Joni Mitchell came into the game as a folk-adjacent singer-songwriter, and she's one of the best ever to exist in that mode. But she's bigger than that, too. Over her long career, Mitchell has always been a fearless explorer across genre lines, and one of her greatest powers is her ability to incorporate jazz into her work. You can hear it on plenty of her classics -- Blue, Court And Spark, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Hejira, obviously Mingus. Now, Mitchell has collected her favorite of her jazz-influenced tracks on an upcoming box set called Joni's Jazz.
Joni's Jazz, which comes out later this summer as a four-CD or eight-LP set, is dedicated to the late saxophone giant Wayne Shorter, who passed away in 2023 and who Mitchell counts as her favorite collaborator. Mitchell says, "It was a joy to play with him. He will be missed, but he will remain alive for me in this music." The set, a passion project for Mitchell, includes music that Mitchell recorded with Shorter and with other legends like Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, and Charles Mingus. It features music from a bunch of Mitchell's albums, as well as her guest appearances on works like Hancock's Grammy-winning 2007 tribute River: The Joni Letters. It'll also include live recordings, alternate takes, and a few previously unreleased demos. One of those demos is out today.
Mitchell included her song "Be Cool" on her new wave-influenced 1982 album Wild Things Run Fast. In 1980, however, she cut a much more stripped-down demo version of the track, and that's what she's shared today. Below, check out the 1980 "Be Cool" demo, the version that came out two years later, and the tracklist for Joni's Jazz.
TRACKLIST:
CD1:
01 "Blue"
02 Kyle Eastwood - "Trouble Man" (feat. Joni Mitchell)
03 "Moon At The Window" (Demo 2)
04 "Be Cool" (Demo 2)
05 "Harlem In Havana"
06 "Cherokee Louise"
07 "Come In From The Cold"
08 "In France They Kiss On Main Street"
09 "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"
CD2:
01 "Love"
02 "Comes Love”"
03 Herbie Hancock - "The Man I Love (feat. Joni Mitchell)
04 "At Last"
05 "You’re My Thrill"
06 "Sometimes I’m Happy"
07 "Stay In Touch"
08 "The Crazy Cries Of Love"
09 "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"
CD3:
01 "Harry’s House/Centerpiece"
02 "Sunny Sunday"
03 "Hana"
04 "Last Chance Lost"
05 "Smokin’ (Empty, Try Another)"
06 "Hejira" (Live at The Santa Barbara County Bowl, 10/9/79)
07 "Refuge Of The Roads"
08 "Paprika Plains"
09 "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"
CD4:
01 "The Sire Of Sorrow (Job’s Sad Song)"
02 "God Must Be A Boogie Man"
03 "A Chair In The Sky”
04 "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" (Live at The Santa Barbara County Bowl, 10/9/79)
05 Herbie Hancock - "The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)" (feat. Joni Mitchell)
06 "Shine"
07 "If I Had A Heart"
08 "Impossible Dreamer"
09 "One Week Last Summer"
10 "Summertime" (Live at Newport Folk Festival, 7/22/23)
11 "Stormy Weather"
12 "Two Grey Rooms" (Demo 5)
13 "The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines"
14 "Twisted"
15 "If"
The Joni's Jazz box set is out 9/5 on Joni Mitchell Archives/Rhino; pre-order it here.
