Alina Bzhezhinska & HipHarpCollective - Reflections

Styles: Harp Jazz
Year: 2022
Time: 62:58
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 144,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:17) 1. Soul Vibration
(6:39) 2. For Carrol
(7:12) 3. Fire
(3:46) 4. Reflections
(5:28) 5. Afro Blue
(6:06) 6. Alabama
(5:01) 7. African Flower
(3:46) 8. Paris sur le toit (instrumental)
(5:40) 9. Sans End
(5:03) 10. Action Line
(3:47) 11. Paris sur le toit (feat. Sanity & Tom They/Them)
(6:08) 12. Meditation

In an inspired piece of programming, London's Barbican Centre presented the then virtually unknown harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and her quartet as one of the support bands on its November 18, 2017 one-nighter A Concert for Alice and John, a show headlined by Pharoah Sanders. It would be an exaggeration to say Bzhezhinska stole the show (see "Pharoah Sanders" above), but she was sensational, offering up fresh readings of Alice Coltrane tunes and a few originals, accompanied by Tony Kofi on saxophones, Larry Bartley on bass and Joel Prime on drums.

The Ukrainian-born, London-based Bzhezhinska went on to release an outstanding debut album, Inspiration (Ubuntu, 2018), made with the quartet which performed at the Barbican.

Reflections, recorded in autumn 2020 and summer 2021, is the follow-up. It follows the same trajectory as Inspiration but adds a few twists. The biggest of these are the expanded personnel and a splash of funk. Kofi and Prime are still on hand, in a collective lineup which also includes Jay Phelps on trumpet, Mikele Montolli on electric bass and double bass, Julie Walkington on double bass, Ying Xue on violin and viola, and Adam Teixeira drums. Vocals and a rap are also featured on two of the twelve tracks. Not everyone plays on every track. There are a couple of trios, a septet, and various points between.

On Inspiration, Bzhezhinska demonstrated that she had oodles of soul, a quality not usually associated with harpists, who can be a tad wafty. She plays to this strength on Reflections, in the manner of her playing, her choice of material and her arrangements. There are hip hop beats, funk beats and backbeats in general, and little straight four/four. The material itself, all of which places great store in melody, is a mixture of originals and tunes written by or associated with John Coltrane ("Alabama" and "Afro Blue"), Alice Coltrane ("Fire," co-written by Coltrane and Joe Henderson), and that other great American harpist, Dorothy Ashby ("Soul Vibration," heard on the YouTube clip below, and "Action Line"). Duke Ellington's "African Flower" is given an exquisite reading. Bzhezhinska produced the sessions, the engineer and mixer was Ben Lamdin, and the sound is clean, warm and uncluttered. Playing time is just over an hour and it flies by. By Chris May https://www.allaboutjazz.com/reflections-alina-bzhezhinska-bbe-records

Personnel: Alina Bzhezhinska: harp; Tony Kofi: tenor saxophone and soprano saxophones (3, 5, 6, 7); Jay Phelps: trumpet (2, 3, 5); Mikele Montolli: electric bass and double bass (1-3, 5, 7-9, 11, 12); Julie Walkington: double bass (4, 12); Ying Xue: violin and viola (1, 8, 11); Adam Teixeira: drums (1-5, 7-12); Joel Prime: percussion (1-3, 5-12); Vimala Rowe: vocal (5); Sanity: rap (11); Tom They: rap (11).

Reflections

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Alina Bzhezhinska & Tony Kofi - Altera Vita

Styles: Harp And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 33:03
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 75,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:56) 1. Tabula Rasa - Blank Slate
(5:19) 2. Tu Vides - You See
(5:31) 3. Tange - Touch
(6:19) 4. Audite Me - Hear Me
(5:19) 5. Anima - Breathe
(5:36) 6. Altera Vita - Another Life

Harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and saxophonist Tony Kofi's musical partnership began in 2015 and two years later made the main stage of the London Jazz Festival, opening the bill of A Concert For Alice And John at the Barbican concert hall. Also appearing, saxophonist Denys Baptiste's quartet and, top of the bill, Pharoah Sanders' quartet. It was a magical night. It would be an exaggeration to say that the relatively unknown Bzhezhinska stole the show (Sanders did that with the standard "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square," John Coltrane's "Olé" and his own "The Creator Has A Master Plan"), but she and Kofi, accompanied by bassist Larry Bartley and drummer Joel Prime, were sensational. Their set included Alice Coltrane's "Blue Nile" and "Journey In Satchidananda" and John's "After The Rain."

