Joni’s Standard Approach to Singing

Seminal singer-songwriter Mitchell joins a growing list of established pop musicians who are trying to revive interest in the dying art of interpretive singing. Working with members of the London Symphony Orchestra and with longtime collaborator Larry Klein, who serves as co-producer and musical director, Mitchell covers classics such as “At Last,” “Stormy Weather” and “I Wish I Were in Love Again.”

Predictably, her selections on “Both Sides Now” (a limited special edition is due in stores Tuesday) show great taste, as do the warm, elegant arrangements. Her vocals, which have deepened and grown seductively dusky with age, avoid the stiff reverence many contemporary singers adopt when approaching standards.

Granted, her renditions of tunes previously recorded by such giants as Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole won’t make anyone forget the earlier versions, just as Mitchell’s updating of two of her own songs, “Both Sides Now” and “A Case of You,” hardly improve on the originals. Still, Mitchell’s mix of playfulness and understated pathos hits just the right note.

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