Cotton Avenue and Talk to me
- A Tribute to Joni Mitchell
Don Juan’s reckless daughter” was my first meeting with Joni Mitchell. In the early 80’s, I happened to find the record in my uncle’s collection. What a fantastic record! Jaco Pastorius on bass, Joni with her fierce guitar playing and experiments. We are talking a delicious mix of jazz/blues and genres which to my knowledge are still undefined. Surely no one has managed to match Joni’s expression in productions which are the least commercial? Joni’s lyrics have easily stuck with me. The stories and observations are like beautiful pearls.
At the end of the 90s, I got to know Torbjørn Rasmussen and we found out that we shared a fascination for these songs. Torbjørn found his way of playing the songs, so groovy and tight! We have performed “Talk to me” and “Cotton avenue” in several contexts and a few years ago we recorded guitar and vocals for these songs.
I make music myself, but have always been happy to cover other artists. Now I can with great honor share how Torbjørn and I interpret “Talk to me” and “Cotton Avenue”. The team includes the legendary jazz drummer Jarle Vespestad, the brilliant bassist Finn Guttormsen, jazz musician and artist Baard Slagsvold (piano) and Joachim Bye Svendsen (baritone guitar). Åse Ava Lange Fredheim mixed and mastering was done by Morten Lund.
This has been an incredibly exciting journey and I couldn’t be prouder of the result.