Court and Spark – Joni Mitchell

Court and Spark – Joni Mitchell

From You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians by Peter Martin & Adam Maness

June 15, 2026 · 60 min · Season 14 · Episode 25

About this episode

The episode breaks down Joni Mitchell's album 'Court and Spark', exploring its artistic and commercial significance.

With her 1974 masterpiece Court and Spark, Joni Mitchell transforms from folk singer into something harder to define. Her piano playing matures. Her songwriting blossoms into one of the richest harmonic and melodic color palettes we've ever heard up to this point. Not to mention her incredible lyricism and melodies. And she brings a new production sensibility from her backing band: a group of jazz musicians called The LA Express. In this episode of You'll Hear It, Jazz pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin break down Joni Mitchell's greatest artistic achievement (and her greatest commercial success) track-by-track. You'll never hear Court and Spark the same way again ------------------------------- Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs: https://openstudiojazz.com/ ------------------------------ Blue: https://youtu.be/ly6ENKGV-S8 ------------------------------ About You'll Hear It: In this popular music series, Adam and Peter break down the greatest albums of all time. Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Joni Mitchell, D'Angelo: Jazz is the foundation of the most GENIUS music in recent history. These seasoned jazz pianists bring their deep musical…

People in this episode

Hosts: Adam Maness, Peter Martin

Topics covered

  • Joni Mitchell
  • Court and Spark
  • jazz music
  • songwriting
  • album analysis

Keywords

  • Joni Mitchell
  • Court and Spark
  • jazz
  • album analysis
  • songwriting
  • music commentary

Sponsors

Open Studio

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The LA Express

Books & works: Court and Spark

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