That's Our Joni

"Eight* years ago, Michael Dorf, who founded the Knitting Factory and now owns City Winery, staged the first of his perennial charitable tribute concerts at Carnegie Hall. The honoree was Joni Mitchell. Offering up a token payment, a chance to play Carnegie Hall, and the Karmic benefits of raising money for the musical education of underprivileged kids, Dorf enlisted twenty-one artists to perform her songs. Mitchell signed on, too, but a few hours before showtime she called to say that she wasn't going to make it. Her cat was sick. As she explained the significance of this, at great length, Dorf, in spite of his deep admiration for her work, found himself thinking, Um, I gotta go. That night, she sent him fifty yellow roses."

-- Nick Paumgarten in The New Yorker, March 26

*The concert actually occurred in February 2006. Where are those legendary New Yorker fact checkers? Here and here are some links to articles about it, listing performers and songs.

(Photo: Street art in Shoreditch, London, on Monday.)