<<So, my personal "labeling" system (I can already hear the screams from beyond the web) is:>>
No screaming here, Laurent...I always find this sort of exercise interesting. I'll add a comment or two: <<* Up to Blue it's folk (LOTC, Clouds, FTR, etc)>> Joni would of course beat you over the head with an ugly stick to hear you call her early work "folk". I don't necessarily disagree, but I'll say that FTR comes AFTER Blue, and I say that not to nit-pick but rather to distinguish it from that group. FTR is a definite bridge between the 'solitary' Joni (often playing and singing unaccompanied) of the first records and the 'collaborative' Joni where she would find other players who could fill out her musical pallette with other colors. FTR retains the confessionalism of Blue while musically paving the way for the "lite-jazz" feel of C&S. <<* DJRD: she ventures into classical>> I'd love to hear you expand on this...while she expands the 'symphonic' compositional style of "Judgement" & "Down To You", DJRD is also a further exploration of world music and giving her supporting players more freedoms to take the music to new places. Really difficult to break this one down into a brief phrase... <<* Mingus: she ventures into jazz>> I would say she did this initially with HOSL, Mingus is where she dives full in to the jazz mode without looking back or regret. Additionally, I would add Miles of Aisles as the exclamation mark ending her "singer/songwriter" period and beginning her "composer" period. Also puts new spins on some of her older songs on her first live record, showing that she's more interested in moving forward than being a time capsule. And I wouldn't lump NRH in with CMIAR...to me there's a definite line of demarcation between the false commercial attempt of CMIAR and her return to roots songwriting in NRH. Bob NP: Ben Harper, "Strawberry Fields Forever" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are hereby notified that any use, review, retransmission, dissemination, distribution, reproduction or any action taken in reliance upon this message is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of the company. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
