Posted July 11, 2023
A special concert commissioned by Llais to pay homage to singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, focusing largely on two albums that were fully orchestrated: ‘Both Sides Now’ (2000) and ‘Travelogue’ (2002), performed by special guest singers Charlotte Church, Laura Mvula, ESKA and Gwenno, and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Mitchell, one of the most celebrated and influential artists of her generation, originated in the American folk scene of the 1960s, along with the likes of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and she quickly established herself as a visionary writer and activist.
The album ‘Both Sides Now’ was conceived as a song cycle documenting a relationship from initial flirtation to optimistic consummation, ending in disillusionment and ironic despair, and finally the philosophical overview of acceptance and the probability of the cycle repeating itself.
Always open to experimentation, Mitchell later started to include jazz influences in her writing as evident in albums such as ‘Court and Spark’ and the lush orchestrations we hear on ‘Both Sides Now’ and ‘Travelogue’.
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