>Also, due to Joni's age, the artists that perhaps made >the biggest impression on her WERE the Parkers, Birds, >Mingus et al...
Aha, of course! I hadn't quite thought of it that way, but that *would* be her personal frame of reference. >One must remember that as talented and unique as Joni >was when she first started out, the Jimi's Bob's and the >rest of the group were her contemporaries, and in my >opinion, and perhaps hers as well, she was light years >ahead of many of them. Yes, and being a true artist she would not have desired to either compete with, be influenced by, or meld with her musical contemporaries at the time. (although it has long been argued that she got into a lot of the alternate tunings originally from Crosby). So in a way she was maybe detached from them and maybe also looking just a bit with a critical eye at them. She WAS light years ahead of many of them and that, in itself, puts her in a unique position. Kakki
