Customer Reviews

Joni Mitchell - Painting with Words and Music

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Released in late Feb in Australia, I grabbed this off the shelfas soon as I saw it. Mitchell is really in her element here - a smallintimate venue ( one of the studios at Warners in LA) decorated with sofas and Mitchell's paintings. The band is just right - not too lush not too sparse. Drums, guitar/pedal steel, bass and trumpet and of course Mitchell herself on that new whizz bang guitar of her's which I think sounds great. She jokes with the audience, dances with one of her singers and tells a great story at the end about Woodstock, knitting and stars. As you would expect, most of the material is post Court and Spark except for Big Yellow taxi for openers and Woodstock in closing. Lots of wonderful stuff from Hejira and fortunately only one from her "I'm angry with the world, so lets write a silly song" repetoire. Throughout the concert (a selection from two consecutive nights) Mitchell's singing is great; 'live' her voice seems fresher than on CD and though the upper register is shot to pieces, what's left is full of character, reveals more light and shade. Plus her phrasing is right on. There are really no dud tracks here and I tend to just put it on as if it were a CD (nice and loud), popping back to the screen every now and then to watch the still beautiful woman do her stuff, though other times I sit down and just indulge in the whole 98 minutes of it. One particularly shining moment is Mitchell's cover of Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man. Its a heartfelt and beautifully sung version that reveals what a great singer Mitchell really is. It sends shivers up my spine everytime I replay. This video is a great introduction to what Mitchell has achieved over the last 20 years. It should send people out to snap up records like Hejira and Hissing of Summer Lawns not to mention more recent stuff. A perfect complement to this video would be Shadows and Light, the double live album that came out in the early eighties and featuring Jaco Pastorius on bass and other luminaries.

Because it hasn't appeared on this page yet, here's the setlist of songs that are featured on this DVD:

Tiger Bones * Big Yellow Taxi * Just Like This Train * Night Ride Home * Crazy Cries Of Love * Harry's House * Black Crow * Amelia * Hejira * Sex Kills * The Magdalene Laundries * Moon At The Window * Face Lift * Why Do Fools Fall In Love? * Trouble Man * Nothing Can Be Done * Song For Sharon * Woodstock * Dreamland

Everything is exquisite here: we've got Joni in rare form, an older and wiser version of the folk singer of the 60's and 70's. The supplemental players are first-rate, including Brian Blade on drums, Larry Klein (aka Joni's ex-husband) on bass, Mark Isham on trumpet, and Mark Leisz on additional guitars. The small, intimate theater is filled with multicolored couches, and the stage is a small circle, sized perfectly for this excellent evening of music. Highly recommended! If you're a fan, this is one not to miss.

Not withstanding the sound problems mentioned many times by reviewers,
this was a pretty nice overview of Joni Mitchell's work,
presented as she is now. The voice has lost much of its
original spectacular presence BUT I really like the new deeper
Joni voice. She is still capable of doing great work, just
at a lower register. The new guitar she uses is perfectly suited for
her stylings, still love the way she moves her hand across the frets making little percussive noises along the way, nobody
plays likes this. The Band is such a compliment to her music,
dreamy, lonesome, searching always relevant. Nice pedal steel
and especially the BASS work is terrific. I especially
enjoy the likes of "Comes Love" and how much she enjoys herself
taking on this style. Shes never been afraid to explore her
muse so this show comes off beautiful for the most part, whatever happened to the mixing, the most important part to me
I'll never know, it just should have been more striking considering all the time taken to look so good. This show is
a must for those who've traveled with Joni all these years and just let her be who she's become as she ages and
well for those forever lost to the 1970s and unable to deal with
the artist evolving and changing and getting along its sad. She
smokes big deal, she pays the consequenses of this but getting
back to the show, it has many great moments to recommend.

One of the many wonderful aspects of this DVD is Ms. Mitchell's storytelling, the most striking of which was how she came up with the title of her album Hejira. She explained that the definition of the word is, "...leaving the dream, no blame." Well, she has not left the dream. I have been listening to her music for 30 years, have all her albums, most on vinyl as well as CD, and I was SO mesmerized by this DVD. While she has lost the high end of her vocal range, she MORE than compensates with her style, her presence, and her incredible talent. My only complaint about the DVD is the sound quality which is spotty at times, otherwise it would be a 5 plus. The dream lives on.

If anyone knows where you can get prints of her paintings, please contact me.

This DVD concert is magical.

It's Joni in 1998, performing in the middle of a circular venue for a small, intimate audience. An interesting aspect you notice right away is that the crowd is sitting comfortably in different types of livingroom furniture, upholstered couches and chairs, situated on different levels throughout. The entrance to the fabricated venue is an art gallery of Joni Mitchell paintings for everyone to see while entering into the performance area, which is surrounded by her artwork as well.

