Songs about Joni Mitchell, April 9, Sheffield, UK

Posted February 14, 2013

Where Light Falls - Songs about Joni Mitchell
Tuesday 09 April, 19:30
Firth Hall
Tickets: £8.50, £6 (concessions-over 60s),
£3 (under 26s, students, unwaged)
Duration: 90 minutes + 20 minute interval.
Click here to purchase tickets online now


The highly influential singer-songwriter and versatile musician Joni Mitchell is best known for hit songs such as ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ and ‘Woodstock’ but there is far more to her work than this. Through the medium of original songs composed with lyricist Mike Jones and guitarist Alejandro Sancho, Sheffield based jazz singer Rosie Brown has taken her admiration for the song-writing, singing and playing of Joni Mitchell as the inspiration for this concert. In this ‘rich biographical body of work in song’ Rosie and her band explore the artist's career and complicated personal life, joys and trials, the love she walked away from to fulfill her artistic dreams, her life as a painter and the conflicts with fame of this all too human musical icon.

University of Sheffield alumnus Rosie Brown arrived at jazz when late nights in Techno clubs were rounded off with Nina Simone records. What really converted her though, was hearing Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. Amongst her other influences, Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Carmen Macrae, Sheila Jordan, Shirley Horn, Cassandra Wilson and Keith Jarrett stand out. Rosie was originally part of a notable renaissance in classic jazz singing, a movement which includes Tina May with whom she studied. Other teachers include Sheila Jordan and Scottish award winning tenor saxophonist Bobby Wellins, who accepted an invitation to tour with her in 2000.

Rosie’s debut album, ‘Preface’ was released to rave reviews in 1998, coinciding with a national tour sponsored by Jazz Services. In 2001, album number two, ‘Now’s the Time’, was also warmly welcomed by critics. Her third, ‘Miss Brown to You’, came out in May 2003 and the fourth recording ‘Bicycles and Dreams’ reflects her evolution in both vocal range and musical interests.