Altera Vita (For Pharoah Sanders) (BBE Music)
Tony Kofi & Alina Bzhezhinska
Released April 5, 2024
DownBeat Five-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kOjgW_WivI4l-P0pF6DLyefKdb8wApCkA
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About:
Altera Vita (Alter Life) is a heartfelt tribute to spiritual jazz master Pharoah Sanders, performed by two of his master students; saxophonist Tony Kofi and harpist Alina Bzhezhinska.
Pharoah Sanders’ music has been a part of Tony & Alina’s musical upbringing for as long as they can remember, but their physical paths crossed on a memorable night in 2017 at London’s Barbican Centre, for a night titled ‘ A concert for John & Alice Coltrane’. The night was commemorating the 50th and tenth anniversary of John’s and Alice’s passing.
Pharoah Sanders had worked with both Alice and John Coltrane, and this night served as a spiritual passing of the baton to Tony & Alina, the former heavily influenced by John and the latter by Alice.
The evening was as timeless as the figures honoured, and served as a pivotal moment in both Alina and Tony’s careers.
On September 24th 2022 on the eve of Alina’s HipHarpCollective’s Reflection album launch, the Jazz world mourned the passing of the great Pharoah Sanders. Pharoah’s spirit was definitely present in King’s Place that night, when Kofi and Alina led a moving tribute to the Jazz legend with their rendition of Astral Travelling, which gave goosebumps to many in attendance.
Tony found himself back in the studio soon after this night and composed a very fitting tribute to the master of spiritual jazz- Alter Vita (For Pharoah Sanders), He then enlisted Alina Bzhezhinska whose improvisations helped to provide an elegant call and response between harp and saxophone, delivering a warm and metaphysical send off for one of Jazz music’s greatest composers and saxophonists Pharoah Sanders.
Track Listing:
1. Tabula Rasa [Blank Slate] 04:58
2. Tu Vides [You See] 05:21
3. Tange [Touch] 05:33
4. Audite Me [Hear Me] 06:21
5. Anima [Breathe] 05:21
6. Altera Vita [Another Life] 05:36
Personnel:
Tony Kofi: saxophone, kalimba, percussion
Alina Bzhezhinskam: harp, percussion
Recorded August 29 & 30, 2023, at Fish Factory Studios London, by Benedic Lamdin
Mastered by Frank Merritt
Cover photo by Jurij Waskowycz
Review:
Wow! Altera Vita, the new recording by harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and tenor saxophonist Tony Kofi, shimmers with grace and beauty. This is a duets recording, just the two of them on their instruments, as well as handling percussion, which consists of a variety of chimes, kalimbas, singing bowls and such. The proceedings are called to order with three rings on a metal bowl before Kofi introduces the simple, sweet melody of “Tabula Rasa–Blank Slate.” It’s a quiet ballad of hope and yearning with both Bzhezhinska and Kofi taking their time to soak in every moment of this music. So begins this six-song, perfectly paced set where the two ooze soul and spirituality. It’s quiet and meditative, boisterous and thought provoking, with Kofi keeping his cool, offering well-timed explosions of power on tunes like “Audite Me–Hear Me.” Bzhezhinska flows water-like throughout, especially on the tune “Anima–Breathe.” If this sounds like a tribute to John and Alice Coltrane, there’s a definite element of that here. Bzhezhinska and Kofi performed together in 2017 for a concert honoring “the first couple of jazz” at the EFG London Jazz Festival. But it’s even more of a tribute to the late saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, a major influence for both artists. After Sanders passed away in 2022, Kofi wrote “Altera Vita (for Pharoah Sanders),” this album’s namesake, and its closing number, here titled “Altera Vita–Another Life.” He and Bzhezhinska recorded and released it as a single last year. This magazine gave it 5 stars, a rarity because DownBeat doesn’t often review singles. The concept for the album, thankfully, grew from there. It’s a fantastic work, one that does the memory of those legends proud and expands on the tradition of jazz spirituality. Altera Vita is a powerful, moving, take-your-breath-away masterpiece.
Frank Alkyer (DownBeat)
