Joni Mitchell has elevated herself from being a leader of the original folk-pop movement through an apotheosis into a commanding jazz vocal stylist.

Travelogue, a 22-track, two-CD release, focuses on Mitchell's stunning work with a 70-piece orchestra. Even during its creation, this opus was conceived as a magnificent, high watermark for the artist. Filmmakers Allison Anders (Gas, Food, Lodging) and Alistair Donald (Wingspan) thus duly captured then recording.

While the recording is new, the material spans Mitchell's entire career, reaching back to selections off her albums of the early 1970s like The Dawntreader, Woodstock and Trouble Child. Albums right up to the present day are sampled for this release. Enhanced by a 20-member choir and featured musical guests (Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Plas Johnson, Billy Preston, etc.), you can't help feeling that we are hearing Mitchell's songs with no limits, expressed with every timbre and voicing she would have.

Much more than greatest hits, Travelogue is the greatest realization of Joni Mitchell's material.

- Rambles
written by Tom Schulte
published 29 March 2003