Hi List -- It's late and I'm tired and have so much to say about Travelogue...but will just make a few observations.
I've been listening to it for about a month, and the songs are just beginning to unfold for me. While I was immediately drawn to a few tracks like "The Dawntreader" and "Be Cool", I had reservations about some of the material, especially on the first disc. Also, while I thought that the Hejira songs were nice, they seemed to me to lack the spark of the original recordings. Well, they do...but they posses a richness and scope and pathos that I am only beginning to appreciate. Refuge of The Roads...transcendent!!!!!!! The artwork, which is gorgeous, has really opened my eyes to the intensely personal nature of the whole presentation (I hesitate to call it a CD because I do believe that the artwork is an integral part of the whole). She is really offering an overview not just of her work, but of her life. The dedication to her parents, the thoughtful political content, the spectacularly ambitious and beautiful music and the exceptional paintings are all of a piece, and for me, they speak not only to her unparalleled artistry, but also to her deeply loving and expansive heart. Thank you, Joni. Best, David p.s. Bob, the "asian gentleman" in the painting is Chogyam Trungpa, the "man of spirit" from Refuge of the Roads. He was an influential Tibetan Buddhist teacher and artist, and founder of the Naropa Institute.
