@@shawnbruce6934 Your list is the lineup who play on Joni's live recording at the Santa Barbara County Bowl documented by the album and video Shadows And Light. That's not the group playing in this clip from Japan.
Really great to see this so many years later! I was at this concert in Nara, Japan. It was truly amazing, all being watched over by the huge bronze Buddha. I wondered the streets of Nara for hours after this show just high on beauty. One of the best days in memory...
What an amazing song. What an experience that must have been. Todaiji temple is very something special (I lived lived 10 years in nearby Kyoto)... I once saw Lou Reed live in front of the Catedral in Barcelona and was similarly awed... walking home in a post-concert daze... 😋 'We're only particles of change...'
Thanks for the heads up and sharing memories. I live in Noborito, about a 10 minute drive from Keio Yomiuriland, home to the former 'Select Live Under the Sky' jazz concerts. I went to a few there, and did not recognize this stage as either the original Mt. Fuji Jazz or Select Live. Although I did have a chance to see Wayne, Herbie, Milton Nascimento, and Pat Metheny (many times) ... I never had the chance to see Joni live. She might be the top of my list for singer-songwriters of the 20th century.
Those lyrics! She explores and exposes so much of herself. I like the allusion to ego and her legacy - "chicken scratching for a piece of immortality...." Love the moral prompting it engenders.
my favourite record is " don Juan reckless daughter",with Jaco,Waine,Peter Erskine, is for me a real masterpiece, i'm listening since more than 20 years and still surprise me
This is one of Jonis Opus Magnum. I love the mood, the lyrics, the key and yes the memory of Jaco lives on; travel the breadth of extremety or stick to some straighter line? Magic.....
I saw Joni Mitchell play to a sold out coliseum here in Portland Oregon1979- 3 years after the release of this album. She wore a thin silk pajama jump suit and played a huge Gibson hollow body guitar. As they allowed cameras I took my 35mm and telephoto lens- took many images of the Pat Metheny Band with Jaco Pastorius backing up Joni Mitchell. I'll have to post those photos one day after transfer from Kodak transparencies. Mark Seibold, Retired IT Tech, Artist-Astronomy Educator, Portland OR
I just thought of adding my Facebook album on concert photography so here's the link. You'll see close-ups of Joni near the top of the album, and then if you scroll down, it's now a total of 55 images, of various other popular groups, which I'm sure most of you will recognize. I just added in a couple of new images of Joni from that concert in August 1979, here in Portland Oregon. I dug up the old photographic transparency GAF 500 ASA slides, and photographed them over a light table, a couple of days ago - they're not the greatest images because one is quite distant showing nearly the entire group with Pat Metheny to her left or to the right of viewing the photograph. At the far left of this photograph, is Jaco Pastorius playing bass. It's the only good image I got of him that night and wasn't even intending to photograph him. I just took a quick image of the entire stage what the stock 55 millimeter lens, [not as close up as the others UCF hurt or the top of the album, that I displayed there earlier some years ago,] so you'll see that at the bottom of this album of 55 photos and one video running at the bottom of the album, you can click on, as I described how I re-photograph over a light table and then working on the images at the computer screen in Photoshop. m.facebook.com/mark.seibold/albums/10150516283587216/ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-T2kUySnZ-Jw.html
@@un-dos-tres-mambo , that photo of Jaco is now in my Facebook Album link Concert Photography, as I finally dug up those old transparencies and recopied that one about a month ago, it's the FB address that I posted above. It's not the greatest picture of Jaco, but it's the only one I captured from that concert.
I remember being a teenager and playing this album over and over and always being so captivated by her lyrics and her sweet soulful vocals...she had me then as she has me now...
Zeppolino100 As most of her songs. Joni is not a singer, is a world apart. When you meet her - I mean IT, this world - don't you have the feeling of a déjà vu, half strange and half familiar ? We can "lost" ourselves in her melodies, wander in her lyrics and then emerge again to the "real" world......And year after year, decade after decade, the songs are never the same.
