I had the same experience. Friends of mine who are discovering Joni for the first time and were only introduced to her "ravaged" voice of late, wonder why she ever got a recording deal. They thought her voice was not typical of today's singers (these are the same people who haven't heard of the latter-period Maxine Sullivan, Lena Horne, Alberta Hunter and Teri Thornton or heard of these great singers' records when they were younger). Because we recognize in this List that people can have a radically different version from our own, I let that one pass.
But the one critique of Joni I find a bit strange and vindictive were those observations coming from people who claim that they used to be fans of hers, but cannot "get" her voice now. That her bell-clear soprano deteriorated to the huskiest of alto and that they took it to mean that her creativity also "died" with the supposed deterioration of her voice. Although, I have to admit that I prefer the 1950s-era Ella Fitzgerald than the 1980s-era Ella, I still think that Joni, like Ella, never lost that creativity. Sure, both women had to push themselves a little harder to make what used to be effortless, happen but its the comparison of the young voice vs.old voice prevents many from truly appreciating what this singer has to say NOW. But I guess most film critiques always make a comparison of the artist's past work to gain insights into the present recording. I have yet to see a review of a relatively senior artist's new work where there is no mention of her/his previous outings. Joseph in MAnila np: "Smoother Escape" - D'Sound > > I actually prefer the husky alto to her peaks-n'-valleys soprano of days > gone by. I think her voice reached its ideal pitch in the mid to late > 70s when it could glide seamlessly over many octaves and multi-syllabic > phrases with ease. But I agree that the critics will generally not be > kind to Joni's singing capabilities this time around. I noticed the > deterioration of her voice even since Both Sides Now but tend to like > it's rusty effect, over all. > > I liked the comparison someone made of Joni's voice to a horn. It is > very brassy these days, sort of trumpet-like and squeaky on the trills. > > However, I think it will only serve to marginalize her even further. If > fans of her work are finding it distracting, imagine what the mainstream > public will think. They won't really know what to make of it. > > I imagine touring this album may prove to be difficult for Joni if her > voice is in rough shape. > > -Andrew > Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now