Bzhezhinska has since released two albums with Kofi: Inspiration (Ubuntu, 2018), made with the same lineup that appeared at the Barbican, and Reflections (BBE, 2022), made with a larger ensemble. The first album was a homage to the Coltranes, the second a dance floor-friendly affair that took in hip-hop and funk beats and, perhaps against the odds, worked well.

Now Bzhezhinska and Kofi have got together to pay tribute to the life and legacy of Pharoah Sanders, who passed in 2022. Altera Vita is a duo project: Bzhezhinska plays harp and percussion, Kofi plays tenor saxophone, kalimba and percussion. There is one guest appearance: Ibiza-based tanpura player Muriel Grossmann is heard on Kofi's "Audite Me (Hear Me)." There are six tracks in total, four written by Kofi, two by Bzhezhinska.

All of which is a prelude to saying that Altera Vita is Bzhezhinska and Kofi's best album to date. This ineffably beautiful and restorative disc succeeds resoundingly in its mission statement. This is, say the duo, to offer listeners something that "guides us through the turbulence and discord" of what has become "an era yearning for serenity, spirituality and peace." Cynics can take a rain check. Others can check the YouTube below of Kofi's opening tune, "Tabula Rasa (Blank Slate)." By Chris May https://www.allaboutjazz.com/altera-vita-alina-bzhezhinska-and-tony-kofi-bbe-records

Personnel: Alina Bzhezhinska - Harp; Tony Kofi - Saxophone

Altera Vita

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Tony Kofi - Future Passed

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:59
Size: 150,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:20)  1. The Journey
(4:55)  2. Suibokuga
(5:17)  3. Zambia
(4:22)  4. A Song For Pappa Jack
(6:34)  5. As We Speak
(7:47)  6. Blue Pavel
(5:29)  7. The Eternal Thinker
(7:04)  8. Jubilation (For Boo)
(9:45)  9. Brotherhood
(3:14) 10. April The 13th
(4:40) 11. This Dream Of Mine (For MJ)
(1:27) 12. We Out

Though its nuances may not be readily apparent online, the back and front sleeve art for Future Passed, London saxophonist and ex-Tomorrow's Warrior Tony Kofi's second album as leader, is reminiscent of the time-travelling cover of Curtis Counce's 1958 recalibration of hard bop, Exploring The Future. There are no astronauts on Kofi's sleeve, true, but the retro TV console, its 1960s design inspired by NASA space helmets, and the deep space panorama surrounding it, suggest a similar restlessness with present time and space. There are musical parallels, too: both albums grow out of, but are not constrained by, the hard bop codifications of the late 1950s. But while Exploring The Future was an attempt to fast-forward out of the era, Future Passed is concerned with recapturing its passion and hard driving swing. The album is an authentic recreation of the neon-lit soul-jazz of the period, flickering with glimpses of Jimmy Smith, Cannonball Adderley, Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley, and co-starring the full fat B3 Hammond of Anders Olinder, a young Swede who belies his professorial appearance by playing like he cut his teeth backing up Willis "Gator" Jackson in tent shows. All of the tunes are Kofi originals, distinctive but deep in the tradition.

