Jazz 825: the Harper Trio

Whilst still being one of the jazz world’s more exotic instruments, a rising number of contemporary practitioners has emerged building on the legacy of Alice Coltrane. The Harper Trio’s Christina Harper, on electric harp, is one of the most distinctive. A review in Jazzwise expressed it perfectly: “On her latest release she combines the instrument’s signature sweeping arpeggios and glissandos with a tougher, funkier rhythmic sensibility and distorts its famously pure tone through a series of analogue and digital effects, creating a distinctive soundworld”.

Christina’s roots are in Greece and the Mediterranean, reflected in The Harper Trio’s compositions: “There’s a combination of everything in my head: rock music, classical, jazz, pure sound, the folk music and Greek influences I heard as a child: and the final outcome is a mix of all the sounds that we build up together.” Drummer Evan Jenkins and saxophonist Josephine Davies complete the trio.

“Offers…