Hejira
by Joni Mitchell
- Type: Album
- Released: November 21, 1976
- Label: Asylum
- Country: Canada
- Length: 51:54
- Community rating: 4.61/5 from 11 ratings
Album Notes & Community Reviews
Defined by themes of travel and emotional exodus, 'Hejira' captures Joni Mitchell's definitive shift into a jazz-inflected soundscape. The album is characterized by lyrically dense, free-flowing song structures that abandon conventional choruses, built around Mitchell's unique open-tuned guitar work and the revolutionary, melodic fretless bass of Jaco Pastorius. This synthesis of restless lyrical poetry and atmospheric, conversational instrumentation creates a cohesive and hypnotic tone-poem quality, marking a pivotal and highly influential moment in her discography.
Genres
Descriptors: folk, acoustic, storytelling, guitars, melodic
Tracklist
- Coyote (05:01)
- Amelia (06:01)
- Furry Sings the Blues (05:06)
- A Strange Boy (04:19)
- Hejira (06:42)
- Song for Sharon (08:37)
- Black Crow (04:22)
- Blue Motel Room (05:04)
- Refuge of the Roads (06:42)
Credits
- Joni Mitchell - vocals, rhythm guitar, electric guitar, cover, design, producer
- Larry Carlton - lead guitar, acoustic guitar
- Bobbye Hall - percussion
- Jaco Pastorius - fretless bass
- Victor Feldman - vibes
- Max Bennett - bass guitar
- John Guerin - drums
- Neil Young - harmonica
- Abe Most - clarinet
- Chuck Domanico - double bass
- Chuck Findley - horns
- Tom Scott - horns
- Henry Lewy - producer
- Steve Katz - assistant engineer, recorded by, producer [assistant]
- Bernie Grundman - mastered by
- Glen Christensen - art direction
- Norman Seeff - photography by
- Joel Bernstein - photography by
- Keith Williamson - art direction
- Toller Cranston - special thanks
- Elliot Roberts - personal management