Jazz

Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell CC (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her starkly personal lyrics and unconventional compositions, which grew to incorporate pop and jazz influences.[1] She has received many accolades, including ten Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever",[2] and AllMusic has stated, "When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century".[1]

Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and throughout western Canada, before moving on to the nightclubs of Toronto, Ontario. She moved to the United States and began touring in 1965. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were recorded by other folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album, Song to a Seagull, in 1968.[3] Settling in Southern California, Mitchell helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock". Her 1971 album Blue is often cited as one of the best albums of all time; it was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[4] rising to number 3 in the 2020 edition.[5] In 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music".[6] NPR ranked Blue number 1 on a 2017 list of Greatest Albums Made By Women.[7]

Mitchell switched labels and began exploring more jazz-influenced ideas, by way of lush pop textures, on 1974's Court and Spark, which featured the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris"[8] and became her best-selling album. Mitchell's vocal range began to shift from mezzo-soprano to more of a wide-ranging contralto around 1975.[9][10][11] Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she melded jazz with rock and roll, R&B, classical music and non-Western beats. In the late 1970s, she began working with noted jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Pat Metheny as well as Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings.[12] She later turned to pop and electronic music and engaged in political protest. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002[13] and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021.[14]

Mitchell produced or co-produced most of her albums. A critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th and last album of original songs in 2007. Mitchell has designed most of her own album covers, describing herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance".

Tim McMillan & Rachel Snow
are a duo from Melbourne, Australia, based in Germany and currently immersed in an endless tour entertaining and delighting audiences across the world. Tim is a percussive fingerstyle guitarist and outlandish storyteller and Rachel an exceptional violinist and accomplice in Tim's whimsical narrative.

With over 120 concerts delivered every year across Europe, Japan and Australia, the duo's thirst for exploration and inspiration is growing. Their lust for travel seeps into the soundscapes of their live shows with some imagining the music as a moving soundtrack. Along with emotive moments the audience is captivated by athletic guitar stunts, interwoven violin antics and a magical blend of vocals. Tim's psychedelic and sometimes true stories of life on the road and tales from the Australian bush become increasingly eccentric and outrageous as the show unfolds. The audience leaves feeling that they have themselves been on a wonderful and colourful adventure. Tim and Rachel are versatile and perform an inventive mix of styles including Celtic rock, folk, metal & jazz. They accept the challenge of any stage and can be found performing at festivals, clubs, theatres and living rooms. They have opened up for fusion guitar legend Al Di Meola at the Dachauer Sommerfest in Germany and have also supported hard rock band Ugly Kid Joe on European and Australian tours in 2016/2017. They were main support for Motorhead's Phil Campbell tour in Germany in November 2018.

"Their instruments and voices blended perfectly... as well as being extremely talented musicians, the duo were quite the storytellers and had the punters in stitches with their wild tales and musical mash-ups" - Silver Tiger Media, Australia

"Tim displays a virtuosic tapping technique with percussive guitar alongside Rachel who merges classical violin with a Celtic flavour. The duo blend together folk, Latin, jazz and rock elements to create a bright and fun performance" - Acoustic Guitar World, Japan

"Brilliant and haunting" - Frankfurter Allgemeine, Germany

REVERIES: After many years performing and touring together, Tim and Rachel recently made their way into the studio to capture their entrancing style. In five days working with Arno Jordan of Castle Studios at Schloss Rohrsdorf, outside Dresden, their first fully collaborative work 'Reveries' came to life. The album features songs with beautifully fused vocal harmonies floating amidst a vibrant array of sound. Instrumental pieces reveal intricate and expressive guitar techniques embraced by stirring violin melodies that sing with a hint of Celtic lilt. 'Reveries' represents the beginning of a new and exciting partnership of music and songwriting for Tim and Rachel. 'Reveries' will be released in March 2020.

HIRAETH: Along with a brief appearance on Tim's first album 'Afterparty', Rachel also features on Tim's fifth album 'Hiraeth', which is a collection of instrumental pieces and songs composed and recorded while on tour throughout Europe. Hiraeth (Welsh) is a feeling of homesickness for a place or time to which you cannot return, or which maybe never was. The compositions on the album reflect on endless travel and distance from home, changing landscapes, changing feelings and acknowledgment that nothing ever remains the same. The future is full of endless opportunities and hazards.

The music is shaped by Tim's distinctive guitar and the first song 'Ecdysis' (meaning: the process of shedding the old skin) is immediately a trip to folklore with the introduction of Rachel's captivating melodies. Graceful and complex interplay between guitar and violin remains throughout the album. The blend of Tim and Rachel's vocals is placed somewhere in the sixties, with harmonies reminiscent of songs of the Byrds, especially the element by David Crosby.

Peaceful moments are found in songs like 'Owl Dance' and a wilder mood emerges in 'Zaxo' which features a variety of guest musicians from the rock world including members of Motörhead, The Sisters of Mercy, Ugly Kid Joe, Ghost and Mr Bungle.

7 piece band playing original music inspired by Latin America and European Landscapes. So incredible

YID! is a wild Melbourne-based ensemble whose daring fusion of traditional Yiddish tunes with elements of electronic dance music, Weimar Republic cabaret, free jazz, indie pop and big band flourishes – plus a dash of late – 70s funk – demands to be seen, heard and danced to! The 23 – piece YID! mixes tribal beats, improvised riffs and angelic vocals, channeling the sweet tunes of traditional Eastern European folkloric songs. Ahead of YID!’s WOMADelaide appearance, Mark Moray chats to the ensemble’s organiser and bass player Simon Starr.