When firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne died in a fast-moving restaurant fire in August, they were hailed as heroes _ the first Boston firefighters to die in the line of duty since 1999.But leaked autopsy results that reportedly showed the two may have been...

When firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne died in a fast-moving restaurant fire in August, they were hailed as heroes _ the first Boston firefighters to die in the line of duty since 1999.But leaked autopsy results that reportedly showed the two may have been...

A few years ago, Joni Mitchell had rejected her musical muse, refusing to write or even play music as she devoted her life to painting, watching old movies on TV and reconnecting to the daughter she had given up for adoption in 1965.Now, at age...

Understanding the singer songwriter's gift involves tracing a pattern of personal evolution … rather than isolating the most impressive material. Court and Spark (1974) may be Joni Mitchell's finest album, but the continuum that brought her to that point is more exciting than any single effort. Hindsight helps, of course: when Mitchell made her 1968 recording debut, it would have been difficult to peg her as anything more promising than an obviously gifted but dour and arty poet, more c...

On first listening, Joni Mitchell's Court And Spark … sounds surprisingly light; by the third or fourth listening, it reveals its underlying tensions. The lyrics lead us through concentric circles that define an almost Zen-like dilemma: The freer the writer becomes, the more unhappy she finds herself; the more she surrenders her freedom, the less willing she is to accept the resulting compromise. Joni Mitchell seems destined to remain in a state of permanent dissatisfaction—always knowi...