returning from the cemetery.

The album succeeds as a series of "audio paintings" (Joni's term), and as a unique and deeply personal tribute. Much of it is uneven, and sometimes more brilliant in concept than in execution, it is because Joni has aimed very high. That, in itself, is an accurate reflection of the spirit of Mingus.