Joni Mitchell Plans Orchestra-Backed Tour

Veteran folk singer Joni Mitchell will circle the states with a full orchestra this spring in support of her new album, "Both Sides Now." Mitchell's outing begins May 12 at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and will last 12 dates in all, including a two-night stop at Madison Square Garden in New York.

"Both Sides Now" features updated and expanded versions of such standards as ''Stormy Weather'' and ''You're My Thrill,'' as well her own ''A Case of You.'' Mitchell described the recording sessions in Pro QB magazine:

"It was thrilling to work with a really big orchestra with seventy-one people playing harmony--playing with such emotional engagement. They weren't reading the Wall Street Journal behind their sheet music. They crowded into the playback room--they wept through 'Both Sides..'''

On April 16, TNT will air an all-star tribute to Mitchell, featuring Elton John, Bryan Adams, k.d. lang, Shawn Colvin, Richard Thompson and Chaka Khan, as well as Mitchell herself.