Joni Mitchell Announces ‘Joni’s Jazz’ Box Set

Joni Mitchell has announced a forthcoming box set highlighting her lifelong love of jazz music, titled Joni’s Jazz.

The 61-track collection, available in both CD and vinyl format, draws from just about Mitchell’s entire catalog, starting with her debut album Song to a Seagull. It contains studio recordings, live performances and rare alternate takes, including two previously unreleased 1980 demos. One of them, “Be Cool,” can be heard below.

More specifically, Joni’s Jazz underscores her collaborations with jazz legends Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock and Charles Mingus, all of whom played on various albums by Mitchell. (Also included in the collection are Mitchell’s guest appearances on Hancock’s Grammy-winning album River: The Joni Letters.)

A complete track listing can be viewed below.

Mitchell has dedicated Joni’s Jazz to Shorter, who passed away in 2023. “It was a joy to play with him,” she said in a statement. “He will be missed, but he will remain alive for me in this music.”

READ MORE: Underrated Joni Mitchell: The Most Overlooked Track From Each LP

In recent years, Mitchell has been releasing compilations as part of her Joni Mitchell Archives series, the most recent of which, Vol. 4,. arrived last year. In the liner notes to that release, Mitchell wrote: “People ask me my favorite of my albums, it’s going to be Joni’s Jazz.”

Joni’s Jazz, Track Listing:
CD One
1. “Blue”
2. “Trouble Man” – Kyle Eastwood feat. Joni Mitchell
3. “Moon At The Window” – Demo 2 *
4. “Be Cool” – Demo 2 *
5. “Harlem In Havana”
6. “Cherokee Louise”
7. “Come In From The Cold”
8. “In France They Kiss On Main Street”
9. “Nothing Can Be Done”
10. “Sex Kills”
11. “Edith And The Kingpin”
12. “Cold Blue Steel And Sweet Fire”
13. “The Jungle Line”
14. “Shades Of Scarlett Conquering”
15. “Yvette In English”
16. “Marcie”
17. “A Bird That Whistles”

CD Two
1. “Love”
2. “Comes Love”
3. “The Man I Love” – Herbie Hancock feat. Joni Mitchell
4. “At Last”
5. “You’re My Thrill”
6. “Sometimes I’m Happy”
7. “Stay In Touch”
8. “The Crazy Cries Of Love”
9. “Face Lift”
10. “Sweet Sucker Dance” – Early Alternate Version
11. “You Dream Flat Tires”
12. “Answer Me, My Love”
13. “Love Puts On A New Face”
14. “Both Sides Now”

CD Three
1. “Harry’s House/Centerpiece”
2. “Sunny Sunday”
3. “Hana”
4. “Last Chance Lost”
5. “Smokin’ (Empty, Try Another)”
6. “Hejira” – Live at The Santa Barbara County Bowl (10/9/79)
7. “Refuge Of The Roads”
8. “Paprika Plains”
9. “Blue Motel Room”
10. “Black Crow”
11. “Off Night Backstreet”
12. “Just Like This Train”
13. “No Apologies”
14. “Not To Blame”
15. “The Magdalene Laundries”

CD Four
1. “The Sire Of Sorrow (Job’s Sad Song)”
2. “God Must Be A Boogie Man”
3. “A Chair In The Sky”
4. “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” – Live at The Santa Barbara County Bowl (10/9/79)
5. “The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)” – Herbie Hancock feat. Joni Mitchell
6. “Shine”
7. “If I Had A Heart”
8. “Impossible Dreamer”
9. “One Week Last Summer”
10. “Summertime” – Live at Newport Folk Festival (7/22/23)
11. “Stormy Weather”
12. “Two Grey Rooms” – Demo 5
13. “The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines”
14. “Twisted”
15. “If”

* Previously Unreleased