Wuff

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

music: Hejira, Joni Mitchell, Jaco Pastorius

I used to listen to my cassettes in alphabetical order, out of a nearly perverse loyalty to the artists. I would get anxious when the 'M's came up, because that meant Joni Mitchell and I knew I'd be an emotional wreck, climaxing with "Hejira", her moody masterpiece of isolation and travelling.

On re-listening, it's not quite as great as the musical Kryptonite of my memory, though the iconic pain of "Amelia" had me sobbing gently. But Jaco Pastorius' fretless bass playing is fabulous. On songs like "Hejira" itself, the acoustic guitar just builds and builds, but there's never a trite release into a "rock-y" guitar solo, instead he plays such liquid, musical lines. It's like a submarine or a whale making its presence felt and briefly seen.

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1 Comments:

  • ...man...Jaco on Hejira! What an inspired pairing...I heard that tune sitting in Starbucks the other night...after not hearing it for years and years...it was a complete surprise...it took me a minute to even comprehend what I was hearing...I almost cried...Jaco was my sole reason for living when I was 15...a timeless piece of music.

    By ricebowl13, at November 06, 2007 3:36 AM  

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