Another night that expands the boundaries of the genre.
Birmingham Jazz continue with their eclectic promotions on Friay 27th April when they present the unusual harp-led Alina Bzhezhinska Quartet at their usual venue of the 1,000 Trades in the Jewellery Quarter. The quartet’s Birmingham Jazz appearance last year was regarded as spectacular and spell-binding, with a fresh and compelling sound.
Now internationally renowned harpist Alina Bzhezhinska brings this highly anticipated reworking of the project dedicated to Alice Coltrane – one of the most innovative female jazz musicians. The Quartet celebrate the double anniversary of Alice Coltrane’s birth and death (1937-2007) by performing their arrangements of her compositions from the albums such as Journey in Satchidananda, Ptah The El Daoud and Eternity as well as Bzhezhinska’s own material that was influenced by Coltrane’s art.
Alice McCleod, otherwise known as Alice Coltrane, released a handful of albums after her husband’s death that placed her unique harp playing at the centre of an idiosyncratic, spiritually charged and highly accessible take on modal jazz. While the cosmic trappings of the presentation of such albums as World Galaxy and Universal Consciousness may place them very firmly in the context of 1970s Californian counterculture, the music within has an unflinching directness and powerful emotional intensity that transcends genre. And there’s been a recent revival of interest in this music.
The other members of the band are equally notable and this is going to be an unusual and special night.
1,000 Trades, 16 Frederick Street, Birmingham B1 3HE. Admission £12.50 (members £10 students £5).