Once standing onstage, our lady of the canyon breaks into a fine solo rendition of 'Big Yellow Taxi'. Some will immediately recognize the echoing, hollow sound in her guitar, as guitarists will notice her playing throughout the concert in what appears to be an alternate tuning, a sweet sound full of magical tones, definitely signature Joni Mitchell, kind o' blue. She charms the audience in a laid back manner throughout the show as well, explaining lyrics and telling tales of her songs.

Following a few solo arrangements, her band takes to the stage as well. Brian Blade, Larry Klein, Mark Isham, and Greg Leisz have no problem convincing the captivated audience that they are the typical jazz professionals she's always been known to be accompanied by. I loved hearing 'Night Ride Home', 'Sex Kills', 'Nothing Can Be Done', 'Woodstock', and 'The Magdalena Laundries', among others.

This DVD is a must for those who love the music of Joni Mitchell.

Joni Mitchell and her band of first-class musicians (of course) offer a wonderful, wide-ranging song cycle in Painting With Words & Music, a special concert filmed in a colorful, intimate setting. Some of her old favorites are included (Big Yellow Taxi, complete with a take-off on Janet Jackson's take-off), Black Crow (a stunning jazz-rocker) and Woodstock. But there are other song styles here, handled with equal skill (and exhuberant joy): the Billie Holiday smoker Comes Love (inadvertently titled Nothing Can Be Done in the VHS liner notes) and Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man. The musical delights are complemented by some charming stage patter and one very long, very funny story about Mitchell's long-ago encounter with a wise-cracking but endearing tourist at a remote Canadian lodge. As for the voice: truth be told, it was not in peak form during this performance (this was filmed just one week after the end of the Dylan/Mitchell/Morrison tour, during which she was ill much of the time -- she sounded much better during the 2000 Both Sides Now tour). But you will hear a high note a la the old days here and there, and she certainly gets credit for energetic delivery (especially on the R&B tunes). As for the technical complaints some have registered: unless you're a professional audio engineer or a nerdy techno-phile, you probably won't even notice the problems (if there are any). All things considered, it's a pleasure to view this special recording by the indisputably talented and intriguing Joni Mitchell.

Beautiful paintings, adoring fans, first-class jazz/pop musicians, and a fabulous variety of songs -- ranging from Why Do Fools Fall in Love to selections from Hejira, Joni's stunning masterpiece album. All that and funny stories too, with a surprise appearance by Graham Nash. Joni jams and proves that she remains a first-class singer on Trouble Man. Nobody even comes to close to this woman's musical versatility, ingenuity and creativity, and this peformance proves it. This is a must-have for any Joni fan, whether you prefer the early songs or her more recent explorations. Get it!

I've bought concert films before and am almost always distracted by a number of problems. For one, the camera never seems to be where you want it to be. Whenever something really interesting is happening musically, the camera is on the wrong musician. And the video and audio are never quite in sync. JONI MITCHELL: PAINTING WITH WORDS AND MUSIC is everything you wish for in a concert film: a great performance by a great artist, perfectly edited, sonically superb. And with Joni's new instrument and band, she sounds better than ever. I actually like this better than her 1980 film, SHADOWS AND LIGHT.

..... because to date I find that so many music dvd's are disappointing. And this one is pretty damn fine. Lots of her greatest hits- however, my favourite tracks are #15 (Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man)and #16 (Nothing Can be Done). Mitchell comes over as genuinely enjoying the audience and doing the performance. Nobody can doubt she is mega talented. Audio quality- not too bad at all- (I've heard a lot lot worse- for instance the highly over-rated "Sessions at 54th Street" has some really bad recordings with virtually all of the sound coming out of the rear speakers- Uggghhh!). I just cannot understand the reader who said that the audio quality was totally inadequate because it could not get his woofer moving- this guy must have been watching too many Batman dvd's!

Not being a big Joni Mitchell fan (always admired her though) I was unfamiliar with most of the material on this DVD - but was totally captivated. While being incredibly disappointed with many concert dvd purchases in the past - this one was a nice surprise. Technically there are better concert DVD's out there, but conveying the artists feelings and emotions, while making the listener feel a part of the performance are this DVD's strong points. Fantastic musicians, good but not great audio (Joni's guitar with it's heavy effects was a little too high in the mix, while the drums and bass were too far back). Unlike some others, I liked the sound and texture of her voice - I thought it fit her jazzy-pop-rock songs perfectly. Just fast forward through the overly complimentary intro of j.m., sit back and enjoy being front and center. If you like this DVD check out any of the "Best of Sessions at W54th DVDs" they also do a great job of getting the listener involved.