Joni Mitchell introduces Joni’s Jazz, a passion project years in the making. This career-spanning collection features recordings chosen by Mitchell that reflect jazz’s profound influence on her music.
Spanning 61 tracks, Joni’s Jazz includes studio recordings, live performances, rare alternate takes, and material drawn from multiple decades and record labels, among them are two previously unreleased 1980 demos.
The set features contributions from some of Mitchell’s most important collaborators in jazz, among them Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock and Charles Mingus. Mitchell, who calls Shorter her favourite collaborator, dedicates the collection to him following his passing in 2023.
Covering nearly every era of her recording career, the collection includes selections from Songs to a Seagull, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Mingus, Turbulent Indigo, Both Sides Now (a 2001 Grammy Award winner) and more. It also features her guest appearances on projects like Hancock’s Grammy Award-winning album, River: The Joni Letters.
Across the collection, the music follows Mitchell’s artistic growth — from the rhythmic layering of “Harry’s House / Centerpiece” to the bold experimentation of “The Jungle Line,” the narrative scale of “Paprika Plains,” and the airy, improvised feel of “A Chair In The Sky.”
It draws from more than five decades of Mitchell’s recordings, going back to 1968 for “Marcie,” from Song to a Seagull. The most recent is her performance of “Summertime,” recorded live at the 2023 Newport Folk Festival. It marked Mitchell’s first full-length concert in over two decades — a powerful return that resonated around the world.
As a self-portrait in sound, Joni’s Jazz captures an artist in conversation with jazz over a lifetime — never imitating, always inventing. Last year, in the liner notes for Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 4, she joked, “People ask me my favourite of my albums, it’s going to be Joni’s Jazz.” Now it is.
• 8LP’s
• Boxset
• 61 tracks
• Studio recordings, live performances, rare alternate takes,
• Two previously unreleased 1980 demos
• Collaborations with Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock and Charles Mingus
• Includes selections from Songs to a Seagull, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Mingus, Turbulent Indigo, Both Sides Now and River: The Joni Letters
• 4CD’s
• 61 tracks
• Studio recordings, live performances, rare alternate takes,
• Two previously unreleased 1980 demos
• Collaborations with Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock and Charles Mingus
• Includes selections from Songs to a Seagull, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Mingus, Turbulent Indigo, Both Sides Now and River: The Joni Letters
Tracks:
Side One:
1. BLUE
2. TROUBLE MAN – Kyle Eastwood feat. Joni Mitchell
3. MOON AT THE WINDOW - Demo
4. BE COOL - Demo
5. HARLEM IN HAVANA
Side Two:
1. CHEROKEE LOUISE
2. COME IN FROM THE COLD
3. IN FRANCE THEY KISS ON MAIN STREET
4. NOTHING CAN BE DONE
Side Three:
1. SEX KILLS
2. EDITH AND THE KINGPIN
3. COLD BLUE STEEL AND SWEET FIRE
4. THE JUNGLE LINE
Side Four:
