I already blogged about The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines, by Joni Mitchell and Charles Mingus, eleven years ago, so if you want a deep-dive on the music and context, go read that. Today, just listen to it, and if it doesn’t get you smiling and bopping, there’s nothing I can say that will help you.
I’ll keep it brief: Shadows and Light is a fabulous live album. The band: Mitchell, Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Don Alias, Jaco Pastorius (!), and Michael Brecker. That is a jaw-dropping list of names. The song? It’s fast, it’s funny, and it’s a great tune. Joni is awesome. Jaco and Michael and Don are too. It ends with a ferocious Pastorius-led rhythm workout then a BANG! You couldn’t imagine wanting to change anything; about as close to perfect as a performance can get.
This is part of the Song of the Day series (background).
Links · Spotify playlist. This tune on Amazon, iTunes, Spotify. Live video of this very performance! (There’s a DVD.)
