[aioseo_breadcrumbs]

 “The UK’s best and most convincing take on Joni Mitchell” ~ The Guardian

Hejira is a formidable, highly successful 7-piece touring band, set up in 2023 to celebrate the ‘greatest songs’ of Joni Mitchell. In particular, the band performs bandleader Pete Oxley’s arrangements of the masterpiece works that Mitchell recorded from ‘Court & Spark’ to ‘Wild Things Run Fast’; expect to hear such classics as ‘Amelia’, ‘Help Me’, ‘Hejira’, ‘Song For Sharon’, ‘Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow’, ‘Free Man In Paris’, ‘Coyote’ ‘Hissing of Summer Lawns’ etc..

The band has produced 10 high-quality videos for Youtube, amassing many more than 1,500,000 views and garnering thousands of glowing comments.

They have, in their short history, played more than 150 shows in the UK and Ireland, including headline features at The EFG London Jazz Festival; Musicport World-Music Festival; Brecon Jazz Festival; Mosely Folk Festival; Lincoln Jazz Festival; Scarborough Jazz Festival; Oxford Festival of the Arts; Salisbury International Arts Festival; Buxton International Festival.

They have just embarked on their first tour of the USA., the anchor shows being a headline fixture at the 40^th Syracuse Jazz Festival (NY) and a show at the world-famous Iridium club in NYC. They performed 9 concerts in the north-east across 5 states, between the 7^th and 17^th July, 2026. As a result of this tour, Hejira have now been signed for worldwide representation (excluding Strada’s territory of the UK and Ireland) by the premier U.S. agency, the Ted Kurland Agency.

Founder and director of the Syracuse Jazz Festival, Frank Malfitano, wrote of the band, following their show:

“Hejira is an extraordinary ensemble of jazz virtuosos hailing from the UK, and without hesitation one of the finest groups we’ve ever presented in our festival’s 40-year history. Their musical homage to Joni Mitchell is stunningly beautiful and a wonderfully-executed project for the ages that magically recreates the artistry and excellence one of the finest groups in the history of American jazz. While the group displays enormous respect for the collective work of Joni, Jaco, Michael, Lyle, Pat and Don, Hejira brings their own unique talents to Joni’s unparalleled compositions and in my estimation they go the Shadows & Light band one better. In reflecting back on their incredible performance at Jazz Fest this past weekend, it has been such an incredible honor to have them on the Syracuse International Jazz Fest stage. Our only hope is that we haven’t seen the last of them and that they’ll return soon.”

Hejira’s 2024 album, ‘Live @ the Cockpit’ has received much critical acclaim; for example:

“Hattie Whitehead’s voice is spine-shiveringly like Mitchell’s, and just as full of delicacy, emotion and intelligence…. They are a formidably tight unit, imparting a practised smoothness to the performances. The recording is of optimal quality for a live album too” ~ Jazzwise, August 2024
Line up: Hattie Whitehead – vocals & guitar, Ollie Weston – tenor & soprano saxophones, Chris Eldred – keyboards, Pete Oxley – guitar, Dave Jones – bass,
Rick Finlay – drums, Marc Cecil – percussion.

Hejira is a co-promotion between Exeter Phoenix and Fougou Music