By Stan Drake and Brendan Boyd

Joni Mitchell - New Album: "Mingus"

She's pop's foremost female singer-songwriter.

Born Roberta Joan Anderson in McLeod, Alberta, Canada 11-7-43, Joni overcame childhood polio. She attended Alberta College of Art, performing folk music nightly in the campus coffee house.

In '64 she moved to Toronto to perform in clubs. In '65 she married singer Chuck Mitchell and moved to Detroit. When the separated Joni went to New York, signing with Reprise Records in 1967. She first gained prominence as a song writer - composing "Both Sides Now" for Judy Collins and "The Circle Game" for Tom Rush - before her own eleven albums of romantic confessionalism established her as "the female Bob Dylan."

Joni divides her time between a N.Y.C. apt., California mansion and her Canadian farm. Originally wanted to be a painter. All her albums feature her own highly accomplished artwork. Joni is planning a fall tour with jazzmen Jaco Pastorius and Pat Metheny.

Her new album, "Mingus", was a collaboration with the great jazz bassist, Charles Mingus, who died of Lou Gehrig Syndrome last January.