Joni Mitchell is remembered as an acclaimed singer-songwriter distinguished by the compellingly confessional lyrics of her earlier music. However, in a life confined by an impending dissertation deadline, I have been drawn by the seductive freedom of her more mature music. Her 1979 Hejira album has become a new favourite. Many of the songs were inspired by her travels after she fled Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour, where she joined a former Australian lover on a road trip across the American southeast, meeting a Tibetan Buddhist monk who cured her of a cocaine addiction.

Love, solitude, wanderlust, and the search for absolute honesty with the self thread through Joni Mitchell’s work. In her later work, these themes are held by a sophisticated musicality and experimental blend of genres. Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell, a seven-piece tribute band, brought her music live to Cambridge Junction. The evening was a thrilling respite from a life (hopefully temporarily) dictated by edits and word counts.

“The free-wheeling movement of their rhythms brought her music to life”

Hejira took their repertoire from what, to me, was the height of her creativity: Joni’s discovery of jazz. By the end of the 1970s, she had released Shadow and Light, an album recorded during her tour with star-studded contemporary jazz musicians. The free-wheeling movement of their rhythms brought her music to life. The success of Hejira lies in the range of Joni Mitchell’s music they encompassed. As she wrote of herself: “People want to keep me in my trainer wheels, whereas my passion lies in Duke Ellington, more so than Gershwin, the originators, Charlie Parker. I like Patsy Cline.”

Hejira was a tribute to Joni Mitchell striding unbounded, wheels off. Hattie Whitehead led vocals with a powerful, arresting voice, alongside six talented jazz musicians assembled by the veteran jazz guitarist Pete Oxley. The style and audience were a pleasant change from my more regular visits to Junction – instead of the hoops, straight jeans, and strappy tops of a Slipped Disc night, Oxley set the tone of the evening by his brilliantly flared orange corduroys straight from the 70s. The audience was largely male, composed of Joni Mitchell’s contemporaries rather than a new generation of fans.

“Oxley set the tone of the evening by his brilliantly flared orange corduroys straight from the 70s”

They started with ‘Don’t Interpret the Sorrow’ from the earlier album, The Hissing of the Summer Lawns. ‘In France They Kiss on Main Street’ aptly demonstrated the skill of the band with the sultry groove and skill of the jazz solos.

Hejira’s instrumental interlude received perhaps the most enthusiastic audience reception. Chris Eldred on keyboards and Ollie Weston on the sax were fantastic, and Rick Finlay on drums delivered an impressive solo. With ease, Marc Cecil navigated the djembe and shone in his percussion introduction to ‘Help Me’, adding a compelling layer to the well-known track. These jazz features herald the sheer musical power of the musicians Metheny, Mays, Brecker, Pastorius, and Alias, who composed her band in this period.

“What continues to draw people to Joni Mitchell’s music is the uniqueness”

‘Songs for Sharon’ was my favourite – the lazy rhythm swelled and suited the venue’s relatively intimate space. The lyrics captured Joni’s poetic and intelligent humour: “Love stimulated my illusions / More than anything / The ceremony of the bells and lace / Still veils this reckless fool here”. Here, she muses on a woman’s choice between the lonely brilliance of her freedom or the comfortable confines of marriage.

‘Hejira’ and ‘Amelia’ were slower-paced and brought out the melodic power of Hattie Whitehead’s voice. After an encore, she sang her own song beautifully. However, in close contrast to Joni Mitchell’s work (which, to be fair, is a light that even Bob Dylan seemed a little uncomfortable standing in), the lyrics lacked creative depth.

Perhaps this is more revealing of how songwriting has changed since the 1970s; what continues to draw people to Joni Mitchell’s music is the uniqueness. Her lyrics are an esoteric collection of abstracted, layered, and highly personal, vivid images, likely profoundly shaped by her early education as a painter. Joni was distinctly uninterested in relatability. The tendency of contemporary musicians to present packaged, carefully curated images falls flat in contrast to the raw fragility and peculiarities of Joni’s inner world that she lays bare in her music.

“The band brought to Cambridge a glimpse of Joni Mitchell from the 70s”

The last song of the set demonstrated the affective power of Joni Mitchell’s music. The night ended with ‘Both Sides Now’, to the delight of the audience. Building up slowly, by the end, Hattie Whitehead was commanding the stage and doing full and fitting justice to the strength and subtleties of the song.

Hejira celebrated the sophistication of Joni Mitchell’s music, a woman who transcended her folk roots and reached full force in the world of jazz. The band brought to Cambridge a glimpse of Joni Mitchell from the 70s: deep soul-searching on wide American highways while composing elegies for lovers lost. This was the first time I had seen any of her music played live, and my deep love has only grown.