Joni Mitchell should need no introduction. In a career that spans 23 albums over 53 years, the woman born Roberta Joan Anderson has embodied what it means to be a powerfully self-directed songwriter, composer, lyricist, vocalist, musician, performer, and producer. In the process, she has received every honor under the sun and been claimed as an inspiration by a wide swath of luminaries while basically being a genre unto herself. But we’re not here to talk about Joni’s sublime storytelling skills, chronicles of the heart, or sharp observations about human nature. We’ll let someone else tell you about her innovative guitar tunings and signature approach to harmony. We’re skipping over Joni’s evocative visual art, her cheeky compilations, her cool ballet, and her revelatory archive releases to get to what matters most: her bass desires. Joni Mitchell owns a special place in our hearts because she has consistently sought out killer bass performances and made them central to her work. As you’ll see below, her penchant for low end took root long before she began thinking of herself as a singer. Joni’s earliest albums featured sparse bass by Buffalo Springfield/Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young icon Stephen Stills (on our cover at bottom right), but soon, two of L.A.’s finest players stepped in to add new colors to her canvas. Wilton Felder (bottom left), the Crusaders sax legend whose immortal bass lines include the Jackson 5’s “ABC” and “I Want You Back,” had already logged studio time with Stanley Turrentine, Shuggie Otis, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Donald Byrd before he began working with Joni on For the Roses in 1972. Max Bennett (right, middle) had a dazzling list of credits — from Cannonball Adderley, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, and George Harrison to Elvis Presley, Charlie Parker, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, and Frank Zappa — by the time he met Joni as a member of the L.A. Express in 1973. Both players added sophisticated grooves to Court and Spark (1974) and The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975) while helping Joni to articulate what she wanted next, which she found in abundance in a 24-year-old force of nature from Florida (top left). Jaco Pastorius’ appearance on Hejira capped an astonishing 1976 that also included the release of his own self-titled debut, Pat Metheny’s Bright Size Life, Weather Report’s Black Market, and Al Di Meola’s Land of the Midnight Sun. Their special brand of Joni/Jaco magic continued through Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (1977), Mingus (a 1979 collaboration with jazz great Charles Mingus, top right), and Shadows and Light (1980). A couple years later, Joni debuted a new sound and a fresh band headed by young jazz doubler Larry Klein (left, middle), who’d made a name for himself with Freddie Hubbard, Willie Bobo, and Diane Reeves. In the four decades since, Klein has remained integral to Joni’s music-making process, and no one knows Joni’s bass desires better.