Greasy and hard swinging, as far retro as ever can be, it's the real deal. But that's only part of the album's appeal, for the eloquence of Kofi's playing be it ecstatic, meditative, funky, pretty or sorrowful can take the music beyond genre, into the timeless verities of the jazz continuum. The band is dynamite, too. Along with Olinders, who crackles and burns from start to finish, Kofi has assembled a formidable team of young London lions, including fellow ex-Tomorrow's Warriors Robert Fordjour on drums, happy most of the time to stay out of the spotlight and drive the engine, and guest trumpeter Byron Wallen, who steps forward magnificently on the boppish "The Journey" and with elegaic tenderness on Kofi's memorial to his father, "A Song For Pappa Jack." In his own, less spectacular and more rootical way, Kofi is as important and to-be-treasured a player and composer as his contemporaries who are pushing back the boundaries via electronica, through-composition and infusions of rap, folk, world musics, minimalism, whatever. ~ Chris May https://www.allaboutjazz.com/future-passed-tony-kofi-specific-jazz-review-by-chris-may.php

Personnel: Tony Kofi: alto, soprano, baritone saxophones; Anders Olinder: B3 Hammond Organ; Robert Fordjour: drums; Byron Wallen: trumpet (1,3,4); Cameron Pierre: guitar (5,8-10); Donald Gamble: percussion (3,8).

Future Passed

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Tony Kofi Quartet - Silent Truth

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:24
Size: 124,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:27)  1. Giants
(4:11)  2. Dante
(4:54)  3. Cicada
(5:16)  4. First Breath
(6:50)  5. If I Spoke My Mind
(6:49)  6. Oont
(5:00)  7. Unremoved
(7:30)  8. Inner Truth
(3:19)  9. Disharmony
(5:04) 10. Bishop's Move

Saxophonist Tony Kofi is that increasingly rare thing on the British jazz scene, a player who didn't spend three years "learning" the music at an academic institution, but who discovered it, and developed his gift for it, mostly on the bandstand. True, Kofi did once spend a year at Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship, but the bulk of his learning curve came earlier, in workshops and on gigs in his hometown, Nottingham, and later, in the real-world finishing schools of the London-based Jazz Warriors and Tomorrow's Warriors. As he tells it, Kofi came to the alto saxophone, his main instrument, via a near miracle. Having left school, he was working as an apprentice carpenter on a building site. One day, he fell three floors through the empty shell of the building. He should have died, but didn't and on the way down his mind flashed on a brilliantly illuminated alto. Kofi knew that, if he survived, the alto was his destiny. The Silent Truth is Kofi's third album as leader, following Plays Monk (All Is Know) (Specific Jazz, 2004), which featured the same quartet on a set of Thelonious Monk compositions, and Future Passed (Specific Jazz, 2006), a brilliant, irresistible celebration of late 1950s/early 1960s saxophone/organ groove combos. This time, Kofi's urgent, testifying alto played in a heavily vocalized style peopled by the likes of Charlie Parker, Lou Donaldson, Cannonball Adderley, Earl Bostic and Dudu Pukwana is featured on a set of band originals generally, but not exclusively, inspired by the more visceral end of the hard bop of the 1960s. The exceptions are pianist Jonathan Gee's acerbic "Disharmony" and lovely Pat Metheny-esque ballad "Cicada," and bassist Ben Hazleton's pretty "Oont," on which Kofi plays soprano. Most of the tempos are up, as established with the swinging funk of Kofi's opening "Giants," in which his riffing, multi-tracked horns trade hard-driving fours with drummer Winston Clifford. But even when the pace is more measured, as on "Cicada," "Oont" and the intimate, after-hours vibe of Kofi's "First Breath," it feels like everything could boil over at a moment's notice. Kofi solos with his trademark soulful lyricism, and gives plenty of solo time to the outstanding Gee, here most frequently in Horace Silver/Bobby Timmons/Les McCann sanctified funk mode. If the parameters, as on Kofi's previous albums, are mostly retro, the impact of the music is again wholly of today. Kofi deals not so much with the past as with the eternal truths of jazz music swing, in-the-moment lyricism, the lust for life and he continues to find compelling ways to express them. His albums are heartfelt, unpretentious explosions of joy, and precisely what the doctor ordered. ~ Chris May https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-silent-truth-tony-kofi-specific-jazz-review-by-chris-may.php

Personnel: Tony Kofi: alto, soprano and baritone saxophones; Jonathan Gee: piano; Ben Hazleton: double-bass; Winston Clifford: drums.

