Now, Joni Mitchell’s jazz Hisses over summer lawns for you

Now, Joni Mitchell’s jazz Hisses over summer lawns for you

Mitchell’s increasing fluency in jazz is all over this track, not just in her vocal phrasing but in the very bones of the arrangement. Chuck Findley’s muted trumpet and Bud Shank’s flute don’t solo so much as hover like ghosts over the composition, creating a lush and stifling atmosphere. John Guerin—drummer, co-writer, and Mitchell’s then-partner—lays down a whispering groove, a barely-there pulse that allows every other element to breathe.

Get in the groove with multi-instrumentalist FKJ NOW!

Get in the groove with multi-instrumentalist FKJ NOW!

This video rolled up, ala algorithm, on the heels of James Vickery, Until Morning Colors performance. This is what lovers do, sometimes an Algorithm is your natural ally, anticipating, serving your aural needs. This week we are back, like so many others in the funk of it

Now Running from Mercy is you

Now Running from Mercy is you

Rickie Lee Jones’ Traffic from Paradise is a deeply atmospheric album, rich with layered instrumentation and poetic introspection. Among its standout moments, “Running from Mercy” emerges as a song that transcends the rest of the record.