Court and Spark – Joni Mitchell
6/15/20261 hr
With her 1974 masterpiece Court and Spark, Joni Mitchell transforms from folk singer into something harder to define.
Her piano playing matures. Her songwriting blossoms into one of the richest harmonic and melodic color palettes we've ever heard up to this point. Not to mention her incredible lyricism and melodies. And she brings a new production sensibility from her backing band: a group of jazz musicians called The LA Express.
In this episode of You'll Hear It, Jazz pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin break down Joni Mitchell's greatest artistic achievement (and her greatest commercial success) track-by-track. You'll never hear Court and Spark the same way again
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Blue: https://youtu.be/ly6ENKGV-S8
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About You'll Hear It:
In this popular music series, Adam and Peter break down the greatest albums of all time. Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Joni Mitchell, D'Angelo: Jazz is the foundation of the most GENIUS music in recent history. These seasoned jazz pianists bring their deep musical knowledge to every joyful episode to help you hear the hidden qualities that make music AMAZING. You'll never hear music the same way again.
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00:00 Court and Spark - Joni Mitchell
00:32 New From Open Studio
03:37 Joni's Sound Before Court and Spark
10:04 Joni Starts Hanging Out With Jazz Musicians
11:07 🎧 "Court and Spark" - Alluding To An Epic
15:25 Three Songwriters in One, At the Highest Level
15:57 🎧 "Help Me" - Joni DELIVERS
19:09 🎧 "Free Man In Paris"
22:02 🎧 "Midnite Flite" - Tom Scott and The LA Express
23:25 🎧 "People's Parties"
25:55 🎧 "The Same Situation"
28:05 Joni's Lyrical Prowess
31:38 🎧 "Car On A Hill"
34:31 🎧 "Down To You" - A Perfect Song
39:54 Joni's Vocal Instrument
42:17 🎧 "Just Like This Train" - A MASTERCLASS In Lydian Mode
45:32 🎧 "Raised on Robbery" - What Genre Is This?!
48:09 🎧 "Trouble Child"
49:52 🎧 "Twisted" - The Only Cover On the Album
53:55 Desert Island Tracks
55:42 Best Moments On Court and Spark
57:13 How Snobby Is This Album?
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAdam Maness· Host0:00
[piano music] I'm Adam Maness.
Peter Martin· Host0:31
And I'm Peter Martin.
Adam Maness· Host0:32
And you're listening to the You'll Hear It podcast.
Peter Martin· Host0:33
Music explored.
Adam Maness· Host0:35
Explored, brought to you today by Open Studio. Go to openstudiojazz.com for all your jazz lesson needs. Peter, we got a lot of cool stuff going on- Yes ... at Open Studio right now. We've got new courses coming out- Yeah ... uh, from Larry Goldings.
Peter Martin· Host0:46
Yeah.
Adam Maness· Host0:47
Daniel Anastasio- Yes ... on classical piano.
Peter Martin· Host0:49
Wait, say that again? I love- Daniel Anastasio on- I love the way you say that name ...
Adam Maness· Host0:52
classical piano.
Peter Martin· Host0:53
Classical.
Adam Maness· Host0:53
And by the way, a brand-new course called Jazz Piano for the Bandstand from you and from me.
Peter Martin· Host0:58
A collaborative, uh, affair, much as this podcast is.
Adam Maness· Host1:01
Very much like, like this podcast, except we're sitting in front of two beautiful grand pianos.
Peter Martin· Host1:04
You just looked at them.
Adam Maness· Host1:05
I just- I love that ... I glanced over to them- You checked on them ... because I love them.
Peter Martin· Host1:07
Yeah.
Adam Maness· Host1:08
Anyway, go to openstudiojazz.com. That's openstudiojazz.com for, ow, your jazz lesson needs. Peter- Let's do this. [laughs] I am buzzing today.
Peter Martin· Host1:17
You are.
Adam Maness· Host1:17
I am buzzing today. This is... Not only is this one of my all-time favorite albums, I think this is one of the greatest albums of all time. I really think this is peak performance from one of our peak performers, Joni Mitchell's 1974 masterpiece,