The reason Joni Mitchell turned to jazz
Joni Mitchell rose to fame in the folk fanaticism of the 1960s. Surrounded by peers like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Joan Baez, she developed an honest lyrical style backed by soft, acoustic instrumentals. In the early ’70s, folk was booming, and Mitchell’s albums Clouds and Blue saw her reach great critical and commercial success.
But by the mid-1970s, Joni Mitchell was looking to incorporate a new kind of sound. Her 1974 album Court and Spark saw Mitchell try her hand at jazz. The sound stuck, and she began collaborating with other jazz musicians, including Jaco Pastorius and Don Alias.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Mitchell stated: “You have two options. You can stay the same and protect the formula that gave you your initial success. They’re going to crucify you for staying the same. If you change, they’re going to crucify you for changing. But staying the same is boring. And change is interesting. So, of the two options, I’d rather be crucified for changing.”
By the late 1970s, Mitchell had formed a long-distance friendship with bassist Charles Mingus. The jazz multi-instrumentalist was one of the biggest names in the genre, collaborating with the likes of Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker. Like Mitchell, he was one of the greats of his chosen genre.
Their friendship led them to compose together, and Mingus named six melodies after Joni for her to add vocals to. After his death in 1979, Mitchell finished the recordings and added recordings of Mingus. The tracks were released on her 1979 album Mingus.
Looking back on her work with Charles Mingus, she recalls: “This was a unique position. I’ve never worked for somebody else before. Although in the treatment of the music, it was much more my version jazz.”
She reflects on his more traditional recording process, “As far as the music was finally recorded. He’s more traditional in a way – anti-electronics and anti-avant-garde. I’m looking to make modern American music. So I just hoped that he would like what I was doing.”
Mitchell continues: “I was taking it someplace where I would be true to myself. It was never meant as a commemorative album while we were making it. I never really believed completely that he was going to die. His spirit was so strong.”
She notes that Mingus heard all of the songs but ‘God Must Be a Boogie Man’ before his death, “which he would have liked since it is his point of view about himself. It’s based on the first four pages of his book.” After two decades in the making, Mingus published his autobiography Beneath the Underdog: His World as Composed by Mingus in 1971.
After Mingus, Mitchell began to incorporate more pop elements into her musical output, but the influence of jazz and Mingus remained on releases like Both Sides Now and in her enduring openness to trying and blending new genres.
