Joni Mitchell’s comeback at the Newport Folk Festival is the subject of her new live album.
The legendary musician delivered her first headline set in 20 years during the surprise performance last summer, billed as the ‘Joni Jam’.
Backed by an all-star ensemble of musicians including Brandi Carlile and Marcus Mumford, her return to the festival for the first time since 1969 featured hits such as Carey, A Case Of You and Big Yellow Taxi.
Mitchell – who suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015 and underwent extensive rehabilitation to recover her ability to walk, talk and sing again – also performed a guitar solo on Just Like This Train.
Speaking in an interview with Elton John on his Rocket Hour radio show for Apple Music, Joni opened up on plans to release the concert audio.
“I’ve seen you through music, and of course your incredible rehabilitation, but music has helped you so much and it’s beautiful to watch you evolve,” said Elton. “And people out there, you haven’t heard things from the Newport Folk Festival yet, but I think there’s going to be an album coming out of that one?”
The Carey singer replied, “Yeah, we’re trying to put that out,” revealing “didn’t have any” rehearsals ahead of the performance.
Speaking about standing up to play the guitar during the performance, she added: “Yeah, that I had to figure out what I did. And I couldn’t sing the key, I’ve become an alto, I’m not a soprano anymore, so I couldn’t sing the song.
“I thought people might feel lighted that if I just played the guitar part but I like the guitar part to that song. So anyway, it was very well received, much to my delight.”
