I loved the seamless jusxtaposition of old and new audio clips, sometimes
allowing her to finish a thought from the contemporary interview in her
young sweet voice. Generally, the musical editing was also quite good,
when they would combine the LP version of a song with a live performance
("Blue" was amazing in this regard). Having said that, I find it annoying
when they edit a given performance of a song (for example, editing out a
short instrumental break in "Night in the City"). I really appreciate the
attention given to STAS (short shrift to Clouds and LOTC was justified,
given the excellent coverage of the raw emotion of Blue and FTR). The
early footage showed how effortless it was for her to sing so clearly and
in tune, and her beauty was just stunning. Yes, I would have liked to see
SOMETHING about HOSL, but I thought the transition to Hejira was well
done. DJRD/Mingus was also well done. It would have been nice (especially
for people who "gave up" on her after Mingus) for them to at least mention
that she continued recording, experimenting, and NOT selling out right
through the eighties and into the nineties. They could have also spent a
little more time on her orchestral work on BSN and T'Log. Overall, IMO it
was very well done; her incredible artistry was clearly conveyed, and the
respect she has earned from everyone interviewed was obvious.
On a personal note, I was SURE that my PBS affilitate wasn't going to show
it - it was apparent from their web-site that they didn't do the American
Master's series - there's another PBS station in the Denver market (that I
don't get on my satellite system), so I was very sad reading about all of
the excitement that we were all sharing leading up to it. Just as I walked
in the door, I realized it WAS on (and just starting), so I popped a tape
in the VCR (it didn't matter what I was recording over), and watched it,
and immediately rewound the tape and watched it again. I DO LOVE THE SHOW;
I can't wait to watch it again.
At 09:27 AM 4/3/2003 -0500, you wrote:
What can I say - what an incredible show. I was totally unprepared for the
emotional impact of this program. I should have realized that a show about
Joni would be anything but your standard issue documentary.
