Hejira - Celebrating the Music of Joni Mitchell

We're excited to welcome Hejira to the Dawkes Stage, a phenomenal 7-piece touring band celebrating the music of Joni Mitchell.

“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. Since late 2025, they have been drawing from a pool of 3 outstanding singers/guitarists: Hattie Whitehead; Jana Varga; and Immy Churchill.

In particular, the band performs 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’, ‘A Case Of You, ‘Free Man In Paris’, ‘Coyote’ ‘Hissing of Summer Lawns’ etc..

They have, in their short history, played more than 140 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.

More event details are listed further down the page.

“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

The Band

• Hattie Whitehead - vocals & guitar
• Ollie Weston - tenor & soprano saxophones
• Chris Eldred - keyboards
• Pete Oxley - guitar
• Dave Jones - bass
• Rick Finlay - drums
• Marc Cecil - percussion

About the Band

Hattie Whitehead: vocals and guitars

The band is fronted by the extraordinarily talented Hattie Whitehead, who not only sings masterfully with Joni’s pitch-accuracy, poise, and dignity, but she also plays guitar much with the mannerisms of Mitchell (incorporating various open tunings - which lend an instant authenticity to the colour of the songs). In 2016, she won the ‘Emerging Talent’ competition at the world-famous Glastonbury Festival. Her original songs have been listened to hundreds of thousands of times on various streaming platforms.

Pete Oxley: guitar

After moving to Paris in his mid twenties, Pete began gigging intensively and developing his career as a guitarist, composer and bandleader. He has produced 16 albums of critically acclaimed original music (including 7 with the Swiss guitar virtuoso, Nicolas Meier) and is one of only a handful of British composers to have their works included in the ‘European Real Book’ (Sher Publications). The Oxley-Meier Guitar Project continues to record and tour extensively throughout the UK and Europe.

Ollie Weston: saxophones

Ollie has had a diverse career which has included education, session work and live performance. Ollie has toured all over the world with such outfits as Amy Winehouse, Tim Minchin, Bonobo and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. He has also worked extensively in the West End, performing in Chicago, Dream Girls and in two critically acclaimed seasons at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

Chris Eldred: piano and keyboards

Chris was winner of the 2011 Yamaha Scholarship Award for Outstanding Jazz Musicians and graduated in the same year from Trinity College of Music with first class honours. With NYJO, he performed many high-profile gigs (such as at the Albert Hall Proms) and came to the attention of such established masters as Mark Lockheart, Jean Toussaint and Salena Jones, with whom he subsequently worked. He is now a regular performer at Ronnie Scott’s and is one of London’s most in-demand pianists.

Dave Jones: electric basses

Dave's deep musicianship has led him to work with, amongst others, John Etheridge, Bill Bruford, the BBC Big Band, Jacqui Dankworth, Willard White and Scott Hamilton. He is bandleader, arranger and composer of the ‘Dave Jones Nonet’, comprising the creme de la creme of UK jazz musicians. Dave is continually active in jazz education leading many courses at Richmond Jazz School where he also previously led the faculty and he is also regularly invited to teach on a number of international jazz summer schools.

Rick Finlay: drums

Rick divides his time between London’s West End, education and performing as a jazz musician. In the former, Rick held the drum chair at Blood Brothers for twenty years and also played for The Little Shop of Horrors and Chess Time. As a freelancer, Rick has performed on many prestigious TV shows, including Parkinson, Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and The Late Show. 

Marc Cecil: percussion

Marc Cecil is a musician whose career has seen him work in myriad styles, performing at all sorts of premier venues, from The Royal Opera House to Wembley Arena, Glastonbury Festival to Ronnie Scott’s. He was a member of "King Salsa”, the UK’s premier 12 piece salsa band for 17 years. His extensive theatre work includes seasons with: Blood Brothers (west end), Billy Elliot (west end), Footloose (tour), Streisand The Story (tour), and many more. Marc’s extraordinary drive, groove and use of sonic colours is an essential element of the whole Hejira soundscape.

About this event

• Pre-booking required.
• Cheese and Charcuterie Boards available to pre-order up to 48 hours before the event
• Bar service available (soft & alcoholic)
• Doors open 7.30 pm | Music starts 8 pm
  

Additional Information - Please Read Carefully:

Seat Allocations

Each ticket holder will be allocated a seat, so please book groups under one booking so that you can be seated together.

Refunds

All sales are non-refundable. If the event is rescheduled, all purchases will be honoured for the next event date. If you cannot attend the event, you may transfer your purchase to another person. If the event is cancelled, all purchases will be refunded in full.

Getting Here & Parking Info

We have 30 free parking spaces, including two spaces at the front of the building for Blue Badge holders. Extra on-street parking is available after 6 pm and on Sundays.

Trains run regularly to Maidenhead from Reading and London Paddington. We are a five-minute taxi ride/twenty-minute walk from the station.

"The venue was excellent. The revamped Dawkes shop area adjusted beautifully into a club-like atmosphere. There was a relaxed welcoming attitude from the staff and they were attentive to the needs of the audience."- Live Event Visitor Feedback