Come 1972, Joni’s singular songwriting talent and poetic gifts were undeniable. Fresh off the back-to-back Platinum-certified releases of 1970’s Ladies of the Canyon and 1971’s Blue — totemic albums whose artfulness and ubiquity would influence generations of songwriters — Mitchell had grown wary of mounting media scrutiny. Everything from her style choices to romantic partners became the subject of far more gossip column inches than were ever dedicated to the lifestyle minutiae of her male counterparts.

In response, she had pulled back, announcing an early retirement from the stage in 1970 and moving to the quiet expanses of British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. It was a fruitful change of scenery. Inspired by her proximity to nature and refreshed by the peaceful seclusion, she began constructing the songs that would become For The Roses. This respite thrust Mitchell into a remarkably fertile creative period, yielding a run of albums — 1972’s For The Roses, 1974’s Court And Spark, and 1975’s The Hissing Of Summer Lawns — that would simultaneously expand and refine the scope of her music. Her adventurous, intricate arrangements and growing formidability as a bandleader injected these songs with a clarity of purpose, a potent muscularity, and a sense of possibility — it is among the most exciting eras of a near peerless career.

This era comes into even greater focus on Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975), out October 6, 2023 on Rhino Records. It’s the latest entry in Rhino’s ongoing, GRAMMY-winning series exploring the vast untapped archives of rare Joni Mitchell recordings — a project guided intimately by Mitchell’s own vision and personal touch. Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975) will be available both in a 5CD / digital version and a 4LP cut-down version, both with an accompanying book featuring photos and a conversation about this period between Joni Mitchell and longtime friend Cameron Crowe. More information here

Joni’s triumphant return to the stage on July 24, 2022, is released today on a new live album from Rhino, AT NEWPORT, available on CD and 2-LP black vinyl. Produced by close collaborator Brandi Carlile, along with Mitchell, the music has also been released on digital and streaming services and Dolby Atmos. A clear-vinyl version of the 2-LP set is available exclusively from Indie Retail and Barnes & Noble.

The first song Joni Mitchell sang at a “Joni Jam” - the intimate gathering of friends she and Brandi Carlile hosted during her recovery from a brain aneurysm - was George Gershwin’s “Summertime.” Today, Rhino has unveiled a mesmerizing new performance of the tune, recorded live during Mitchell’s surprise return to the stage at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival. The entire At Newport live album will be available on July 28 - Newport Folk Festival 2023 weekend - via the official store.

When Joni mesmerized the Newport Folk Festival audience last summer with a surprise performance, she 'breathed new meaning into some of her most famous lyrics' (New York Times). Today, the powerful live recording of her beloved hit 'A Case Of You' is available digitally now. Originally released in 1971 on Blue, this new live recording features vocals by Marcus Mumford and Brandi Carlile.

Listen to “A Case Of You,” available digitally today on your preferred platform.

The entire At Newport live album will be available on July 28 - Newport Folk Festival 2023 weekend - via Rhino.

Joni stunned the Newport Folk Festival audience last summer when she gave a surprise performance – her first in 20 years – delivering a heartfelt set filled with some of her greatest songs.

Mitchell’s triumphant return to the stage on July 24, 2022, will be featured on a new live album from Rhino, AT NEWPORT, available on July 28, 2023 on CD and 2-LP black vinyl. Produced by close collaborator Brandi Carlile, along with Mitchell, the music will also be released the same day on digital and streaming services and Dolby Atmos. A clear-vinyl version of the 2-LP set will be available exclusively from Indie Retail and Barnes & Noble. Mitchell’s Newport performance of her classic song “Both Sides Now” is available today digitally.

Although they rarely appeared together on the same bill, Gordon Lightfoot and Joni moved in many of the same circles early in their careers- most notably, each appearing often at the Riverboat, the famous Toronto coffeehouse. This was the premier area club at the time, and Joni and Gordon (along with Neil Young) were the top talents.

For Canadians, Mr. Lightfoot was a national hero, a homegrown star who stayed home even after achieving spectacular success in the United States and who catered to his Canadian fans with cross-country tours. “Sometimes I wonder why I’m being called an icon, because I really don’t think of myself that way,” Mr. Lightfoot told The Toronto Globe and Mail in 2008. “I’m a professional musician, and I work with very professional people. It’s how we get through life.”

Gordon died Monday night. He was 84.

