Joni Mitchell

One of modern music's headstrong mavericks, Joni Mitchell first gained acclaim during the singer/songwriter boom of the early '70s. Albums such as 1970’s Ladies of the Canyon and '71's Blue established her accessibility; "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Both Sides Now" became standards of the Woodstock era. Her restlessness, however, has prompted the Canadian thrush to continue exploring increasingly sophisticated musical forms.

At the peak of her mid-'70s acclaim, Mitchell forged ahead into experimental sounds, employing some of the era's great jazzmen as collaborators, most notably titanic bandleader/composer Charles Mingus. An avant-garde mindset colors many of her '80s and '90s albums, though she's occasionally returned to simpler instrumental settings, namely with 1994's Grammy-honored Turbulent Indigo.

Of late, Joni Mitchell has revisited pop standards and even her own monumental body of work. Listen to the selections from Travelogue, on which she reinvents her own songs in bold new ways, steadfastly refusing to pander or play it safe, even when looking back at her own storied career.

Joni Mitchell makes as many demands on her fans as she does on herself. Never content to linger on familiar terrain, she has pushed ahead from her folk-music roots (after penning such classics as "Both Sides Now" and "The Circle Game") into confessional songwriting (1971's Blue is arguably the crowning album of the singer/songwriter movement) and progressively more challenging soundscapes. When all is said and done, Joni Mitchell's is one of the late 20th century's most demanding and rewarding oeuvres.