Silent Truth

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Sharp Little Bones Feat. Tony Kofi - Volumes I & II

Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 80:54
Size: 186,6 MB
Art: Front

(7:05) 1. Ury Bop
(5:14) 2. Layli's Lullaby
(4:41) 3. Stranger Danger
(3:23) 4. Brie en Croute
(4:45) 5. Chromatose
(7:39) 6. Hiddenness
(7:58) 7. Downfall
(5:49) 8. Roo's Blues
(5:42) 9. Mackerel Sky
(8:22) 10. Troll Stroll
(6:58) 11. Sorceress
(6:07) 12. Trailblazing
(7:05) 13. Blue Finger

A blockbuster double album of entirely new, exciting music recorded during the hottest two days of summer 2022 and following their recent sell-out shows, Sharp Little Bones (Volumes I & II) captures the energy, virtuosity, and soul of the house trio of Peggy's Skylight (a multi-award-winning jazz venue). Joined by MOBO-nominated, multi-BBC Jazz and Parliamentary Jazz Awards winner Tony Kofi, they are a quartet of virtuosos playing brand-new compositions that reach deep within but far beyond the jazz canon.

Their sound has a fresh, contemporary appeal: live acoustic forces rooted in bebop and blues, embellished with tasteful electronics and warm, analogue synth textures: an eclectic audio melting pot of jazz, funk, blues, and bop; beautiful bass-led melodies, spacious ballads, spiritual and expansive atmospheres, hard swingers, and groove-led pieces packed full of vibe, with room for expressive solos and group-led improvisation within well-crafted, melodic writing and tight, rhythmical arrangements.

Personnel: Tony Kofi Tenor Sax; Simon Paterson Upright and Electric Bass; Paul Deats Piano, Rhodes and Synthesiser; Andrew Wood Drums

Volumes I & II

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Tony Kofi - Another Kind of Soul (Live)

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:26
Size: 84,4 MB
Art: Front

(2:22) 1. A Portrait of Cannonball (Live)
(2:16) 2. Operation Breadbasket (Live)
(4:35) 3. Another Kind of Soul (Live)
(6:01) 4. Stars Fell on Alabama (Live)
(7:25) 5. Things Are Getting Better (Live)
(7:31) 6. Sack O' Woe (Live)
(6:13) 7. Work Song (Live)

There's something extra special about jazz recorded in front of a live audience that a studio album just can't quite replicate. That frisson of excitement and expectation (when the moons are in alignment), between performer and punter gives the music an extra dimension, which is exactly what we get with Another Kind of Soul the new album from Tony Kofi, which was recorded live in glamorous Luton to an appreciative audience.

Born to Ghanaian parents in Nottingham, Kofi spent several years studying at Berklee College of Music before first making his reputation as a member of the UK’s Jazz Warriors in the early nineties. It was here that he first worked alongside bassist Gary Crosby with whom he would subsequently perform in soul-crossover groups Nu-Jazz and Jazz Jamaica, whilst establishing himself as a solo artist in his own right. His international reputation is underlined by some of the names he has appeared with over the years, including Eddie Henderson, Ornette Coleman and Donald Byrd. Favouring alto saxophone, Kofi’s tone is warm and sophisticated, able to leap-frog between different styles with ease and grace. That Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley is one of Kofi’s formative influences is abundantly clear through their similarly good-humoured playing styles, and this led to the Portrait of Cannonball project that Kofi has been touring over the past few years. Another Kind of Soul acts as a musical snapshot of the project (removing the spoken-word parts) and presents Adderley originals alongside new pieces penned by Kofi and fellow band members. Recorded live at The Bear Jazz Club in Luton, the Kofi Quintet constitutes Andy Davies (trumpet), Alex Webb (piano), Andrew Cleyndert (bass), and Alfonso Vitale (drums), a super-tight ensemble completely inside the material.