1. SHADES OF SCARLETT CONQUERING
2. YVETTE IN ENGLISH
3. MARCIE
4. A BIRD THAT WHISTLES
Side Five:
1. LOVE
2. COMES LOVE
3. THE MAN I LOVE - Herbie Hancock feat. Joni Mitchell
Side Six:
1. AT LAST
2. YOU'RE MY THRILL
3. SOMETIMES I'M HAPPY
4. STAY IN TOUCH
Side Seven:
1. THE CRAZY CRIES OF LOVE
2. FACE LIFT
3. SWEET SUCKER DANCE – Early Alternate Version
Side Eight:
1. YOU DREAM FLAT TIRES
2. ANSWER ME, MY LOVE
3. LOVE PUTS ON A NEW FACE
4. BOTH SIDES NOW
Side Nine:
1. HARRY'S HOUSE/CENTERPIECE
2. SUNNY SUNDAY
3. HANA
4. LAST CHANCE LOST
5. SMOKIN' (EMPTY, TRY ANOTHER)
Side Ten:
1. PAPRIKA PLAINS
Side Eleven:
1. HEJIRA - Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979
2. REFUGE OF THE ROADS
3. BLUE MOTEL ROOM
Side Twelve:
1. BLACK CROW
2. OFF NIGHT BACKSTREET
3. JUST LIKE THIS TRAIN
4. NO APOLOGIES
5. NOT TO BLAME
6. THE MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES
Side Thirteen:
1. THE SIRE OF SORROW (JOB'S SAD SONG)
2. GOD MUST BE A BOOGIE MAN
3. A CHAIR IN THE SKY
Side Fourteen:
1. GOODBYE PORK PIE HAT – Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979
2. THE TEA LEAF PROPHECY (LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS) – Herbie Hancock feat. Joni Mitchell
3. SHINE
Side Fifteen:
1. IF I HAD A HEART
2. IMPOSSIBLE DREAMER
3. ONE WEEK LAST SUMMER
4. SUMMERTIME – Live at Newport Folk Festival, July 22, 2023
Side Sixteen:
1. STORMY WEATHER
2. TWO GREY ROOMS – Demo
3. THE DRY CLEANER FROM DES MOINES
4. TWISTED
5. IF
Disc One:
1. BLUE
2. TROUBLE MAN - Kyle Eastwood feat. Joni Mitchell
3. MOON AT THE WINDOW - Demo
4. BE COOL - Demo
5. HARLEM IN HAVANA
6. CHEROKEE LOUISE
7. COME IN FROM THE COLD
8. IN FRANCE THEY KISS ON MAIN STREET
9. NOTHING CAN BE DONE
10. SEX KILLS
11. EDITH AND THE KINGPIN
12. COLD BLUE STEEL AND SWEET FIRE
13. THE JUNGLE LINE
14. SHADES OF SCARLETT CONQUERING
15. YVETTE IN ENGLISH
16. MARCIE
17. A BIRD THAT WHISTLES
Disc Two:
1. LOVE
2. COMES LOVE
3. THE MAN I LOVE – Herbie Hancock feat. Joni Mitchell
4. AT LAST
5. YOU'RE MY THRILL
6. SOMETIMES I'M HAPPY
7. STAY IN TOUCH
8. THE CRAZY CRIES OF LOVE
9. FACE LIFT
10. SWEET SUCKER DANCE – Early Alternate Version
11. YOU DREAM FLAT TIRES
12. ANSWER ME, MY LOVE
13. LOVE PUTS ON A NEW FACE
14. BOTH SIDES NOW
Disc Three:
1. HARRY'S HOUSE/CENTERPIECE
2. SUNNY SUNDAY
3. HANA
4. LAST CHANCE LOST
5. SMOKIN' (EMPTY, TRY ANOTHER)
6. HEJIRA - Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979
7. REFUGE OF THE ROADS
8. PAPRIKA PLAINS
9. BLUE MOTEL ROOM
10. BLACK CROW
11. OFF NIGHT BACKSTREET
12. JUST LIKE THIS TRAIN
13. NO APOLOGIES
14. NOT TO BLAME
15. THE MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES
Disc Four:
1. THE SIRE OF SORROW (JOB'S SAD SONG)
2. GOD MUST BE A BOOGIE MAN
3. A CHAIR IN THE SKY
4. GOODBYE PORK PIE HAT – Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979
5. THE TEA LEAF PROPHECY (LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS) – Herbie Hancock feat. Joni Mitchell
6. SHINE
7. IF I HAD A HEART
8. IMPOSSIBLE DREAMER
9. ONE WEEK LAST SUMMER
10. SUMMERTIME – Live at Newport Folk Festival, July 22, 2023
11. STORMY WEATHER
12. TWO GREY ROOMS – Demo
13. THE DRY CLEANER FROM DES MOINES
14. TWISTED
15. IF
