this has probably been discussed here already, but i thought i'd mention it. there is a "fanclub" section of vh1's site dedicated to JOni. one of the sections is about her influences. i linked through to from jm.com. here is what they had to say: MILES DAVIS A restless experimenter who pushed the boundaries of jazz and never shrunk from the wrath of fans who wished he would stay put, Davis is a Mitchell icon. In fact, in an interview she gave to discuss Both Sides Now, she remarked, "I was born on the day of the discoverer, so I'm doomed to be unique. Miles Davis was like that, Pablo Picasso was like that. Driven to explore. Always chasing something. Never quite getting what you wanted. The stars force me to be a die-hard original." CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG Her relationship with these artists has often been discussed in terms of her romances; David Crosby discovered her, got her a record deal, produced her debut, and, we hear, wooed her as well. But her relationship with Nash was deeper and longer on the personal front and inspired great material from both of them. Ladies of the Canyon documents her Nash period, when Laurel Canyon in the hills above Hollywood was the neighborhood of choice for the hippest of troubadours. "Circle Game" was a retort to Neil Young's "Sugar Mountain"; Young responded with a song called "Sweet Joni": "Sweet Joni from Saskatoon/She shines like the sun but feels like the moon." She gave them one of their biggest hits, "Woodstock," and toured outdoor stadiums with them in the mid-'70s. GEORGIA O'KEEFE One of the few artists who could actually intimidate Mitchell, the reclusive and ornery painter followed her own muse in the isolation of the New Mexican desert. Her austere pictures of a stark landscape are about more than just the land around them; they are sensual explorations of O'Keefe's womanhood. Mitchell felt such a spiritual connection that she undertook an elaborate effort to get to know the painter, who, like Joni, was not someone easily impressed. The long- distance relationship was worth it, because Mitchell did get to meet her idol, and O'Keefe remains an influence in Mitchell's paintings, music, and even in the clothes she wears. LAMBERT, HENDRICKS, AND ROSS These rapid-fire scat-singing virtuoso jazz vocalists inspired Mitchell's own note-bending approach. On Court and Spark, she revived one of their signature tunes, "Twisted," which lent an uncharacteristic bit of humor to her usually brooding work. Their influence is even stronger on Mitchell's underrated The Hissing of Summer Lawns, on which she interpolated the group's "Centerpiece" into a suite of songs about suburban isolation. Her interest in the trio helped revive interest in the trio among pop fans, and the two surviving members of the group paid her tribute last year as a surprise encore act at the Hejira tribute at New York's Central Park. WEATHER REPORT The jazz-fusion group, whose artistic roots are in the pioneering work of Miles Davis, attracted adventurous fans of rock and funk. Their influence can be particularly felt on Mitchell's "Paprika Plains," an extended piece from Don Juan's Reckless Daughter that features Weather Report bassist Jaco Pastorius and saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Mitchell and Pastorius enjoyed a remarkable collaboration on that album and Hejira, and he accompanied her on a tour documented on the Shadows and Light live disc and video, as part of an all-star jazz backing group. Their explorations would have undoubtedly continued had the unstable, drug-abusing Pastorius not died so young. Shorter and Mitchell continue to work together, and it's his sax playing that so eloquently accompanies Mitchell on the title track to Both Sides Now.