If you are talking to me, it was a special night I will always remember. She autographed all my albums and there was a party going on with a lot of drugs and I shyed away. She seemed to really care about me and suggested we go out into the lobby of her suite and sat and talked about the meaning of her songs and life in general. It had an impact on me how I felt about life. It was great and she was so down to earth and not like a celebrity full of herself at all.
I was there at Todaiji temple in Nara on that day. That was kinda music festival sponsored by the United Nations(UNESCO). I listened all the musicians’ plays. This tune “Hejira” was really a highlight of the concerts of the evening. During the event, there were strange warm breezes blowing frequently. I felt like various gods of Buddhism visiting one after another actually. I just wanted to keep the memory here.
I think it was on the live album, "Shadows and Light" where she is describing to the audience the difference between art and the performing arts when she laments, "Nobody ever said to van Gogh, 'Paint a Starry Night again, man'". SHE did on stage night after night achieve something close to that feat.
I'm 51 & remember when Hejira came out. Forever changed my musical taste & awareness. I'm a singer & never noticed a bass line until Hejira. I listened with astonishment, 1st on Vinyl then CD. Still do. Her voice is probably tired but she also smoked it away. My ex used to work for her & she smokes like a house fire. She probably still has good voice days/nights but smoking has killed many voices. I stopped about 6 yrs ago & I can hit notes way higher than I could in my 20's. I'm lucky.
I saw you down at Alpine Valley in Troy, WI in 1979 and have been in Love with you ever since. You soothed my heart after my divorce and my Dad's passing.🌹
In the church they light the candles and the wax rolls down like tears. There is the hope and the hopelessness I've witnessed all these years. Just shoot me.
I normally like only the original version of a song. I can enjoy a live version of a song if it is done true to form. I can listen to this done in any way by Joni. I have loved every version of this I have ever heard.
Listened to the album last week. There really aren't albums of this like recorded in this day and age. (Hence I listen to old(er) music) WHAT a gem! An extraordinaire lady!
I love this song. It seemed flawless to me, but I was focusing on Joni. When her "For the Roses" album came out and she came here to tour, I bought 3 dozen red roses and rode the elevator until she got on dressed not to be recognized. It impressed her so that she gave me a backstage pass and afterward invited me to the penthouse where musicians were partying. We sat out in the lobby of the penthouse and talked about her songs and life all night long..
@ropy89 i know he's Ridiculously talented and apparently really tall with huge hands that produce that amazing sound! somehow i notice these things and yes i wish could learn as well . CHEERS mate.
God, this is incredibly beautiful. I knew she had done a Jazz album because my sister had it. But I was in high school when she put out her Jazz stuff and, idiot that I was, I never wanted to hear that. Boy, what a doofus I was then! LOL. This... this is ethereal and brilliant.
All right, now I've seen everything. I knew Japanese audiences were polite, but check the end of this video. Somebody brought a Canadian flag?! Well, a great performance by Ms. Mitchell and some interesting tonic wraparounds by 'Weird As' Wayne. Marvelous all around. Thanks for posting.
Agreed about Joni's genius. Pino plays beautifully here and it should also be noted that he's playing what Jaco played on Hejira verbatim. All inspiring and amazing musicians............this made my morning (a grey, overcast, blueish kind of one in California)..........thanks for posting.
After listening to the lyrics, it becomes easy to see the immediate and strong connection between Joni and Jaco (I know that is not him playing here, but they recorded many tracks together). While most recognize their musical empathy, both artists were intensely spiritual in their own way regarding their connection to the cosmic wholeness. R.I. P. Jaco. Joni, hang in there as we still need you on this planet!~
@liffick This album was given to me as a Christmas gift in 1976 from my best friend and the lead guitarist in the band. I played bass then and he said you gotta check out this bass player, he's unreal! Well, my buddy was certainly right about Jaco, but I absolutely fell head over heals for this womens point of view and music!! Some 34 years later, this still sounds and feels, FRESH, new, and full of promise! GREAT POST, much thanks!
@AnsaralZindiqi I played this cassette to death in 1976 WHILE I traveled through North Africa, Jordan, Yemen to the Persian Gulf in the Navy. Hejira refers to the Pilgrimage or the Holy Journey. It still resonates with me to this day.
