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Joni Mitchell, breaks from the mold

rtzeoris

Say the name Joni Mitchell toone of her true admirers, and youare met with a reaction borderingon worship. She has served as aguiding star for innumerable girlswrestling with the joys and pains ofgrowing up, and the sweetness ofher music is apt to draw a wistfulhalf-smile from her male fans.

Sensitive lyrics combine with asparkling simplicity that shinethrough the complexity of hermelodies. Her songs were createdto be a one-on-one listening ex-perience, and it takes work tolisten to her . For those who do, thebenefits are rich.

Her highly personal style haskept her confined to a relativelystabilized audience—either youlike Joni Mitchell or you don 't , andthere is very little middle ground.Those who do like her often see heras a near goddess. Those who don 'tfind her soothing but monotonous-good music to fall asleep by, asseveral of my friends put it.

With Court and Spark , Ms.Mitchell has broken with thistradition , and has veered . intounexplored regions. She hasacquired a competent set ofbackup musicians and added somepunch to her music, while keepingher poetic touch. There isn 't anydreck hiding under the new sound ,contrary ' to what 'I at firstsuspected.

Now, I do not count myselfamong the Joni Mitchell freaks . Idid not grow up listening to her ,and it was not all that long ago thatI'd put her on with Dust Bug in onehand and glass of warm milk in theother. But I've been developing adefinite taste for her music inrecent months , and that taste hasbeen given a substantial push bythe release of' Court and Spark.

She has created a beautifulalbum of consistently high quality .It takes several listenings to a)reorient yourself to or b)familiarize yourself with her

Court and SparkJoni Mitchell

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By Rick Pope

changed style, and it is well toreserve judgment accordingly.

After the first hearing I thought ,"Nice, but just where is it going?"But as time wore on it began togrow on me quite a bit. I foundmyself taking to it much moreeasily than her earlier work.

For the most pari the music islight , j azzy rock , combining cat-chiness with the potential to ex-plore more than a 4-4 rhythm and asharply defined verse-chorus. Mostof her songs flow smoothly along ina rich texture of instruments andvoices, although several melan-choly piano peeces are reminiscentof her " earlier material .

The first side begins with onesuch song—"Court and Spark"—followed by a sprjghtly "Help Me."As is her custom , she thinks she'sfalling in love again. But theconvincing treatment of the line"didn 't it feel good?" makes youwonder who really needs the help.

"Free Man in Paris" featuresDavid Crosby and Graham Nashon some excellent backgroundharmonies , with Ms. Mitchell'svoice reaching its usual heights.

The side is rounded out by askillfully connected "People 'sParties" and "Same Situation ."

Held together by a leisurelyacoustic guitar and gentle melody,the first song of the two paints asensitive picture of people 'sparties, as seen from the outsidelooking in.

The song slide gracefully into"Same Situation ," a haunting,passionate piece with Ms. Mitchellaccompanying herself on piano. Italternately soars with hope andfalls back into questioning despairat the futility of love. Somehow, thelyrics manager to verge on boththe crystal and the trite in thespace of one short verse :

"Still I send up my prayerWondering where it had to-goWith heaven full of astronauts

. And the Lord on death row \While the millions of lost and

lonely onesCall out and clamor to be found

Caught in their struggle for higherposition

And their search for love thatsticks around." ~

The second side, although not asquite as strong as the first , con-tinues in the same general vein. Itis highlighted by "Raised onRobbery," an AM boogie with theBand's Robbie Robertson snappingout some fine work on electricguitar. ' - '

Ms. Mitchell has lost somethingof her uniquely personal style inthis attempt to break out of hermold. But she has brought a solidsense of craftsmanship along withher turn toward cpmmericality—so something's been gained , too.What emerges is an eminentlyplayable album full of music...withclass. At one point , she defiantlysings

"Everybody 's in it for their owngame .

^You can 't please them all."She managed to please at least

one.. .- • ¦¦" "¦• "' .. . - ' ' - ¦ -

Top trumpeter brings it all togetherI don 't know if anyone has ever

said it , but it would seem to be oneof those truths, that are self-evi-dent. Great jazzmen don't comefrom Indiana.

Wrong. At least one of the reign-ing jazz dynamos does emanatefrom that outlying province, and ifFreddie Hubbard 's abilities haveanything to do with his origin , wecan only hope that more Hoosiersare planning to get into the jazzbusiness.

Although most listeners wouldstill rate Miles Davis as thesupreme virtuoso of jazz trumpet ,most of the recent credible pollshave been "awarding Freddie thetop spot in the category . Even ifvotes are being withheld fromMiles because he has been branch-ing away from the mainstream oflistener tastes, this doesn 't takeanything away from Freddie.

In the late fifties Freddie Hub-bard burst upon the scene, playingbeside many of the famous namesin jazz.

Around the middle oT the lastdecade Freddie began to realizehis own leadership and composi-tional abilities , and started front-ing a regular parade of alignmentsover the next five years. Hisearliest efforts were recorded onBlue Note , Impulse, and Atlantic.

In 1971 he began to-work withinthe context of the CTI "stable,"playing trumpet for the likes ofStanley -Turrentine, Hubert Laws,George Benson , Ron Carter , andAirto, and indeed, having thesesame folks back him on his firstfour CTI albums.

Keep Your Soul TogetherFreddie Hubbard

CTI 6036tfreddl* Hubbard

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By Oanl Ruby

Keep Your Soul Together is thefifth CTI album , and it could be thebest yet. For the first time Freddieis not backed by a cast of stars, butis instead working with his ownwell-disciplined band. And this newband showcases the four newHubbard compositions to per-fection . .

Freddie has always managed tost£y to the fringes of the avant-garde, and nearer to the main-stream of tastes, so in the presentera of jazz-rock fusion we are notsurprised to see him incorporatinga few of the elements, but basicallyrejecting the frenzied guitar andsimple rock rhythms. Freddie hasalways been primarily concernedwith melodies and meaning , so theprettiness of these new. composi-tions is fully expected.

Side one has "Brigette" and"Keep Your Soul Together." Bothare slow melodjc pieces, withFreddie capably stating thethemes and variations and relyingon his rhythm section (electricpiano, acoustic and electric basses,drums and other percussion ) forsupport and variety . On "KeepYour Soul Together," a secondhorn in the person of Junior Cook'stenor provides excellent counter-action to Freddie's line.

The second side is somewhatmore experimental. "Spirits ofTrane" obviously alludes to thevertically of John Coltrane, andappropriately the piece is uptempowith the bass and drums support-ing the tune on a kind of be-bopstructure. Pianist George Cables isas versatile as McCoy Tyner inplaying around a chord to help hissoloist find direction.

"Destiny s Children is the mostrock oriented tune on the album ,and while it maintains a basic rockbeat, it offers Freddie the bestopportunity to take off. His solos onthis final cut alone justify hisrating as one of the top trumpetersin the business.

Keep Your Soul Together isgoing to appeal to a wide variety oflisteners. Newcomers to the field ofjazz will find it one of- the mostpleasant (i.e. listenable) albums ofthe recent crop. More sophisti-cated fans already know aboutFreddie's abilities , but will bepleased to discover that everythinghas finally come together for himin composition , production , aridperformance. J-

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