Dear Joni, The World Loves You

Episode 3 of The Road To Joni picks up a thread from our
conversation with Don Was… and leads us to esperanza spalding. In
2021 esperanza collaborated with her mentor Wayne Shorter on
Iphigenia, an opera with a revisionary take on Euripides' Greek
tragedy Iphigenia at Aulis. It was Ipheigenia that led esperanza to
Joni’s living room, though her path on the road to Joni started
years prior with a track from the 1976 album Hejira. esperanza
tells host Carmel Holt how, at a recent Janet Jackson concert, she
was reminded that Joni Mitchell has “literally influenced
everyone.” Joni’s influence on powerhouse string players and Joni
Jam members Chauntee and Monique of SistaStrings began with “the
lady that sings on the Janet Jackson song. (‘Got Til It’s Gone’).”
A move from their hometown of Milwaukee to Nashville immersed the
sisters in the Americana scene… which led them to a place in Brandi
Carlisle’s touring band… which led to that fateful Newport 2022
performance when Joni took the stage. SistaStrings credit Joni for
being an example for women to “stand on your own, be who you are,
make weird music and be loud about it.”