A Tribute to Joni Mitchell

A Tribute to Joni Mitchell
Label: Nonesuch
Length: EP
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: Tribute to Joni Mitchell, A
Prince recorded many of the basics that made it to the Purple Rain soundtrack at a Minneapolis club show in 1983. Just before the band set into ‘Computer Blue,â?� they played a beautiful version of Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case of Youâ?� that, even after 24 years of music-making, stands as one of the performer’s finest moments. Thus, it makes sense that Prince revisits the song (in a studio version) on this exceptional tribute disc. What’s unusual is that Prince’s contribution is not the most unlikely highlight. The wide variety of genres represented ‘ jazz (Cassandra Wilson, Brad Mehldau), pop (Annie Lennox, Sarah McLachlan), songwriter (Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello) and others (Björk, Sufjan Stevens, Caetano Veloso) ‘ emphasize Mitchell’s continuing legacy of creating unique combinations of advanced lyricism and musical atmospherics. None of the versions hews closely to the original tracks ‘ Cassandra Wilson sounds oddly like Nick Drake; McLachlan’s take on ‘Blueâ?� out-ethereals Mitchell herself; and Sufjan Stevens’ ‘Free Man in Parisâ?� is a direct and affecting moment. Mitchell’s secret talent is that she influences truly individual musicians to this day.

This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2007.