Alina Bzhezhinska - Afro Blue / Paris Sur Le Toit DJ Spinna Remix & Sly Johnson's TAGI Remix
Following on from the success of the release of ‘Soul Vibrations’ in March, London based Harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and her HipHarpCollective, release two more tracks from the forthcoming BBE LP ‘Reflections‘. The tracks, ‘Paris Sur Le Toit’ and an amazing cover of the classic ‘Afro Blue’ also come with remixes and instrumentals of ‘Paris Sur Le Toit’ from Sly Johnson and DJ Spinna.
Description
In the tradition of Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, Alina is innovating the use of the Harp in Jazz with contemporary melodies overlaying fresh Hip-Hop beats. Utilising live instrumentation and the contributions of the cream of UK Jazz talent (Tony Kofi, Jay Phelps,
Julie Walkington among them) Alina has created two tracks that will be massive additions to the Jazz and Black music canons.
This re-imagining of ‘Afro Blue’ features a wonderful vocal performance from Vimala Rowe which interplays with the Harp solos over a strongly percussive bass driven track that lends itself to the dance floor as the Latin feel of the track builds and builds into a series of solos from the horns, percussion and drums.
‘Paris Sur La Toit’ is a masterclass in Jazz Hip-Hop with rhymes laid down in French and English by SANITY and Tom TheyThem. Here Alina’s Harp provides the changing dynamics of the track, providing the atmosphere which bridges from the break beats to the stunning
vocals. Having these original materials to work with, the creative inputs of both DJ Spinna and Sly Johnson are at the top of their respective games bringing new resonances and nuance to ‘Paris Sur le Toit’.
Paris based composer and vocalist Sly Johnson presents us with his TAGi remix that strips back to the beats in order to bring forth the inter-play between the spoken word, the sung vocals of the chorus and that wonderful harp playing. Brooklynite DJ Spinna’s remix brings us a fuller sound where the slow funk of the synth bass drives the vocals along and provides a space for those harp melodies to dance in.
This EP is a digital release with seven tracks including the original groove of ‘Afro Blue’ along with the remixes and instrumentals of ‘Paris Sur Le Toit’.
Tracklist
1. Paris Sur Le Toit
2. Afro Blue
3. Paris Sur Le Toit (DJ Spinna Remix)
4. Paris Sur Le Toit (Sly Johnson’s TAGi Remix)
5. Paris Sur Le Toit (Instrumental)
6. Paris Sur Le Toit (DJ Spinna Remix Instrumental)
7. Paris Sur Le Toit (Sly Johnson’s TAGi Remix Instrumental)
Release date: June 30th 2022
Format: Digital