Shadows and Light (1980)

Documents Joni Mitchell's historic 1979 tour backed by an all-star band of jazz-fusion musicians. Filmed at Santa Barbara County Bowl and intercut with classic film clips and original footage to give visual interpretations of the music.

Director:

Joni Mitchell

Stars:

Joni Mitchell, Don Alias, Pat Metheny

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joni Mitchell	...	Herself - vocals, guitar
Don Alias	...	Himself - drums
Pat Metheny	...	Himself - guitar
Jaco Pastorius	...	Himself - bass
Lyle Mays	...	Himself - keyboards
Michael Brecker	...	Himself - sax
The Persuasions	...	Themselves - vocals
Toller Cranston	...	Himself - skates (archive footage)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chuck Berry	...	Himself (archive footage)
Amelia Earhart	...	Herself (archive footage)
Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers	...	Themselves (archive footage)
Sherman Garnes	...	Himself - Frankie Lyman and The Teenagers (archive footage)
Frankie Lymon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jimmy Merchant	...	Himself - Frankie Lyman and The Teenagers (archive footage)
Joe Negroni	...	Himself - Frankie Lyman and The Teenagers (archive footage)

Storyline

Documents Joni Mitchell's historic 1979 tour backed by an all-star band of jazz-fusion musicians. Filmed at Santa Barbara County Bowl and intercut with classic film clips and original footage to give visual interpretations of the music.

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Plot Keywords:

concert film | live recording | independent film | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 June 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Joni Mitchell: Shadows and Light

Filming Locations:

Santa Barbara Bowl - 1122 North Milpas Street, Santa Barbara, California, USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Uncompressed Digital - PCM 2.0) Dolby Digital (5.1)

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jaco Pastorius, universally considered one of the greatest bass players of all-time, was Joni Mitchell's musical director on the Shadows and Light Tour. His bass solo contains an excerpt of "Third Stone From the Sun" by Jimi Hendrix. Jaco was battling cocaine and alcohol addiction during the tour and soon lost his MD position due to his penchant for showing up late/sometimes not at all for rehearsals. Jaco suffered from mental illness and was murdered in 1987 by bouncer Luc Havan outside of the Midnight Bottle Club in Florida. He had multiple facial fractures, damage to his left arm and lost his right eye. Havan served 4 months in prison.

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Connections

Features Rock Around the Clock (1956)

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Soundtracks

Raised on Robbery
Written by Joni Mitchell

User Reviews

World's Greatest Bass Player

This is the most inspirational pop bass playing I have ever heard. Everybody thinks of Jaco as the king of jazz bass, but I don't think that's accurate. He was a better funk player than jazz player, and used both skills to be the most innovative bassist in pop (if that's what you want to call Joni Mitchell). Jaco was in peak form, without the crazed look in his eyes that is unsettling in the live laserdisc show from the early eighties, and without the pasty complexion, short hair, and extra 20 lbs. from the instructional video.

If anyone wants to learn to play bass the right way, try transcribing his lines on "In France They Kiss On Main St." It's worth the work.

Also, has Pat Metheny played any better than on this video? His tone was never better... Ditch the Ibanez!