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Their collaboration started in 2017 and is a testament to the power of harmonious fusion, as they draw inspiration from jazz traditions while infusing their performances with innovation and improvisation. Together, they craft enchanting narratives through their music, captivating audiences with each note and ensuring that their jazz legacy continues to evolve in exciting and unexpected ways.
Their new duo album Altera Vita will be released on BBE Music in 2024.
‘…Bzhezhinska shares with Alice (Coltrane) a mastery of the jazz harp.’ ★★★★★ The Times
‘Alina Bzhezhinska… a modern-day supremo…among the best contemporary harpists…’ Evening Standard
‘There is so much respect in jazz circles for Tony Kofi.’ Jazzwise
About the artists:
Undoubtedly one of the leading harpists in the world today, Alina Bzhezhinska (a.k.a. AlinaHipHarp) is a one-woman powerhouse on a mission to bring the harp to the fore of contemporary sound.
From Royalty to the jazz greats of today – Alina Bzhezhinska has performed at the late Queen’s 80th Birthday and the King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand; she collaborated with world top artists Kamaal Williams, DJ Spinna (NYC), Slide Johnson (Paris), Tony Kofi and Shabaka Hutchings.
Bzhezhinska is a creator of a unique international formation HipHarpCollective. She produced her critically acclaimed albums Inspiration (Ubuntu Music, 2018), Reflections (BBE Music, 2022) and a single Altera Vita in duet with Tony Kofi on Saxophone (BBE Music, 2024).
She performed as a side woman at African Culture – Shabaka (Impulse! 2022), Music Aid for Ukraine (Ubuntu Music, 2022), Breath Suite- Ben Mark (2021), Wu Hen – Kamaal Williams (2020) and New Focus on Song (2016). She appeared at WOMADelaide Festival in Australia, live performances for BBC Radio 3 and Worldwide FM followed along with appearances at Edinburgh International Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Royal Albert Hall, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Cadogan Hall for EFG London Jazz fest 2021, Jazz Cafe London, Jazz Connective, Periscope Musiques Innovates and Ronnie Stott’s Jazz Club. Alina’s set of Solo Harp with electronics is also in demand and she performed at EFG LJF opening for Lakecia Benjamin as well as Omar and Run Logan Run at the Jazz Cafe in London.
She has been nominated for Best Live Experience of the Year at the 2018 Jazz FM Awards and was a winner of Presto Music Award 2022.
She also runs a charity to support her home country Ukraine.
Tony Kofi is a British Jazz multi-instrumentalist born of Ghanaian parents, a player of the Alto, Baritone, Soprano, Tenor saxophones and flute. Having ‘cut his teeth’ in the Jazz Warriors of the early 90’s, award-winning saxophonist Tony Kofi has gone on to establish himself as a musician, teacher and composer of some authority. As well as performing and recording with Gary Crosby’s Nu-Troop and Jazz Jamaica, Tony’s playing has also been a feature of many bands and artists he has worked/recorded with US-3 The World Saxophone Quartet, Courtney Pine, Donald Byrd, Eddie Henderson, The David Murray Big Band, Sam Rivers Rivbe Big band, Andrew Hill Big Band, Abdullah Ibrahim, Macy Gray, Julian Joseph Big band, Harry Connick JR, Byron Wallen’s Indigo, Jamaaladeen Tacuma’s Coltrane Configurations and Ornette Coleman.
His fluent and fiery hard-bop style makes him constantly in demand. He currently leads his own Tony Kofi Quartet, Tony Kofi Sphinx Trio, Future Passed Trio and is also the co-founder with Jonathan Gee of the Monk Liberation Front, a group that is dedicated to the music of Thelonious Monk. Tony’s latest project sees him performing with Alex Webb’s Café Society Swing, Arnie Somogyi’s Jump Monk, Larry Bartley’s JustUS Quartet, Larry Bartley Trio featuring Tony Kofi, Adrian Reid Quartet, a double leaders project with Alan Barnes called Aggregation, Orphy Robinson’s Bobby Hutcherson songbook project, Alina Bzhezhinska Hip Harp Collective, Jo Harrop’s Fever, Portrait of Cannonball (Music dedicated to Cannonball Adderley).