A Portrait of Cannonball is a canny way to open the set, a short appetizer composed by Webb that presents various facets of Adderley’s music, functioning much like an overture at the start of a musical. After a brisk introductory section in the soul-jazz style that Adderley pioneered, the music slows down for Kofi to demonstrate his svelte alto in a ballad-like section, before zipping back to several up-tempo sequences. Kofi’s Operation Breadbasket follows with tight unison playing between himself and Davies’s trumpet over the Latin-infused bop rhythms to which Adderley was so partial. Nat Adderley’s swaggering Another Kind of Soul (Julian’s younger trumpeter brother and member of the classic quintet, as well as being a jazz composer in his own right), gets a suitably gutsy reading here, with some sporting interplay between Kofi and Davies. The rhythm section impressed me throughout, with Vitale’s drums being especially explosive when called for, and Cleyndert’s walking bass keeps things grounded.

Cannonball Adderley’s compositions and his playing style always conveyed a sense of optimism in the face of adversity; that he didn’t go in for Coltrane-style soul-searching was a factor that helped make their appearances together in the Miles Davis Quintet so compelling. Kofi and his band are true to this spirit, and it’s no surprise that the highlight is the trio of Adderley tunes that take up the second half of the record: Things Are Getting Better, Sack O’ Woe and Work Song, Adderley’s signature piece. Kofi is clearly relishing every bar of these classics, all of which have big memorable themes for him and the band to get their teeth into. It’s a pleasure to hear a hugely talented contemporary saxophonist honouring another with so much soul, helping to keep his music alive and as irresistible today as it was over sixty years ago. by Matt Groom https://www.prestomusic.com/jazz/articles/3251--recording-of-the-week-tony-kofi-another-kind-of-soul

Personnel: Tony Kofi – alto sax, Andy Davies – trumpet, Alex Webb – piano, Andrew Cleyndert – bass, Alfonso Vitale – drums

Another Kind of Soul (Live)

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Tony Kofi Quartet - Plays Monk: All Is Know

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:02
Size: 161,1 MB
Art: Front

(7:25)  1. Boo Boo's Birthday
(4:48)  2. Ugly Beauty
(5:28)  3. Trinkle Tinkle
(4:58)  4. Ruby My Dear
(6:38)  5. Brilliant Corners
(2:43)  6. Comin' On The Hudson
(4:08)  7. We See
(2:38)  8. Crepescule With Nellie
(3:38)  9. Teo
(9:01) 10. Misterioso
(4:26) 11. Gallop's Gallop
(4:57) 12. Light Blue
(4:28) 13. Think Of One
(4:41) 14. Monk's Mood

First making a name for himself on the British jazz scene in '91 as a member of the high profile young Turks the Jazz Warriors, Tony Kofi went on to guest with a wide variety of artists during the first half of the '90s from the David Murray Big Band, Jazz Jamaica and Eddie Henderson to Queen Latifah and Salt-N-Pepa before joining the Township Express Orchestra and Tim Richards' Great Spirit, both of which he continues to play with. He is a red blooded and muscular soloist in whom Charlie Parker's wild, unruly tone is often writ enjoyably large, and who is also capable of moments of delicate, tender lyricism. His first horn is the alto, but he also plays soprano and an earthy yet fleet fingered baritone (more Leo Parker than Gerry Mulligan). Incredibly and rather shamingly for the British record business this is Kofi's first release as leader, a full thirteen years after his emergence with the Warriors. But that's another story, and an old one. The Tony Kofi Quartet, the members of which began woodshedding the Thelonious Monk songbook together in '00, debuted in fall '03 at the London Jazz Festival with a marathon six hour set in which they played every one of Monk's seventy known written compositions. The Quartet is part of the larger Monk Liberation Front ensemble co-led by Kofi, pianist Jonathan Gee and composer Philip Clark dedicated to bringing Monk's oeuvre to new audiences while also commissioning original work informed by Monk's legacy and spirit. 

