Hejira: celebrating Joni Mitchell
Hejira: celebrating Joni Mitchell at The Y Theatre, Leicester
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Hejira: celebrating Joni Mitchell £16.00
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About the show
Hejira is a project that has rapidly blossomed from an initial ‘one-off gig’ into a highly successful touring band, set up to celebrate the music of Joni Mitchell.
In particular, the band performs the masterpiece works that Mitchell captured on her live 1980 album, ‘Shadows and Light’. Much of the success of the group, Hejira, is down to Pete Oxley (Hejira’s bandleader and guitarist) having selected a personnel that are not only great players in their own rights, but also great fans of this music. As with the band of top-drawer players in Joni’s Shadows and Light outfit (Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Michael Brecker, Jaco Pastorius and Don Alias), Hejira comprises highly experienced, world-class musicians whose primary concern is to serve the music.
Since that first gig in Oxford in 2023, audience appetite for Hejira has seen them touring Britain, the USA and Ireland at many prestigious venues and festivals, including their return to Oxford last summer for a sell-out show at the Oxford Playhouse, where they celebrated their 100th performance. They played at the Syracuse Jazz Festival and the Iridium in New York, EFG London Jazz Festival at The Cockpit, Marylebone (where they recorded for a live album) and they annually sell out at the Jazz Café, Camden.
Featuring - Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell
‘Hejira’ is a 7-piece band set up to celebrate and honour the masterpiece works of Joni Mitchell, mostly from the late ‘70s. Having released the albums ‘The Hissing of Summer Lawns’, ‘Hejira’, ‘Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter’ and ‘Mingus’ (regarded as her ‘jazz period’), Joni then toured briefly with a band formed from the crème de la crème of contemporaneous jazz musicians (Metheny, Mays, Brecker, Pastorius and Alias).
The tour was recorded, producing the outstanding live album, ‘Shadows And Light’; it is from this album that the band Hejira is drawing the body of its repertoire.
Comprising highly experienced jazz musicians, this band is fronted by the brilliant Hattie Whitehead who not only has - in her own way - assimilated the poise, power and beauty of Joni’s vocals, but also plays guitar with Joni’s stylistic mannerisms. Expect an evening of the ‘great’ songs from Mitchell’s back catalogue!
Ollie Weston
One of the tastiest tenor players on the UK scene, Ollie's credits run a whole smorgasbord of styles, including stints with Jamie Cullum, Amy Winehouse, Sax Appeal, Stornaway and current hipsters, The Hackney Colliery Band! A player with a distinctive muscular, yet thoroughly soulful sound.
Rick Finlay
A full-time professional drummer, percussionist and teacher since 1983, Rick’s performance credits include Just East, Liane Carroll, Si Cranstoun, Des O'Connor, Jacqui Dankworth, Sinéad O’Connor and Mari Wilson.
He secured his first West End show chair at the age of 24, and his subsequent career as West End theatre drummer has included a 22-year run at Blood Brothers as well as Little Shop of Horrors, Chess, Time, and has seen him accompanying stars like Mel C, Natasha Hamilton, Marti Pellow, Cliff Richard, Stephanie Lawrence, David Cassidy and David Soul.
His love of jazz has led to performances with many of the finest UK Jazz soloists including Ian Shaw, Martin Speake, Derek Nash, Gilad Atzmon, Tina May, Ed Jones, Jim Mullen, Julian Stringle, Jonathan Gee, Roger Beaujolais and many others.
Television includes: Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Parkinson, The Jethro Junction, The Late Show.
An innovative and enthusiastic teacher, Rick has directed workshops in Jazz and Latin-American percussion, as well as the business of music. He has taught at many schools and colleges including Trinity College of Music, Middlesex University.
Rick writes for, plays in and manages jazz/world quartet Just East and their record label Just East of Jazz. Lately he’s been touring with Hejira: Celebrating Joni Mitchell