Altera Vita in Bloomington, MN

Altera Vita
is a six-track collaboration by harpist/percussionist
Alina Bzhezhinska
and saxophonist/percussionist
Tony Kofi
. She leads the
HipHarp Collective
; he is a leading light in the U.K.'s jazz scene who has served as a live tenorist for
Cymande
, worked with
Jamaaladeen Tacuma
, and played with
Bzhezhinska
on 2018's
Inspiration
. His own album,
Another Kind of Soul
, appeared in 2020.
The sound of three bells -- courtesy of a metal bowl and mallet -- introduces opener "Tabula Rasa - Blank Slate."
Kofi
plays solo for the first minute, gently articulating a theme and melody.
enters, framing the ballad in lush chords before carefully underscoring and adorning his lines with modal inquiry. "Tu Vides - You See" is initiated by multi-tracked kalimbas as
strums, rubs, and plucks the strings in her instrument's lower register, thereby setting both rhythmic and harmonic patterns before
enters with a slow, open melody rippled in modal blues. Her vamp-like frame around his horn provides a mantra for his improvisation; they come back together on the bridge. She becomes more assertive, briefly moving outside. Her blue, middle-register bass notes and bells anchor the saxophonist, exhorting him to go deeper and wider. "Tange - Touch" offers tender yet exploratory call-and-response between the principles. Ibiza-based saxophonist
Muriel Grossmann
guests on tamboura and introduces
's tenor on "Audite Me - Hear Me." Their drone hovers before the harpist lays down a two-chord pattern for the saxophonist while
Grossmann
maintains the drone.
begins to explore drama, dynamic, and more assonant tonal experiments, suggesting
Alice Coltrane
's M.O. on
Huntington Ashram Monastery
. His last solo offers circular breathing and microphonic phrasing. On "Anima - Breathe"
initiates a two-chord pattern;
responds with a tender, minimal melody as the harpist explores the tonal body in her response. She conjures light and darkness with her instrument, layering plucked arpeggios, chords, and strummed cadences as food for the saxophonist. He takes his time, quoting her first, then responding by building a denser architecture. The title-track single closes the set. It was composed in memory of and tribute to saxophonist
Pharoah Sanders
after his passing in 2022. Both principals shared a stage with him at a
John
and
tribute in 2017;
Sanders
' aesthetic spiritual influences here are incalculable. The spectral lyric is articulated slowly by a saxophone as the harp responds strategically, winding around those notes and accenting
's rich, elegant tone. The pair engage in poignant call-and-response before the harp inserts a droning vamp, then glissandos and lyricism.
re-engages with sparse, modal blues before they come back together to jointly state the root note. While
is quiet and warm, it doesn't flinch from improvisation. The music is offered with authority, grace, and reverence as these players strip off layers to communicate and share with one another generously and intimately. All told, it results in
providing listeners with an inspiring balm in difficult times. ~ Thom Jurek