johnirving wrote: > The question is, how gracefully are we going to deal with the close of > this brilliant, meteoric career? Whine? Complain. Lose one's self in > what was? Compare the next new cd to Hejira? Compare the next cd to > Hissing? Be forlorn if it doesn't measure up? Longing for one more For > the Roses? Pray for a small jazz band? -How small.
Lots of good points in this post. But to infer that those who are less than thrilled with T'Log are either small minded, living in some glorified Joni past, or plain 'don't get it' is like trying to prove that Chocolate is superior to Vanilla. Can you accept the possibility that some people listened to it with an open mind, and had a different take on it? > Somewhere in the earliest of days, when > she was writing countless forgetable melodies on napkins, lyrics > I firmly believe when Joni > listens to all the old stuff loved around here, what she hears is all > the open, empty spaces where colors were meant to be, but aren't. The > bass lines she wanted on those records aren't there. The drum lines she > imagined to be there aren't there. The 'brass' section of her guitar > wasn't the sum of the brass she envisioned in her mind. -And she decided > that the music was good enough, still valid enough, to warrant going > back and giving those quality songs a deeper sound color than they got > the first time around. Give the lines the grace notes that were left off > because there was so much story to tell. I think you are assuming alot about Joni's thought process. I wonder if she listens to her old stuff at all. If you are right about this, IMO the music suffered from all those 'grace notes' and flourishes, which were Mendoza's contribution anyway. > T'log is a deliberate > celebration of music from the past. It's Joni turning her back on all > that is happening right now and saying there's no way she wants to play > in today's aesthetic sandbox. That's fine, I can accept that if that's what she wants to do. She doesn't have to be open minded about today's music. But to imply that there is no great art being made now, and it's all in the past kind of negates your point, and is simply not true. RR