Text adapted from William Grimes at the NYT.

On the horizon... Cary Raditz' new memoir "Carey: Genesis of the Song" to be released in June. An excerpt:

Ahhh. “California.” I heard it first in London with James’s guitar backing her dulcimer. And then Henry Lewy played it for me at A&M. It’s a great song, although I’m not flattered with “Redneck on a Grecian Isle . . . ,” and “ . . . he kept my camera to sell.” That goddamn camera. People are always asking me about it. She gave me the camera to film Matala, to film its fragile presence like Brassaï had captured an essence of Paris in 1930—but that would be a flattering comparison—it was about recording a point in time and space. Joni had witnessed the fragility of Matala, how the police had closed down the caves while she was there. She knew Matala and its cultural lifestyle were bound to change and disappear, not unlike Paradise in “Big Yellow Taxi.”

Stay tuned for more information!

The PBS broadcast of Joni Mitchell: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song will be available in Canada as well as the USA. The program can be viewed on PBS.org or with the PBS App - available for Roku, Apple TV 4, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV in Canada.

Also, the broadcasts from these PBS border stations will be available to Canadian viewers:

WMED-TV (available in New Brunswick)
KFME-TV Fargo (available in Winnipeg/Northwestern Ontario in high-definition)
KGFE-TV Grand Forks (available in Winnipeg)
KTCI Minneapolis (available in Thunder Bay)
WCFE-TV Plattsburgh (available in Montreal)
WPBS-TV Watertown (available in Ottawa)
WNED-TV Buffalo (available in Southern Ontario)
WQLN-TV Erie (available in London)
WTVS Detroit Public Television (Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Sudbury, Halifax, St. Johns and Ontario. Well watched in Québec and have wonderful reach in communities of all sizes, from the Atlantic Provinces to the Yukon.)

More information here.

Musical artists joined the national library and American leaders to honor music legend Joni Mitchell in the nation’s capital on Wednesday, March 1, as she was awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song during an all-star tribute concert.

The lineup included performances by James Taylor, Brandi Carlile, Annie Lennox, Herbie Hancock, Cyndi Lauper, Marcus Mumford, Graham Nash, Angelique Kidjo, Diana Krall, Celisse, Lucius and Ledisi.

PBS stations will broadcast the concert — “Joni Mitchell: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song” — at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, March 31 (check local listings) and on PBS.org and the PBS App as part of the co-produced Emmy Award-winning music series. It will also be broadcast to U.S. Department of Defense locations around the world via the American Forces Network. More information.

I love Wayne Shorter. He's the best saxophonist ever, in my opinion. Miles thought so too. Even over Coltrane and the people who were much more famous than Wayne, really. Everything was magical about him. I remember I was playing with Jaco Pastorius, who had just joined Weather Report. Wayne, of course, was one of the founding members of that band. Jaco was supposed to be in the studio recording with me, and he didn't show up. So I said to Henry, the engineer, ”I know where he is. Let's go get him.” So we went down to the rehearsal studio. Zawinul and Jaco were tossing a Frisbee on the ground. They were throwing it with their hand and priding themselves on how good they were at catching a Frisbee and everything.

At a certain point, they threw it at Peter Erskine, who was a new drummer in the band. It came towards him and he was terrified. He reached up and grabbed it and threw it. It wobbled all the way back. Jaco looked at him and kind of gave him the stink eye for a bad throw. Up on the stage meantime was Wayne with his horn tucked under his left arm. He was playing the keyboard with his right hand. Joe threw the Frisbee at Wayne, and it was coming straight at Wayne’s head, out of his peripheral vision. Wayne reached up, caught it and threw it back perfectly. You know, Wayne was more than a musician. He was like a little Zen master. He was mystical. He was the only musician that I could direct metaphorically or theatrically. I would say to him, “Come in here and get out here. Then come in really sad, and by the time you get to here… get really young.”

And he would play that! Or, I’d tell him, okay, Wayne, “you're the bird.” So he'd go out in the studio, put his horn in his mouth, and the first lick that came out of him was so like a bird. It was amazing. Then his hand was in the air waving for “one more take,” and I said, “no way. I'll punch you in, but I won't start over.” So I punched him in and I left the first lick that he played on the record. It was magnificent. He was just kind of unconscious when he played it, but it was so bird-like and so unusual. He was a beautiful musician. He will be sorely missed.