Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell At Newport
Rhino
Released 07/28/23 | Listen Below
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Ah, to have been in the audience at last year’s Newport Folk Festival, when Brandi Carlile announced the inimitable Joni Mitchell as the special surprise guest for the final performance of the day. It must have been a truly wonderful thing to witness firsthand, largely owing to her indisputable icon status, but also considering that it marked her first public performance since suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015 and her first full-length set since the early 2000s.
And lucky enough for the rest of us, we’re now able to hear just how wonderful the entire performance was thanks to Rhino Records, who have issued the official live album. Accompanied on stage by Carlile, Shooter Jennings, Wynonna Judd, Marcus Mumford, and Allison Russell, among other notable musicians, Mitchell revisited some of her most beloved songs including “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Both Sides Now,” “A Case Of You,” “The Circle Game” and “Help Me.”
“Mitchell emerged from the side of the stage, swaying smoothly, in fine summer-style with beret and sunglasses,” Cameron Crowe writes in the album’s liner notes. “Her good-natured mood instantly set the tone. This performance would be an intimate gathering of friends, not unlike the Joni Jams she’d been hosting in her own living room over the last few years of recovery. Smiling broadly, Mitchell made her surprise appearance, taking her on-stage seat alongside Carlile. Within minutes, the news had rocketed around the globe. Mitchell was back, sparkling with enthusiasm, delivering a tender and passionate set of 13 songs, ending with a joyful sing-along of ‘The Circle Game.’”
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