Video of the Week: Steven Osborne reimagines Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case of You’

The Scottish pianist offers his own arrangement of one of Joni Mitchell’s best-known songs, ahead of a deeply personal new album for Hyperion.

This week’s Video of the Week takes Moto Perpetuo slightly beyond its usual boundaries, with pianist Steven Osborne performing his own arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s A Case of You.

The performance, newly released by Hyperion Records, offers a glimpse into OK by me – A life in encores, Osborne’s forthcoming album, due for release on 13 November.

A personal connection to Joni Mitchell

Mitchell occupies a particular place in Osborne’s musical life. The pianist recalls discovering her music while at college and describes her songs as a source of “musical comfort”.

His arrangement of A Case of You originated when a concert promoter asked him to perform something Canadian as an encore. The result became part of a much broader and unusually autobiographical recording project.

A life told through music

OK by me – A life in encores brings together music that has accompanied Osborne at different points in his life and career. Rather than concentrating on a single composer or period, the programme ranges from Bach, Grieg, Schumann and Rachmaninov to Gershwin, Meredith Monk and Keith Jarrett, alongside Osborne’s own compositions, arrangements and improvisations.

Osborne describes the album as an attempt to “create a line through my musical life”, with extensive accompanying notes explaining the personal associations behind his choices.

That makes A Case of You more than an excursion outside the traditional classical repertoire: it becomes another piece of Osborne’s musical autobiography, translated into the language of the piano.

Listen to OK by me – A life in encores

The original

Osborne’s interpretation can also be heard alongside the song that inspired it: Joni Mitchell’s original A Case of You, released on her 1971 album Blue.