Since the review I did came out so poorly the first time, and it took so many hours to write it, I reworked it and am sending it again. Apologizes for using so much bandwidth again, but it really was unreadable the first time. I hope you enjoy it!
Hugs, Ashara ----------------------------------------------------------------------- We arrived at the Liberty Grand, a large stately building, to see a very large banner in front announcing what was in store for us that evening: An Hommage to Joni Mitchell as part of the 6-week long World Leaders Festival. The evening began with cocktails, and Joni made a short appearance during the hour. Then a wonderful sit down dinner of Elderflower Cured Atlantic Salmon, Pecan Crusted Yukon Caribou with Saskatoon Berries, Goat Cheese and Butternut Squash, and a delicious White Chocolate Cheesecake with BlueberryCassis Sauce. Executive Chef, Anthony Walsh from Canoe Restaurant and Bar, wanted to capture the brilliance of this country through the flavors and textures of regional cuisine. He even had a substitute for this vegetarian diner! As we made our way into the theater, it quickly became apparent that this would be a very interesting venue, with the stage in the center and seats to either side of it. Not a traditional theater nor theater in the round, it would be curious to see how this would work for the audience. The darkened stage started to glow a soft blue as Both Sides Now was played by the band, which consisted of a piano player, a cellist, and two other musicians that were playing Indian type drums, bells, and a xylophone. Brent Carver, Ann Marie McDonald, and Rebecca Jenkins came out to guide the audience through a multi-sensory evening consisting of live performances, media clips,and special presentations by many of Joni's friends and influences. Brent painted the scene with a narrative of Joan Anderson's early life on the prairie, while the cellist accompanied him with a soft version of Both Sides Now underneath, and the two large monitors above went through a slide show of Joan as a young girl. Of course, he mentions a huge influence of Joan's, Mr.Kratzman, who told her, "If you can paint with a brush, you can paint with words." Next, Brent sang a beautiful version of Night in the City. More anecdotal stories, such as her Grade 4 report card saying, "Original ideas with a gift of interpretation." And another Mr.Kratzman piece of advice, to "write in your own blood." This was followed by several of Joni's poems including "The Fishbowl," and "I Am a Guitar." While listening to these poems, we were treated to a slide show of many of Joni's early felt-tip pen drawings on the monitors, including many that are in the book "Star Art." Gordon Lightfoot was next invited to the stage to talk about the early days, when Joni was first getting started in the music business. He brought us back to Detroit in 1965, when Joan and Chuck Mitchell were playing at the ChessMate. He reminisced about being invited up to their apartment, and having to walk up 5 flights of stairs carrying guitars. He knew even then that she was a quality songwriter. He also talked about the Beatles coming onto the scene, and how every time they each had a new album to promote, there was a new Beatles album on the shelf next to theirs. He ended with how happy he was to be there and how he hadn't seen her since 1976. Then off the stage he went to receive a hug from the honoree. Joel Bernstein was next to honor Joni, in his "disembodied voice." Pictures of Joel and Joni on the monitor gave way to pictures that he had taken of her over the course of knowing Joni as her friend, photographer, and music transcriber for over 30 years. He explained the difference between standard tuning and open tuning. He said, "When the young Joni Mitchell was first introduced to these open tunings, she coaxed some very different sounds from the guitar strings." He went on to say, "And one day long ago, while retuning her guitar from one open tuning to another, she stopped some place in between and listened. 'Ooooo...delicious!!' thought Joni. 'I think I'll stay here awhile and explore.' And so she did, coming up with both a new and original tuning that wasn't standard or open and the new and original chords to play in it. This was the musical equivalent of Alice opening the little door and glimpsing an entirely new world beyond. From that day to this, Joni's curiosity, sense of adventure, and unique sense of what composers call 'tone color' have resulted in her own very personal discovery and deep exploration of literally dozens of these new worlds." Joel mentions that he is currently completing a project of many years- a 2-Volume set of arrangements of every one of Joni's released songs, complete with carefully transcribed tunings and chords for each. Hoping to be released next year, he says it will provide a "detailed map of where she has traveled musically over the years." He says he hopes it will inspire others to explore her songs and finishes with, "But you know what? Even with the book, when it comes to playing Joni Mitchell songs, nobody can do it like 'The Mitch' herself."
