Manage Preferencesīut Jazz Harp? Two words that don't often appear together for sure, but this Music Network tour by the Alina Bzhezhinska Quartet will present Irish audiences with a chance to experience the extraordinary potential and versatility of this instrument, and celebrate the profound legacy of two women whose names and histories should be on every music student's radar, but sadly are not.Īlice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby were jazz harpists, pianists, improvisers and composers. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. We need your consent to load this YouTube content We use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Watch: Introducing The Alina Bzhezhinska Quartet Our dance music sits so comfortably on it, and at the end of last year, Irish harping joined ranks with uilleann piping and hurling on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, no less! The more formal concert harp, with seven pedals to allow for alteration of string length, and thus key change, in orchestral and recital settings, is also soothingly familiar, though often the butt of so many (sometimes hilarious, sometimes scarily accurate) caricature clichés. Being the national symbol of Ireland, we can be excused for feeling a bit of proprietorial ownership of The Harp. Several national festivals are devoted solely to it, and some even believe it will get you into heaven on your own wings.

Brian Ború used his to calm the nerves before taking on hairy marauders. From the coins in your pocket, to the beer in your local, to the horrid brown envelopes that always seem to arrive just after the Christmas blow-out. Currently on a nationwide tour, Alina Bzhezhinska is presenting Irish audiences with a chance to experience the extraordinary potential and versatility of the harp in jazz, writes RTÉ lyric fm's Ellen Cranitch.

Jazz harp players