And finally, something from a true legend to close...
Title: “The wolf that lives in Lindsley”
Format: Album track
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Performed by: Joni Mitchell
Genre: Jazz
Taken from: Mingus
Year: 1979
Acclaim: n/a, other than that this album was the final project for jazz supremo Charles Mingus before his death.
I know little to nothing of Joni Mitchell, except by reputation, and less of Charles Mingus, but those who are better versed in these artistes than I will tell you Mitchell was a top player in the folk movement of the sixties and seventies and that Mingus was a giant in jazz circles. The two collaborated on this album (the only one they worked on together) and as noted above, Mingus passed away a few months after completing this. Mitchell dedicated the album to him.
Kicks off with a harsh acoustic guitar that then settles down to a soft vocal from Mitchell, very soothing and the guitar becomes, mostly, more gentle, though there are hard riffs being pounded out every so often. A sort of a merging, I guess, of folk and jazz (jolk? Fazz?), neither of which particularly goes down well with me in general. Wolves howling in the background is a nice, if cliched touch, especially given that wolves' howling always sounds like a lament, and you could convince yourself they were mourning the imminent death of the great jazzman. If you were so inclined.
For me, I don't like the sort of sharp, stop/start way the guitar is played, and personally it jars with Mitchell's otherwise soothing vocal. Just does not work for me. She does a good workout on the guitar later in the song, a solo as it were, no singing, and that works ok. Also, the legendary Herbie Hancock is on electric piano on this album, though I don't hear him here. Sorry, though: not for me.
Things I like about this :
1. Vocal is nice
2. Wolves howling. Cool.
Things I don't like about this:
1. It's jazz. Sorry.
2. Stop/start harsh guitar upsets my ears
Rating: 