SUPERB BROADCAST RECORDING FROM JONI MITCHELL’S 1974 ‘COURT AND SPARK TOUR’ Joni Mitchell’s sixth studio album, Court and Spark, released in January 1974, found Joni begin her flirtation with jazz and jazz fusion, which marked her experimental period ahead. The record went to No.1 on the Cashbox Album Chart and made Mitchell a widely popular act for perhaps the only time in her career, on the strength of tracks such as the catchy, fast paced ‘Raised on Robbery’, which was released as a single just before Christmas 1973, and ‘Help Me’, which was released in March of the following year, and became Mitchell's only Top 10 single when it peaked at No. 7 in the first week of June. ‘Free Man in Paris’ was another hit and remained a staple in her catalogue for many years. While recording Court and Spark, Mitchell had tried to make a clean break with her earlier folk sound, producing the album herself and employing jazz/pop fusion outfit L.A. Express as what she called her first real backing group. In February 1974, her tour with L.A. Express began, and performances were met with rave reviews as the entourage travelled across the United States and Canada and then onto Europe. On April 21st 1974 they played a stunning show at London’s New Victoria Theatre, which was recorded for television broadcast in the UK and back in the US too. This CD features the entire set performed by Joni Mitchell and LA Express that spring evening more 45 years ago, a concert which few have ever heard and which is released here for the first time.
