Reflections in Bloomington, MN

For several years
Alina Bzhezhinska
, a Ukraine-born, Warsaw Conservatoire-trained, London-based harpist and composer, has been evangelizing the harp as a perfect frontline instrument for jazz given its wide timbral, textural, and color palettes.
Bzhezhinska
and a quartet evidenced her argument on 2018's excellent
Inspiration
.
Reflection
marks the debut of her
HipHarpCollective
. Over a dozen tracks, she celebrates the jazz harp by interpreting modal music, building on the primary influences of jazz harp innovators
Alice Coltrane
and
Dorothy Ashby
integrates their contributions in a modern sound rife with the sonic and rhythmic adventurousness of London's 21st century jazz scene. Her band includes saxophonist
Tony Kofi
, trumpeter
Jay Phelps
, bassists
Mikele Montolli
Julie Walkington
, violinist
Ying Xue
, drummer
Adam Teixeira
, and percussionist
Joel Prime
.
The set opens with a bumping, steamy version of
Ashby
's "Soul Vibrations" led by a rumbling, funk bassline and frontline violin, buoyed by sweeping illuminating harp. Framed by drummer and percussionist, she begins soloing on the melody, then returns for a head-to-head with the violin. The original "For Carrol" commences impressionistically before
Phelps
adds bluesy trumpet to a silky, funky shuffle by
Teixeira
. The harpist bridges, contrasts, and juxtaposes their conversation with hovering colors, sweeping asides and hip fills as an electric bassline cooks underneath. "Fire," co-composed by
Joe Henderson
Coltrane
, first appeared on 1974's
The Elements
Kofi
's tenor is punchy in the swinging head with
in this Afro-Latin groover. The tenor exchanges lines with
in a flowing conversation underscored by massive chords and poignant arpeggios framed by wrangling bass, hand percussion, and drums. The title cut is a lush, temperate ballad with
Debussy
-ian overtones. A reading of
Mongo Santamaria
's "Afro Blue" features a guest vocal by
Vimala Rowe
that rivals
Dee Dee Bridgewater
's 1974 version. The improvisational interplay between singer,
Prime
, and harpist unfolds organically yet mysteriously before the horns interject a tough, swinging, hard bop theme. The
dig into
John Coltrane
's modal bag with a drifting, somber read of "Alabama," featuring
's moaning tenor above cymbal washes and resonant, crystalline harp fills. The spirit of
Duke Ellington
's "African Flower" remains intact, yet
expands its harmonic palette with
's soprano, whispering percussion, and her harp in place of a piano. While the instrumental version of "Paris Sur le Toit" illustrates the band's masterful injection of hip-hop and trip-hop beats inside post-bop, the vocal take with rappers
Lady Sanity
Tom TheyThem
brings the heat with the harp's rhythmic accents and the violin's atmospheric tension. "Action Line" makes use of blues and spidery, funky neo-soul.
's gutbucket theme and tight, canny solo hang above the rumbling rhythm section's interplay -- complete with
's killer cowbell. (
Cadet
arrangers/producers
Richard Evans
Charles Stepney
likely grinned in heaven after hearing it.)
Reflections
is a seamless whole.
and her band craft a music equating timeless tradition and future vision without sacrificing emotion or taste. ~ Thom Jurek