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Shannon Freeman | Tennessee | 01/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Starbucks, the harbinger of the capitalist coffeehouse experience, had an ingenuous idea with their "Artist's Choice" series. While some of their fare seems contrived compared to coffeehouses of yore, this one is actually clever.



Since Joni is one of my all-time favorites, it was interesting to see what an artist I admire so much admires herself. The introduction, written by her, talks of the death of art in music, the fact that the muse part seems to be missing, leaving only the "ic"... or more literally, the "ick."



Mitchell's selections constitute a carousel trip with many excellent thoroughbred horses. Jazz is here, true rock and roll is here, new age electronic makes an appearance, R&B soul is represented, folk interpretations have a small role. The eclectic choices come as no surprise, as varied in her talents as Joni Mitchell is.



Actually, classical begins the journey with DeBussy's Clair de Lune. The order of the tracks is pretty intelligent; after track one, jazz dominates with Duke and Miles, a Billie Holiday song. Then things switch to old school rock and roll, Chuck Berry ( the real rock innovator) and Louis Jordan. The bridge back to fusion is Steely Dan; how brilliant! The songs are sort of grouped as "twofers" of genres, Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, with the New Radicals topping off this remarkable collection. This is defintely worth the search for a good copy!"