So Kofi and his colleagues have paid their dues and spent plenty time getting inside the head of their spirit guide. And Plays Monk (All Is Know) itself is a blast: a respectful (without being slavishly so) and insightful celebration of fourteen of Monk's compositions. Unlike some albums given over entirely to Monk's works, for instance Esbjorn Svensson Trio's own excellent Plays Monk, the Quartet mix up some of the best known Monk standards with lesser known gems, some which many listeners will probably be hearing for the first time here. Half of the tracks feature the core alto-led quartet, while the other half ring the changes with a string arrangement (Philip Clark's sepulchral chart for "Ugly Beauty"), or with Kofi playing other saxophones (the closing "Monk's Mood" on unaccompanied baritone is especially memorable), or with a guest artist. (Orphy Robinson's lovely marimba on "Misterioso," at 9'01" the longest track on the album and a reminder of how well tuned percussion fits into Monk's work, probably because, without decrying his harmonic or melodic genius, Monk often approached the piano as a piece of tuned percussion.) Not only the first own-name album for Tony Kofi, Plays Monk (All Is Know) is also the first release on Proper Records' contemporary Specific Jazz imprint and it's an auspicious, hugely enjoyable and thoroughly convincing new beginning on both fronts. ~ Chris May https://www.allaboutjazz.com/plays-monk-all-is-know-specific-jazz-review-by-chris-may.php
 

Personnel: Tony Kofi, alto, soprano and baritone saxes; Jonathan Gee, piano; Ben Hazleton, bass; Winston Clifford, drums; Orphy Robinson, marimba; Reiad Chibah, viola; Andrew Joyce, cello; Madeleine Easton, violin.

Plays Monk: All Is Know

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Tony Kofi And The Organisation - Point Blank

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:09
Size: 148,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:04)  1. Minor League
(5:49)  2. Bossallegro
(5:50)  3. Theme from Mr Lucky
(6:07)  4. Search for Peace
(5:56)  5. L S Blues
(5:26)  6. Cisco
(4:49)  7. Full House
(5:48)  8. Moontrane
(4:57)  9. Summer in Central Park
(6:15) 10. Ready and Able
(9:05) 11. Ode to Billie Jo (Bonus Track)

British saxophonist Tony Kofi has made a specialism of heritage projects. Among the best of them is the Monk Liberation Front, a band which Kofi co-founded with pianist Jonathan Gee in 2003 and which performs Thelonious Monk's music. The work of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley is the focus of another venture. An early spin-off from the Front was the Tony Kofi Quartet's paradigm tweaking Plays Monk: All Is Know (Specific, 2004). The Adderley project has yet to be recorded. In late 2017, Kofi also put together the band which accompanied harpist Alina Bzhezhinska in a London concert headlined by Pharoah Sanders and dedicated to the legacy of John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane. The same band is featured on Bzhezhinska's sublime Inspiration (Ubuntu, 2018). Kofi moves effortlessly between soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, and it is the baritone which he plays on Point Blank. The disc co-stars The Organisation, a guitar / organ / drums trio which specialises in soul jazz and funk, and with whom Kofi first performed in 2010. The ten-track album features jazz standards and lesser-known material written by Duke Pearson, Pepper Adams, Henry Mancini, McCoy Tyner, Lonnie Smith, Pat Martino, Wes Montgomery, Woody Shaw, Horace Silver and Jimmy Smith. "I don't think I set out to create a retro concept," says Kofi, "but because I grew up in the 1970s, the music of that era is deeply rooted within my musical ear." The title Point Blank is inspired by John Boorman's 1967 movie of the same name, which starred Lee Marvin as a gangster engaged in a war of attrition with his former colleagues in a Mafia-like outfit called The Organization. The soundtrack for the film was written by Johnny Mandel, and Kofi rather missed a trick by not including something from Mandel's luscious songbook on the disc.  The music on the album is performed with elan and given a refreshing twist by the use of baritone rather than tenor saxophone, the default horn featured with most bands such as The Organisation. Further, despite the organ, the disc, particularly on the ballads, sometimes evokes Gerry Mulligan's keyboard-less (and guitar-less) quartet with Chet Baker an added bonus. Point Blank does not go anywhere we have not gone before, but it is an enjoyable ride nonetheless. ~ Chris May https://www.allaboutjazz.com/point-blank-tony-kofi-the-last-music-company-review-by-chris-may.php

Personnel: Tony Kofi: baritone saxophone; Pete Whittaker: organ; Pete Cater: drums; Simon Fernsby: guitar.

Point Blank

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