After days of speculation over the fate of Bob Dylan's six-date West Coast tour, Joni Mitchell has been confirmed as Dylan's co-headliner. In the behind-the-scenes chaos that followed Van Morrison's abrupt cancellation of his participation in the shows, Mitchell's name surfaced early as a possible replacement, though her management office expressed irritation at early media reports that her booking was official.

Mitchell comes forward as preparations fall into place for the scheduled July 21st release of her recently finished Reprise release, Taming The Tiger. Bill Bentley, VP of Media Relations for Reprise, confirmed that Mitchell is set to preview several tracks from the album and perform live in a special presentation being taped for local broadcast and Internet webcast March 27th, from the studios of Los Angeles-area community college station KCRW. After that, Mitchell will participate in a benefit concert at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on April 16th, joining Trisha Yearwood, Paula Cole, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow and others to raise money for Don Henley's Walden Woods Foundation. The Wiltern show will give Mitchell and everyone else on the bill the opportunity to tackle blues, jazz and pop standards in front of a full orchestra. Bentley pointed out that following the Dylan dates and her album release, Mitchell will embark on her own summer tour, though routing decisions are still far too premature to comment on.

Dylan's current release, Time Out Of Mind, is still enjoying a burst of popularity on the push of his Grammy wins. It settles at #36 on this week's pop album chart, up from a #122 showing the week before the awards broadcast.

At press time, several on sale dates scheduled for this weekend had been pushed back as promoters re-tooled their media campaigns to reflect the new tour details. Here is the current itinerary for Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.

May
16 - George, WA - The Gorge Amphitheatre
18 - San Jose, CA - San Jose Arena
19 - Oakland, CA - Oakland Coliseum Arena
21 - Los Angeles, CA - UCLA Pauley Pavilion
22 - Los Angeles, CA - UCLA Pauley Pavilion
23 - Anaheim, CA - The Pond