Search - Joni Mitchell - Painting with Words and Music - DTS on DVD

Joni in a small club fantasy comes true

Nicholas Bates | Syndey, NSW, Australia | 03/08/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Classic, esoteric performance of the great one

Charlie Peterson | Minneapolis, MN USA | 02/15/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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 * DreamlandEverything 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."

No Hejira Here

P. E. Birder | Camden, SC USA | 07/12/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Nice, intimate overview of Joni....

J. Bilby | Kingston, New Hampshire United States | 08/10/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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.
"