Coyote revisited

Guy Jackson featuring Gemma Kirk

Gemma Kirk • vocals and backing vocals

Guy Jackson • arrangement, keyboards, production

“Coyote revisited” features the stunning voice of Gemma Kirk who elected to take on this vibrant opening track from Joni Mitchell’s Hejira album. The arrangement behind her voice is totally “guitar-less” and features electric pianos, marimbas, xylophones, several synthesisers and various instruments from the string section.

Vocalist Gemma Kirk said:

“I have been a big fan of Joni since I first heard her music in my teens – the quirky storytelling, moods, the stunning instrumentation. Discovering Hejira after Blue and Dog Eat Dog, I fell further in love. The whole album feels like such an escape to me.

Coyote felt like the obvious choice to me – it’s so playful, the rich lyrics come in thick and fast, the character she depicts is so strong. It’s familiar for me and I’m sure many others of our own previous experiences with a certain type of man! The bass line from Jaco Pastorius is insanely good – it underpins and reflects perfectly the nature of this unique track.

It took me a couple of hours to learn the lyrics enough to sing it all in one piece. I really wanted to get the delivery right – there’s so much to convey and to relish! Also to approach a song with such strong American references and spoken word sections in an English accent was interesting.

My reaction to this new version was WOW! It’s so fundamentally different not to have guitar on these Joni tracks and I think it works so well. It allows for Guy’s stunning use of instrumentation and dynamics to come through and bring something new. On this and every “revisited” track I have been blown away by the arrangement, the stunning voices and the emotion of it all.

Thank you for inviting me to be part of this amazingly special project”