While most artists’ “jazz periods” feel like detours, Joni Mitchell’s surprise announcement of Joni’s Jazz proves her entire catalog speaks this musical language fluently. The personally curated 61-track compilation, arriving September 5, 2025, through Rhino Records, challenges decades of categorization by revealing jazz as Mitchell’s creative through-line rather than experimental phase.
Five Decades of Jazz DNA
Your understanding of Mitchell‘s evolution gets completely decontextualized here. Spanning from her 1968 debut Song to a Seagull through her triumphant Newport Folk Festival return, this isn’t another greatest-hits cash grab—it’s musical archaeology conducted by the artist herself, offering the same deep-dive approach that makes Queen’s reissue campaigns essential for understanding artistic development beyond surface-level hits. The compilation weaves studio classics with live recordings and alternate takes, demonstrating how jazz sensibility informed even her earliest folk material.
What’s Inside:
- Eight-LP/four-CD box set with digital and streaming options
- Collaborations with Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus
- Extensive liner notes, unseen photographs, and original Mitchell artwork
- Exclusive fine-art print for official store purchases
- Dedicated to late saxophonist Wayne Shorter
The real treasure lies in two previously unreleased 1980 demos: “Be Cool” and “Moon at the Window.” The “Be Cool” demo, available now as an advance single, sounds like a lost Steely Dan collaboration that actually has soul—Mitchell‘s voice floating over sophisticated chord changes that would make jazz purists weep. This track alone justifies the entire project, capturing her in pure creative mode without commercial considerations.
Beyond the Coffee Table Collection
Mitchell‘s decade-long curation process transforms what could’ve been nostalgic packaging into essential documentation. By dedicating the set to Wayne Shorter, who passed in 2023, she acknowledges the collaborative spirit that shaped her most adventurous work. This compilation won’t just gather dust on coffee tables—it reframes five decades of genre-blending genius for listeners who thought they knew her story.
Your playlist algorithms might suggest jazz-influenced contemporaries, but Mitchell‘s willingness to blur boundaries decades before “genre-fluid” became trendy remains unmatched—the same fearless experimentation that transforms New Orleans Jazz Fest from predictable festival fare into a culinary adventure where traditional boundaries dissolve completely.
