Cellars And Chittlins'

Joni Mitchell : Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

[Purchase]

In June of 1979, Joni Mitchell released Mingus, a collaboration with jazz great Charles Mingus as well as such musicians as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius and Don Alias. Most Joni fans don't rate this highly among her many albums, but it's certainly the most unique and well worth some attention. For a taste, check out "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", originally composed by Mingus as a tribute to Lester Young.

To promote the album Mitchell shared her love of jazz with Los Angeles Times jazz journalist Leonard Feather:

My jazz background began with one of the early Lambert, Hendricks and Ross albums, the one called 'The Hottest New Sound in Jazz.' It was hard to find in Canada, so I saved up and bought it at a bootleg price. I considered that album to be my Beatles. I learned every song off of it, and I don't think there is another album anywhere - including my own - on which I know every note and word of every song.

 "I couldn't do 'Cloudburst,' because of the very fast scat singing, but I did record two numbers out of that set: 'Twisted,' which was in the 'Court and Spark' album, and 'Centrepiece,' which was incorporated with 'Harry's House' in the 'Hissing of Summer Lawns' album."

"I was also impressed by some of the Miles Davis albums; first 'Sketches of Spain,' with Gil Evans and the large orchestra; but later, Miles' smaller combo things like Nefertiti' and 'In a Silent Way' became just about my all time favourites in any field of music. They were my private music, the albums I loved to listen to on my own. I never thought about making that my kind of music."

"Mingus was a legend, of course, I'd heard of him as far back as my high school days. Then years later, John Guerin, the drummer, played me a record of Mingus' 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,' the elegy for Lester Young, but it wasn't until many years later, when I began to learn the piece for this album, that I really saw the beauty of it."

Mingus had been trying to track down Mitchell after hearing Paprika Plains" from her "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter" album.

 "In the middle of it I had this passage for about seven minutes of improvisational playing. Charles apparently heard in it some kind of strength, and an adventuresome spirit, because I had been trying for years to extend the limits of what constitutes a song."

In April of 1977 Mingus called from a wheelchair with news that he had written six songs with Mitchell in mind. She visited him in New York, talked through the night, listened to old Mingus albums together, and discussed lyrics. 

Mitchell spent ten days with Mingus and wife Sue in Mexico. Out of the relationship came four songs. After Mingus passed at the age of 56, his wife sent Mitchell some audio verite of Mingus which appear as "raps" on the album. 

Here's one of the new Mingus compositions to which Mitchell added lyrics, "The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines".

As Mitchell prepared for the release she told Feather:

"I'd be surprised if it wasn't well accepted in the jazz world, because it contains all the best elements of that music: It's very spontaneous, creative and fresh. As for the pop field, I dare not make any predictions. I hope people will find it accessible, but I know how intimidating great musicianship is to a lot of people."

Even critics had problems with the album, finding Mingus pretentious and Mitchell out of her depths. Robert Christgau gave the albu. a C+ writing "Okay, okay, a brave experiment, but lots of times experiments fail". 

Down Beat's critic, on the other hand,  called Mingus a wonderful piece of work:

From all reports, the trepidation in Joni Mitchell's heart as to how this project might be accepted has been matched only by the skepticism of scores of jazz purists. But the proof is here, and Joni and her critics can forget their fears. Mingus is so ambitious, so painstakingly constructed and so special, that even in those moments when the deed fails, the thought carries the day. And when it all clicks as on "Porkpie Hat", which, after three hearings, I can no longer listen to dry-eyed--it soars with the breadth and majesty Mingus so often achieved.