Joni Mitchell tribute

Sarah Slean and Biglake Orchestra at Base31

Clad in a glittering turquoise dress Sarah Slean, accompanied by a full symphony orchestra under the direction of Johannes Debus, performed some of Joni Mitchell’s iconic songs to a capacity audience in the Drill Hall at Base31 last Saturday night. This was the final event of the BIGLAKE Festival, which celebrated classical music in its many forms.

Base31 CEO Tim Jones welcomed the audience to the Drill Hall, and said that the arts play a huge role in bringing the site back to life. The vision for the site is to be a place where stories can be told, whether they are contemporary stories, or those from the times of the early settlers, or of the rich Indigenous history that is rooted here. He also sees the site as a monument to the people it was originally built for—the men and women who strove to safeguard our democracy and freedom. Part of the mandate of Base31 is to build partnerships with other County organizations, and Mr. Jones said that it had been a pleasure to collaborate with BIGLAKE. Last year, the Drill Hall stage held a string orchestra from BIGLAKE, featuring co-founder Elissa Lee. This year, it was a full symphony orchestra conducted by the other co-founder, Johannes Debus. “It is an absolute thrill to be here. It’s our wildest dreams come true,” he said. “When we got our first peek at this venue some years ago we started to imagine how great it would be to present an orchestra on this stage.”

The songs for the evening’s performance came from Joni Mitchell’s albums Both Sides Now, released in 2000, and Travelogue, released in 2002. “Joni was excellent at writing songs about a middleaged woman and how things can change so fast,” said Ms. Slean. She started the evening with A Case of You, which she said was inspired by a Beethoven piece. Ms. Slean’s voice was ideally suited to Joni Mitchell’s twentyfirst century songs. At the lower end her voice is smooth and mellow, and it retains its richness as it rises. The orchestral arrangements were a perfect complement to her voice. She provided a short introduction and explanation for each of the songs. She said that at one time Joni Mitchell went heavily into jazz, being influenced by players such as Herbie Hancock and Charles Mingus, which yielded her song God Must Be a Boogie Man. Some of her music came from a darker place. Her song Cherokee Louise was about the bigotry that she saw while growing up in Saskatoon. Ms. Slean said that Joni Mitchell’s best song was Both Sides Now, which she wrote when she was in her 20s. “One generation later she re-recorded it, and that accrued life, the journey that is in time, the heartbreak, the bittersweetness—you can feel it in the later recording,” she said. It was obvious that Ms. Slean has a strong affection for Joni Mitchell’s music, but it wasn’t until the encore performance of River that the depth of that affection became clear. It was a profoundly emotional performance that tugged at the heartstrings and pulled the listeners right in. The audience responded with sustained applause, and Ms. Slean and Mr. Debus came back on stage for two more curtain calls.