Skip to main content
Harpist Bzhezhinska takes inspiration from Coltranes to another level
https://youtu.be/KEjKtHABboo

Alina Bzhezhinska
Inspiration
(Ubuntu)

LAST year was the 50th anniversary of John Coltrane's death and the 10th of his startling jazz-harpist wife Alice. They were an inspiration for London-based harpist Alina Bzhezhinska — hence the title of an album moved by her love for the couple's music.

[[{"fid":"5052","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"}}]]She's accompanied on this album by three of Britain's top contemporary jazz musicians — saxophonist Tony Kofi, bassist Larry Bartley and drummer Joel Prime — and the opening track, Alice Coltrane's Wisdom Eye, begins with some serene solo work from Bzhezhinska, with only Bartley's delving bass alongside her, with her strings vibrating and singing poignantly.

Then it's Blue Nile from Alice Coltrane's 1970 album Ptah, the El Daoud, with Kofi's stately soprano horn blowing the theme, Prime's drums crackling and Bartley's heartbeat throbs underpinning the blessed desert shower of Bzhezhinska's bass.

Donate to the Fighting Fund
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
CS+SN
Interview / 14 April 2025
14 April 2025
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to drummer Steve Noble
LEDLEY album cover
Men’s football / 4 April 2025
4 April 2025
CHRIS SEARLE interviews saxophonist Chris Williams about the extraordinary electro-acoustic album LEDLEY - a bold fusion of Jazz, football, and community spirit
ineza
Interview / 26 February 2025
26 February 2025
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to Rwanda-born jazz vocalist INEZA
somuah
Interview / 5 February 2025
5 February 2025
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to Ghanaian trumpeter PETER SOMUAH
Similar stories
vaughan
Jazz / 28 January 2025
28 January 2025
An unlikely venue hosts a memorable concert, and has future treats in store
GR
Global Routes / 2 December 2024
2 December 2024
Two new releases from Burkina Faso and Niger, one from French-based Afro Latin The Bongo Hop, and rare Mexican bootlegs
Murray
Interview / 7 August 2024
7 August 2024
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to renowned US tenor saxophonist DAVID MURRAY
female
Exhibition review / 21 June 2024
21 June 2024
LYNNE WALSH applauds a show of paintings that demonstrates the forward strides made by women over four centuries