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Harpist Bzhezhinska takes inspiration from Coltranes to another level
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GORDON PARSONS advises you to get up to speed on obscure ancient ceremonies to grasp this interpretation of a late Shakespearean tragi-comedy
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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.
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.
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