Alina Bzhezhinska and Tony Kofi-Altera Vita.
Label: BBE Music.
Format: CD.
Release Date: 5th April 2024.
In 2023, harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and tenor saxophonist Tony Kofi released 'Altera Vita' as a single. This was the first collaboration by the pair, and was greeted by widespread critical acclaim. Then when Downbeat released their list of the best jazz albums of 2023 Altera Vita' was included. This was almost unheard of for a single.
However, by then, the two award winning artists had already recorded their debut album as a duo. Recording of 'Altera Vita' took place during two days in the summer of 2023, at Fish Factory Studios, London. During the session Bzhezhinska's harp and Kofi's tenor saxophone were in perfect harmony as they recorded six tracks. This was no surprise as they had previously played together.
They first time the duo took to the stage was during the 2017 EFG London Jazz Festival, which was held at the Barbican, in a concert honouring Alice and John Coltrane. That evening, critics were quick to spot the influence of pioneering jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders.
He was a member of John Coltrane's groups in the sixties, and often collaborated with Alice Coltrane. Sanders was a pioneer of the free and spiritual jazz movements. The legendary saxophonist was known for his use of overblowing as well as harmonic and multiphonic techniques as well as his trademark "sheets of sound." He had influenced and inspired both Bzhezhinska and Kofi.
As the two musicians paid homage to the Coltranes, the influence of Sanders was omnipresent that night at the Barbican. Six years later, the two musicians from very different backgrounds were reunited and would pay homage to Sanders.
Kofi is a British jazz multi-instrumentalist, born to Ghanaian parents. He's a versatile musician whose career began in the early nineties. Seamlessly he can switch from alto, baritone and tenor saxophone to flute. The bandleader, musician, teacher and composer started out with the Jazz Warriors and since then, has played alongside some familiar faces. This includes Donald Byrd, Eddie Henderson, Abdullah Ibrahim and Macy Gray. He's also a member of Cymande when they play live.
Nowadays, Bzhezhinska is regarded as one of the world's leading harpists. She studied classical harp at the F. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw where she obtained a Masters degree. After this, she studied jazz at the University of Arizona. Then in 2002, she relocated to the UK, and became the resident harp tutor Royal Conservatory of Scotland until 2009. By then, her star was in the ascendancy.
In November 2017, Bzhezhinska's quartet gave a barnstorming performance at the EFG London Jazz Festival. Bzhezhinska was rubbing shoulders with Pharoah Sanders and Denys Baptiste when she announced her arrival the London scene. Critics were won over by her unique and inimitable style.
The following year, 2018, Bzhezhinska released her critically acclaimed debut album Inspiration which featured Tony Kofi. This was just the start.
Bzhezhinska and her quartet represented the UKat the WOMADelaide Festival in Australia. There were also live performances for BBC Radio 3, on Worldwide FM then appearances at the Edinburgh International Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Royal Albert Hall and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Then in 2021, there was a return to EFG London Jazz Festival which was held at Cadogan Hall. By now a familiar face on the live scene, Bzhezhinska and her quartet played at Jazz Cafe London, Jazz Connective and Periscope Musciques Innovates. However, this was just part of the story.
By now, Bzhezhinska was being heralded as a virtuoso and master of the jazz harp. She had opened for Gregory Porter and Omar, and collaborated with everyone from Ursula Rucker to The Third Orchestra and Shabaka Hutchings. However, Bzhezhinska who had been heralded as the "New Sound of Europe," was keen to embark on a new project.
In 2022, she formed HipHarpCollective, and later that year, released their debut album album - 'Reflections.' It was influenced by everything from Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby's 'Afro-harping' to Joel Henderson's free form jazz experimentation as well as Afrobeat and nineties triphop. The album was released to plaudits and praise, and the following year, the HipHarpCollective embarked on a series of live dates.
During 2023, HipHarpCollective headlined Paris Jazz Festival and Smida Jazz Festival in Romania. They showcased their groundbreaking and genre-melting sound at Tampere Jazz Festival in Finland and EFG London Jazz Festival. They played live on BBC Radio 3 and played live on BBC Radio 3, and later that year, curated and performed a charity concert in Odesa, Ukraine with an Estonian band lead by guitarist Jaak Sooaar. It was another busy year for Bzhezhinska.
She had also written recorded the album Altera Vita, with Tony Kofi. The collaboration is dedicated Pharoah Sanders, a groundbreaking jazz musician, who Bzhezhinska and Kofi regard as a lynchpin in their creative and personal lives.
The death of Sanders resulted in Bzhezhinska and Kofi wanting to pay homage to one of the legendary jazz musicians of his generation. Kofi gives thanks to Sanders on 'Altera Vita. His is an impassioned performance Bzhezhinska harp in perfect harmony as it provides the counterpoint. There's a serenity and beauty to the track which was start of a potent and powerful musical partnership.
'Altera Vita' is meant to mirror the human experience, from its conception right through to the inevitable end or a new beginning. Which will depend on your religious beliefs, if any. Throughout this music journey, the appreciation of our environments is of the greatest importance. The music guides the listener through an intensified refocusing on their senses via the medium of sound.
The album is meant to be spontaneous response to a world that's badly in need of a reset. The reality for many billions worldwide is that they feel as if they're being held hostage to a daily 'doom-scroll.' Each day, news outlets tend to focus primarily on topics that zone in on the darker shades of human existence, and where any attempt to foster connection end up yielding even deeper factionalism. However, 'Altera Vita' offers an escape from the darker side of life.
'Altera Vita' is best described as a musical oasis, six soundscapes that personify tranquility, spirituality and peace. For many, these may be seen as abstract concepts. However, they're absolutely essential to the restructuring of our collective consciousness. The album was structured and programmed by Bzhezhinska and Kofi in such a way that the listener will take time to sit still and be away. This is something that very few people ever do in the hurly burly of modern life. Now 'Altera Vita' offers that opportunity.
Those that do, will enjoy the magical music that ebbs and flows as it washes over them transporting them to another place. Kofi's improvises on saxophone and it dances high above the arrangement, combining and mingling with the beauty and brilliance of Bzhezhinska's harp. They're joined by the inimitable Muriel Grossmann who contributed tanpura from her Ibiza base. This is the finishing touch a spellbinding and breathtaking album where West African and Eastern European sonic traditions are combined with elements of spiritual and even free jazz.
The result is 'Altera Vita,' a truly powerful, moving and though-provoking album that should act as an important reminder that the commonalities we humans share surpass our differences.
Alina Bzhezhinska and Tony Kofi-Altera Vita.
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