Joni Mitchell’s most avant-garde works from the late ’70s are now available in a new box set, The Asylum Albums 1976–1980. First up is 1976’s ambient, ethereal masterpiece, Hejira, on which Mitchell reports on her travels after running away with honor following a painful romantic breakup. Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (1977) explores musical polyrhythms and world beats. This album caught the ear of jazz legend Charles Mingus. Hence, the Mingus album (1979) contains Mingus’s music with Mitchell’s lyrics and depicts situations from Mingus’s colorful life. Mitchell’s second live collection, Shadows and Light (1980), which documents Mitchell’s all-star band ’79 tour, completes this stellar set.
Image Via Rhino Records
