Jazz Interpretations of the Joni Mitchell Songbook
“Fabulous! Great and warm re-interpretations!” – Eddie Piller, Acid Jazz
“If Miles Davis was a Scotsman…” – DER SPIEGEL
“Steele is in superb form – and there’s plenty of Miles-ish chilled melancholia.” – Jazzwise
“This finds him again playing at the top of his game!” – Jazz Views
“Colin Steele can unfurl the Chet Baker arabesques” – THE TIMES
Ladies & gentlemen – get ready for something truly special: Scotland’s best jazz musicians meet one of the greatest songwriters ever. The Colin Steele Quartet plays the music of Joni Mitchell. It sounds like a marriage made in heaven – and it is.
The music of Joni Mitchell gets the royal jazz treatment in exciting new arrangements. Timeless classics from the Mitchell Songbook – “Blue”, “Both Sides Now”, “Hejira”, “A Case Of You” etc. – sparkle with fresh energy in a classic jazz quartet setting.
Mitchell always had a deep affinity with jazz – working with Charles Mingus on her album “Mingus” (1979) and many other jazz luminaries like Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Her songs are just perfectly suited for getting re-interpreted in a jazz setting. Listen to the album – and experience how well it works. Colin Steele adds his very own sound with his warm, melodic playing to Joni’s songs and transports them into another musical territory. The results are simply gorgeous.
Colin Steele from Edinburgh, one of UK’s leading jazz trumpeters, is accompanied by the same top-notch musicians as on his “Diving For Pearls” album (MA 82, 2017), his beautiful take on the Pearlfishers songbook: Calum Gourlay on double bass, Alyn Cosker on drums and pianist Dave Milligan who also arranged the album brilliantly.
Dedicating an album to just one composer is a great jazz tradition: Miles Davis did it with Gershwin’s “Porgy & Bess” (’58) and Chet Baker with “Plays Lerner & Loewe” (’59). And now we have the CSQ playing Joni.
“Joni” was recorded in just one day – like many classic jazz albums – at Scotland’s famous Castlesound studios (The Blue Nile, Orange Juice, R.E.M.). Masterfully engineered by Stuart Hamilton. You really get the “in-the-room-with-the-artist” feel.
Available on CD in a beautiful digisleeve and as a limited vinyl edition (500 copies only!).
Release date: September 18, 2020
Available now via the Marina store:
