SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
FALL, 2020
VOLUME NINE NUMBER TWO
B.B. KING
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
BRANDEE YOUNGER
(October 31-November 6)
CHRIS DAVE
(November 7-13)
MATANA ROBERTS
(November 14-20)
NATE SMITH
(November 21-27)
T.J. ANDERSON, JR.
(November 28--December 4)
KEYON HARROLD
(December 5-11)
NICOLE MITCHELL
(December 12-18)
OLLY WILSON
(December 19-25)
KENDRICK LAMAR
(December 26-January 1)
JONATHAN BAILEY HOLLAND
(January 2-8)
WENDELL LOGAN
(January 9-15)
DONAL FOX
(January 16-22)
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/tag-brandee-younger__5847
Brandee Younger
A versatile musician who has been proven to defy genres and labels, this young harpist has created a unique niche in both traditional and non-traditional harp arenas. Performing mainly on a concert grand classical harp, Ms. Younger is often heard performing jazz, classical and hip-hop in a seemingly effortless manner. Best-known for her limitless drive, Ms. Younger remains in high demand and attracts the attention of today's most well-known artists, producers and groups. As a classical harpist, she has performed with an array of orchestras including the Eastern Connecticut Symphony, Soulful Symphony, Ensemble Du Monde, Camerata New York and the Red Bull Artsehcro, a "non-conformist" orchestra. She has worked & recorded with a number of jazz luminaries including Nat Reeves, Ravi Coltrane, Charlie Haden, Reggie Workman, Kenny Garrett, Rashied Ali, Jeff "Tain" Watts and Steve Wilson, as well as with a host of New York City's top, young jazz musicians. In hip-hop, she has worked with several producers, including Ryan Leslie on the album of Bad Boy© recording artist, Cassie and worked with bassist, Derrick Hodge, on 'Finding Forever', the number one album of Hip-Hop recording artist, Common
http://www.jazzharp.org/artist-brandee-younger
Biography
Read our interview with Brandee here.
A classically trained harpist, Brandee Younger received her undergraduate degrees in Harp Performance and Music Business at the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford Connecticut, where she was also mentored by the faculty of the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz and African American Studies. Her studies at Hartt, coupled by the mentorship of the jazz department would serve as the foundation for her career as an innovative harpist. “My time at Hartt was critical to my growth in becoming the musician I am today. While there, I always wanted to do things differently and constant encouragement from Nat Reeves, Steve Davis and Jackie McLean gave me the confidence to move forward without acknowledging boundaries. They never once said ‘no’ to me, ever.” Upon graduating from Hartt, bassist Nat Reeves introduced her to saxophonist Kenny Garrett, with whom she would learn some valuable lessons in ensemble playing and improvisation. By the time she entered New York University six months later for graduate school, Ms. Younger had built quite a resume having opened for Slide Hampton as a member of the Hartford based collective “The New Jazz Workshop”, developed a working relationship with producer and artist Ryan Leslie and grammy winning producer Omen, and joined the harp faculty at the Hartt School Community Division.
She began working with saxophonist Ravi
Coltrane in a series of concerts honoring the music of the late pianist,
organist and harpist, Alice Coltrane. The study of Coltrane’s music,
along with work of harpist Dorothy Ashby, would help Ms. Younger to
begin to create her own sound and style as a harpist and musician. After
several years of playing as a sideman in various ensembles, Ms. Younger
released her debut EP, “Prelude” which was originally intended for use
as a demo. In June 2011, the EP was recorded in an analog studio with
bassist Dezron Douglas, drummer E.J. Strickland and vocalist Niia; After
Prelude’s official release it was received with much acclaim on the
indie music scene. Mercedes Benz featured the well received original
track ‘So Alive’ in their compilation “Mercedes Benz Mixed Tape” and
said: “highly reminiscent of legendary jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby…a
compelling soul jazz composition, in which all instruments are melded to
a haunting universe centered around Niia’s celestial voice. Beguiling
musical subtlety in these times of loudness.”
As a classical musician, Ms. Younger has been a featured soloist with The Harlem Chamber Players and was a selected artist for the Impulse Artist Series, a solo music series led by Houston pianist and innovator, Jade Simmons. Ms. Younger has also performed with an array of ensembles including the Eastern Connecticut Symphony, Waterbury Symphony, Soulful Symphony, Ensemble Du Monde, Camerata New York and the Red Bull Artsehcro, a “non-conformist” orchestra.
She has worked
& recorded with a number of jazz luminaries including Jack
DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Wycliffe Gordon, Charlie Haden, Reggie
Workman, Kenny Garrett, Rashied Ali, Butch Morris, and Bill Lee, as well
as a host of New York City’s top, young jazz musicians.
In hip-hop, she has worked with several artists and producers, including Common, Ryan Leslie, Cassie, Talib Kweli and Drake. She effortlessly performs in many diverse genres, due to her proficiency as an artist and all around musician, not just as an instrumentalist.
A
native of Long Island, New York, Ms. Younger grew up in Hempstead and
Uniondale where she began her harp studies as a teen. She earned her
Bachelor of Music at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford her
Master of Arts from New York University. Her formal instructors on the
University level include harpists Rebecca Flannery, Susan Jolles, Emily
Mitchell, and bassist, Nat Reeves.
Currently, she resides in New York where she maintains a rigorous performing and teaching schedule. In addition to performing, Ms. Younger has a private teaching studio in New York and is on the harp faculty of the Hartt School Community Division at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, CT; Adelphi University in Garden City, NY and The Greenwich House Music School in New York, NY. She is Vice President of the Long Island Chapter of the American Harp Society.
Interview with Brandee Younger
At the time of her Dorothee Ashby tribute project 'Afro Harping', the iJHF interviews New York City harpist Brandee Younger.
What are your current activities as a jazz harpist?
I consider myself a "Harpist" -- I avoid the label whenever possible because I'm constantly blurring the lines between genres. At this current time, my focus is on my quartet: The Brandee Younger Quartet and a tribute to the great Dorothy Ashby; Afro Harping: A Tribute to Dorothy Ashby with Brandee Younger.
For the quartet (sometimes a quintet), a part of all the gigs are always tributes in a sense. I've made it a point to include at least one Alice Coltrane and one Dorothy Ashby tune each night. As well, much of my original music has elements of traditional harp repertoire in it. I've probably taken the most ideas from Marcel Grandjany's compositions, when writing my own music. I always try to keep one foot planted, while moving the other ahead.
The Afro Harping project came about when approached by a promoter to do a tribute to Dorothy Ashby. We weren't sure of the best way to premiere it, as she has so many recordings, it was hard to narrow it down. I chose to focus on Afro Harping since that is probably her most known recording. The promoter mostly works on shows that combine hip hop and jazz, so it was just a perfect fit. Afro Harping is the album that so many producers sampled to make some incredible hip hop beats that were hits! The album was so far ahead of its time.
So for this tribute, we didn't keep the original instrumentation. Instead, we used harp (with effects), bass, drums, sax, flute and DJ. With the DJ, we could incorporate some hip hop samples into set, so it turned out to be a perfect match!
When did you start playing the harp, and do you remember why?
Around
the age of 13. My parents learned that a co-worker played harp (an
adult beginner) and began to bring me to her house…sort of as a free
extracurricular activity. At the time I played flute, so we played some
simple fl & harp duets. That was my introduction to the
instrument.
Who was your teacher / were your teachers?
My teachers included Karen Strauss, Susan Jolles, Rebecca Flannery & Emily Mitchell. I take lessons here and there with different harpists here in NY.
Which music did you grow up with?
I
grew up mainly with hip hop, classic r&b and jazz. One of the most
wonderful things about my first teacher Karen Strauss, was that she
helped me to learn more than what was in my method books. She would
willingly transcribe popular music for me that I liked from the radio.
I'm sure this helped me to do what I do today, and to keep up with
playing, during difficult times.
When did you start to include jazz influences in harp your playing and why?
High school was my 1st attempt. Since I played other instruments, and played what I wanted on them, I just wanted to do the same on harp.
Did you have trouble to find your place and function in a jazz band with the harp?
Initially, yes. At it was not knowing what to play when, at times it was trying to not interfere with the piano and other times it was simply trying to be heard over loud drums & horn players!
Which (jazz) musicians inspire you most?
Tough question, but musically…I'd say Ahmad Jamal, Dorothy Ashby, Alice Coltrane, Cyrus Chestnut.
What do you think about when you improvise? Do you think about harmonies and form while playing, or do you rely on only ears & flow?
Always, I rely on ears and flow. I'm working on developing my ear more. It's so easy to be married to the page!
How do you practice?
I
practice tunes & standard rep. With tunes, I work around the
changes with different concepts. I sound really awful when I practice.
And I work on standard rep to help keep me sharp.
What are you trying to improve these days?
My ear, my sense of harmony.
Are you working on a new CD? And how about your last one?
Oh
yes I am and I am excited about it! Sort of stuck in that place where
I'm deciding between self releasing or releasing on a label. If I
decide to self release, you'll see it by late spring! In the meantime, I
have an EP entitled "prelude" that was just a demo…but someone liked it
:)
What are your plans for the years to come?
My
plans for the years to come are to record a few more albums, tour and
teach. Those are my goals and although I'm doing it, I want to do it on
a much higher level.
Do you have any advice for beginning jazz harpists?
Listen to as much music as you can! All different kinds of music. Learn it, but create your own thing! Your own sound.
https://www.greenwichhouse.org/person/brandee-younger/
Brandee Younger
A versatile artist who has been proven to defy genres and labels, this young harpist has created a unique niche in both traditional and non-traditional harp arenas. In addition to expressively interpreting traditional harp repertoire, this young harpist plays in a style reminiscent of Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, yet has developed a beautiful and fresh sound all her own. Ms Younger is most recognized for working with Jazz royalty as well as Grammy winning Hip-Hop producers and artists. Her ability to feature the harp in genres of music where the instrument is often absent is a testament of her love for the instrument, and her cross-reaching ability as a musician.
A New York native, Brandee Younger is classically trained, yet has made her mark as a groundbreaking artist having worked with jazz royalty Ravi Coltrane, Jack Dejohnette, Reggie Workman, Charlie Haden, Bill Lee and Butch Morris amongst others. In popular music, she has worked with Hip -Hop & R&B producers and artists such asCommon, Ryan Leslie, John Legend, Drake and Ski Beatz. Most recently, she was featured on the Grammy Award nominated album “New York: A Love Story” by R&B newcomer, Mack Wilds.
Ms. Younger earned her bachelor’s degree in Harp Performance and Music Management from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford and earned her Master’s degree in Harp Performance and Composition at New York University. She is the leader of the Brandee Younger Jazz Harp Quartet and Afro Harping: A Tribute to Dorothy Ashby, in honor of the great, late jazz harp pioneer. When not touring with her groups, she teaches educational workshops and also teaches harp lessons at the Greenwich House Music School in the West Village and has a private teaching studio on Long Island
More
INTERVIEW/REVIEW: Brandee Younger Featured on Textura
 |
Five Questions with Brandee Younger
Tuesday 12/24/2019 Show: Brandee Younger
Photo: Brandee Younger at the 2019 Charlie Parker Jazz Festival | Credit: Joyce Jones/Sugabowl Photography.
Program note: We’re back on air after a long hiatus for WBAI’s Fall Fund Drive, but will be pre-empted on New Year’s Eve for special programming.
The next show will air on Tuesday December 24, 2019 from 10:00 PM – 12 Midnight Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. This installment of “Suga’ In My Bowl” we will close out 2019 with harpist Brandee A. Younger. We’re going to revisit an interview from 2011 when we focused on harpist Dorothy Ashby. In the second hour, we’ll present an updated discussion to learn more about Ms. Younger and prepare for some upcoming events.
Harpist Brandee Younger defies genres as a classically-trained musician playing in the avant-garde tradition of her musical predecessors Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. Ms. Younger delivers a fresh take on the instrument as an educator, curator, solo artist and leader of her own ensemble, The Brandee Younger Quartet. She has produced an impressive body of work since the 2011 debut of her Prelude EP. Her discography includes Brandee Younger Live @ The Breeding Ground, Bluenote Records and Revive Music’s 2015 album Supreme Sonacy Vol. 1, the critically-acclaimed 2016 album Wax & Wane and a 2018 appearance as a featured artist on the Impulse tribute to The Beatles titled A Day in the Life: Impressions of Pepper. Her most recent album Soul Awakening is the first full-length recorded by Younger.
Known for expressive interpretations of traditional harp repertoire as well as her continued work with a diverse cross-section of musical talents, Ms. Younger is widely recognized as a creative linchpin whose nuanced presence and willingness to push boundaries have made her irreplaceable on record and in performance. She has shared the stage with jazz leaders and popular hip-hop and r&b titans including Ravi Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Jack Dejohnette, Reggie Workman, Common, Maxwell, John Legend and Lauryn Hill. Most recently, her original composition “Hortense” was featured in the documentary “Homecoming” by Beyoncé Knowles.
(Bio adapted from Younger’s website.)
Brandee
Younger will participate in a tribute to Turiya Alice Coltrane as a
member of Brooklyn Raga Massive on December 27 at the Rubin Museum. She’ll also be at the Winter Jazz Festival’s first Marathon Night
on January 11 to present her latest release “Soul Awakening” along with
other selections and on another stage with Makaya McCraven. Follow our blog for a preview and additional Winter Jazz Fest coverage.
This program is hosted, engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones. Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.
Web Extra:
Watch Younger perform Alice Coltrane’s “Rama Rama” in this live clip:
https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2018/05/dorothy-ashby-detroit-harp-pioneer
Remembering Dorothy Ashby, the Detroit Pioneer Who Introduced the Harp to Jazz
Harpists Brandee Younger and Zeena Parkins discuss the seminal Afro-Harping album on its 50th anniversary
Dorothy Ashby has been hailed as one of “the most unjustly under-loved jazz greats of the 1950s,” and her rarely noted, lasting impression on modern jazz is a testament to that statement. The Detroit-born harpist and composer realized that the harp’s worth was well beyond its use as a background piece, and established the instrument as a prominent element in jazz compositions. In her deft hands, the harp evoked the bebop energy to challenge any reed, brass or percussion piece. As an African-American woman in a male-dominated genre, the prolific artist overcame considerable obstacles to release 11 solo albums, including her most important, the 1968 release Afro-Harping. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the record, two of today’s leading jazz harpists, Brandee Younger and Zeena Parkins, joined Vivian Host on Red Bull Radio’s Peak Time to discuss Ashby’s harp work, her impact on the genre of jazz and their own music.
Tune in to Peak Time weekdays at 12 PM EST on Red Bull Radio.
Brandee Younger
Dorothy Ashby was born in Detroit and her father was a jazz guitarist. So she had jazz musicians coming over to the house all the time and she would play piano as back-up for them. She also went to Cass Technical High School, which has produced all of these stars from all realms of music.
Everybody. Actually, Cass Tech has the longest standing harp program in a secondary school.
Is that where Dorothy Ashby first found the harp?
I believe so, as do many harpists from Detroit. They got their first taste of harp in a class called Harp & Choir.
I was reading a lot about various people who play the harp – Alice Coltrane, Zeena Parkins, etc… It seems like a lot of harpists started on another instrument, often piano. What is the connection there?
It used to be required to have three years of concentrated piano before moving to harp, because it actually works in the same way. The harp is like the white keys of the piano. So, if you can play piano and understand the music part of it then moving to harp is much easier.
To be able to sound a little like guitar, a little like a piano and like a harp, to combine these different sounds to create your own was really, really innovative.
When did you discover Dorothy Ashby’s work?
Early on. A few years after I started playing, I came across her on the cover of Harp Column magazine. I literally noticed the black dot amongst all these other faces. There weren’t too many black harpists around. I saw that and said, “Who is that?” Prior to that, I had heard her music, but didn’t know who it was; for example, [Stevie Wonder’s] “If It’s Magic.” I always knew that that was harp, but I never knew who was playing it.
As someone who knows a lot about playing harp, what can you tell me about Dorothy Ashby’s style?
Well, you mentioned that her father was a guitarist and if you listen to her playing, especially in the early recordings that were really straight ahead, you can hear that her voicings were very guitar-like. You might even think in spots that you’re listening to a guitar because of her comping style and the combination of notes that she put together. She really was able to combine the percussive elements along with the very traditional harpy things – to be able to sound a little like guitar, a little like a piano and like a harp, to combine these different sounds to create your own was really, really innovative.
She died so young. We didn’t really get to see what she would’ve done later on, but she ended up working with Stevie Wonder and Dionne Warwick and she was a huge influence on Alice Coltrane as well.
There are so many people she worked with and influenced. Her first records were with the great Frank Wess on flute; he actually helped her get her first record deal. He said “When I put the deal together, I said let her play what she wants, because she plays the harp and they have those pedals.” She worked with Gary Bartz and Richard Evans, who recently passed a couple of years ago. Richard Evans actually hooked her up with the record deal on Cadet Records and helped produce the really more progressive sounding records that she did.
Though she passed young, if you listen to her later albums, you can really hear how she was really progressing. When you listen to the traditional first record and then you listen to “Wax and Wane,” and then The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby, where she’s playing the koto and singing, you can hear a difference.
Afro-Harping was released in 1968. That was a period marked by explosions of black consciousness and the Black Power movement and a general interest in intersecting issues of race and pride and politics. That was something that was important to Dorothy in this part of her career.
Absolutely. I think that that title is no mistake. Of course on the record, all of the songs do have some kind of Afro-Latin grooves to them, but on a personal level she was very passionate about race relations, for sure.
It sounds like Dorothy Ashby was such a strong woman, not only her voice, but musically as well.
Absolutely, and one of the things that Gary Bartz said is that she was this really, really small [person] – but her playing was really, really big. She had a theater company in Detroit with her husband called the Ashby Players and a lot of the topics of these plays were really taboo for the time. There was one play, I think it was maybe called Three, Six, Nine, and it was about welfare, it was about abortion… and this was in the late ’50s-ish. Those are topics we’re still talking about today in 2018. I can just imagine how radical that was back then.
I know that you’ve studied these greats – Dorothy Ashby, Alice Coltrane – and you’ve played their music, but in terms of your own work you’re really known for having an innovative style and being able to reinterpret the classics in a new and fresh way. What sorts of things are you interested in right now in terms of harp playing?
I have my band, which has grown from three to four to five to sometimes six, and now I’m really thinking about ways to scale back. Solo shows, doing a lot of my own compositions that were composed for the band, scaling them down into solo harp versions to see what they could become. That’s really what I’ve been doing, at home of course – not out in public yet.
Where does your inspiration come from?
It’s definitely other types of music. Growing up and going through college and going through grad school I knew I didn’t want an orchestral career, and I was trying to just figure out, “How can I play something that appeals to me in the same way that turning on Hot 97 when I’m in the car does?” For me it was really just trying to mix all of these styles together and see what comes out.
I think that’s why you’ve been able to work with John Legend and Common and all these people, because you have that understanding of popular music or rap and R&B that maybe somebody else who is playing just strictly classical doesn’t really get. What is the great thing about the harp as an instrument?
I definitely stole this answer from someone, but it applies – it’s literally the fact that you’re creating sound, you’re not blowing through anything to create sound, you’re not hitting a key for a hammer to hit a string, but it’s the direct contact that you’re making with the string to create the sound. It’s really – I’m sure there's a word for that – not personal, exactly, but there’s no wall in between you and the sound that you’re producing. It’s physical. And there are, of course, different sounds that you can produce that are different from what we’re used to hearing. It’s special – sometimes you might think it’s a piano, sometimes you might think it’s a guitar, sometimes you might think it’s a percussion instrument.
You recently learned the [Dorothy Ashby] piece “Concierto de Aranjuez.”
I did. It’s such a beautiful piece. This was Dorothy’s last record. It was released in 1984 and she passed in ’86, so I always think about what her state of mind was when learning and recording this piece. It’s the adagio to the guitar concerto, and I knew Dorothy had this nine-minute long recording… so beautiful and sort of gut-wrenching. This piece was written by Joaquin Rodrigo, an incredible composer.
This whole record [is] solo harp. To start with the very traditional jazz combo quartet and then to grow into these larger, super soulful, super funky covers of pop tunes and also covers of jazz standards and then into the more innovative realm of The Rubaiyat and then to scale down to solo harp… Stripping away everything. We can hear the possibilities of the harp as a solo instrument, playing these kinds of tunes in this style. This particular piece is a classical composition that she decided to condense for solo instrument. Also, this is for guitar and orchestra. She took on an undertaking in conceiving this record.
Zeena Parkins
It’s the 50th anniversary of Afro-Harping this year. We’ve been talking a lot about how much Dorothy Ashby did to innovate harp playing and really push the boundaries of what that meant in the ’50s and ’60s and ’70s. What can you tell me about her style or what she means to you as a harp player?
First of all, Dorothy Ashby absolutely was the very, very first harpist that I was totally mind-blown by – she is such an extraordinary harpist, and she was putting the harp in a completely new arena. It took so much courage to do that. But not only did she bring the harp into this modern world of a different genre than it was normally in, more into the realm of jazz, but she had such an incredible feel. I think it’s her feel and her touch that is so remarkable, even by today’s standards with so many more harpists playing jazz. She is just an extraordinarily beautiful harpist.
It was just kind of extraordinary to me how many different things she was able to do and with a very strong style and presence to them.
Absolutely. I mean, she’s really one of a kind. There she was at the forefront, she was a total trailblazer. Who were her role models? You have to ask yourself that. How did she figure it out? But she totally did. She just was a total force in the world, figuring out something that no one else had.
You’ve done so much work over the years expanding not only the harp, but the many other instruments you play, into new directions. Whether that’s making electronic music with Björk and Ikue Mori, in your many projects with Fred Frith and all sorts of other people in the downtown New York experimental scene, with artists from all different styles. What originally grabbed you about the harp as an instrument?
Maybe it would be good to say why I play harp and then I can answer that question. I grew up in Detroit and went to this extraordinary high school called Cass Technical High School, which is a little bit like New York Performing Arts School and a vocational school rolled into one, so it had the whole spectrum. You auditioned to get in. I auditioned as a piano player because I was a classical pianist. Their idea in the music department [at Cass] was to give the poor, lonely pianist – alone in their practice room, and obviously socially by themselves all the time – an opportunity to play with other people. Their idea was to assign all pianists to an orchestral instrument. Actually, that is how I came to the harp. I was assigned a room in this eight-story building in downtown Detroit. In the very back of the building, a windowless room, I opened the door and there were eight concert grand harps in that room. That’s pretty mind-blowing, and there was a woman named Velma Fraude who was going to train you to play harp if you decided to stay in that room.
That is the kind of miraculous way I came to the harp. I didn’t choose it – it found me, you could say. Once I sat behind the harp, I knew instantly that was my instrument.
Brandee Younger mentioned that Dorothy Ashby also went to Cass Tech and how many people have gone there.
Yes. Velma Fraude taught Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, so it’s a pretty illustrious… I mean, besides the fact that the music department was totally extraordinary. Geri Allen was there – Regina Carter was there. It has a huge list of phenomenal musicians that passed through the music department.
This idea that the harp could go into new areas and not just be in classical compositions, a religious context or jazz, but really go further than that – was that already baked into you learning the harp and learning how to play it?
No. First of all, I’m not sure I’d put jazz in the same category as classical or religious, because already those two famous women who were using the harp in a jazz context, that was groundbreaking. The work that Dorothy Ashby did and Alice Coltrane did was already yanking the harp away from a traditional idea of how to use the harp, and that was extremely first wave, pulling it away from the classical tradition. It is so important and so radical. I didn’t know about Dorothy and Alice before I went to high school. But at Cass, obviously, because they were part of that lineage, I discovered them.
When I started harp, I was a pretty serious classical pianist and very involved in classical music tradition and I knew right away that I didn’t want to be a classical harpist. The only problem is I didn’t know what I was going to do with the harp when I first started training. There were no real role models for something other than this jazz tradition that Dorothy and Alice were in, and those were obviously two very different approaches.
There were no role models, so I dove into serious work on the harp in high school with this phenomenal teacher, Velma Fraude, but playing the repertoire that she was having us play... I didn’t know how I was gonna do it, but I knew [what I did] was going to be something different. I just didn’t have enough information at that time yet to know what.
When did you figure out what you wanted to do with the harp?
It didn’t happen until I went to college. When high school was over, I actually didn’t have an instrument, so I went back to full-time pianist for several years before I ended coming back to the harp.
When I went to Bard College and studied music there I began to hear very different kind of music than I had been used to hearing, so I got exposed. I think one of the lightbulbs that went off was when I heard the prepared piano concerto of John Cage, because that was already was like, “Oh, you can do something to a classical instrument and make it sound like something else. There are so many possibilities.” That was like a kind of a-ha moment for me even though it wasn’t directly on the harp.
Then I heard incredible musicians like Fred Frith and Keith Rowe who were doing tabletop guitar and using objects to play their instruments and really inventing new ways to play, and in all this I was like, “This is what I need to do on the harp.”
What sorts of things have you done with the harp? What are some of the techniques that you’ve developed to change it?
Well, when I moved to New York, I instantly got involved in improvising and playing in various groups (at that time I finally did have my own harp). Harp is a soft instrument and I found myself playing with a lot of instruments that were quite a bit louder, and this proved to be a problem because basically you could not really hear my instrument. I could play as loud as I could possibly play and it would never be loud enough.
The first thing I did was try to use pickups on the instrument – you know, to amplify the acoustic harp sound – and I was very disappointed with the kind of quality of the sounds from the pickups. Pick-ups are much better now than they were then but the richness of the sound of the acoustic harp was reduced to something quite tinny at the high end.
That’s when I worked with fellow colleague Tom Cora, a cellist and composer, and his friend Julian Jackson, and we decided to make an electric harp. There weren’t really electric harps around in those days. You can now go buy an electric harp or an acoustic harp that has pick-ups in it but in those days you could not.
We built this triangle with strings on it just as an experiment to see if the idea would work. It did work and I was very excited. All of a sudden I now had this electric instrument, which I put a whammy bar on. It was fully electric. It didn’t have a sounding board. It was like you could compare an acoustic guitar with electric guitar. This was an electric solid-body instrument and then I started experimenting with all kinds of different pedals.
I was especially fond of ring modulators and then distortion and delays and sampling. Whatever was available I wanted to try it and test it out in various combinations. Then, alongside those experiments and that development, I also was continuing to work on the acoustic harp but not worrying about amplifying the harp. Just experimenting with unusual ways to play the instrument so it became two streams of activities.
I know that you play many different instruments. Do you feel a difference at this point? Are they all on an even playing field to you or is the harp something special that sticks out to you?
I have played a lot of instruments obviously: piano, accordion, electronics, standalone electronic synthesizer, samplers. At this point, I would tend not to play any of those other instruments besides harp, except in the studio. Right now I’m just really focusing on harp and my harps and the various inventions that I make from harps as my primary instrument.
What are some things that are on your mind as far as where you want to go next?
Well, one thing that’s very important and kind of obvious is continuing to write music for harp in various situations. I have a new band project called Green Dome. We’re releasing a record early next year on my label called Case Study. I’ll just be playing acoustic harp – not processed, just straight on.
I’m working on a new set of duo pieces, for acoustic harp only and percussion. Again, this all pushes the idea of what just the acoustic harp can do, like just what you can imagine doing with just your fingers and the instrument.
Then I have a solo project in which I'm doing acoustic harp but with electronic processors. This is the first time I’ve built these, kind of, self-developed electronic processing – so not from guitar pedals but patches made in Max MSP. This creates a really different kind of palette still using the acoustic harp as the basic sound, but then with this very unusual kind of processing.
My newest project that is really pushing the boundaries of what a harp is: I’m working right now with technologist Paul Geluso, who is at Harvestworks in New York City, and we’re going to build a prototype of a harp where the strings are not actually on the instrument but they’re on the speakers. The harp frame – the instrument that will be built that I actually touch, will be this frame with rods on it that will trigger sine waves and square waves that will then pass through speakers that have strings on them that are not, you know, that are far away, like in a room but surrounding room, so there are probably 20 speakers with strings on them that will resonate but without me actually touching them directly.
Wow, that sounds so exciting. I think people who come to your show kind of know that you’re a boundary pusher and you’re doing these different things, but do you still encounter people that are shocked by you playing harp?
It’s hard to believe, especially because now there are so many younger harpists that are thinking about the harp in a more expansive way, but of course you still find those people that say, “I never knew you could do that on the harp” or “I’ve never heard the harp that way.” So yeah, it’s kind of amazing that I still encounter people like that. But you know, that’s good, because then they hear something they’ve never heard before and it’s great actually.
Brandee Younger: Soul Awakening
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Accompanied by her stalwart 4tet: tenor saxophonist Chelsea Baratz, soprano saxophonist Stacy Dillard, drummer E.J. Strickland and Douglas, the disc comes to stirring, ascendant life with Douglas' "Soulris" a powerful wave of spiritual vibe featuring the exultant tenor of Ravi Coltrane, who knows a thing or two about harpists and ascendant riffs. Younger stands fearless alongside Coltrane and drummer Chris Beck, whose combined energy would drown any lesser player. With a wash of celestial glissandi, Coltrane rises gloriously on Younger's own "Lover's Prayer," a soulfully emotive incantation and incarnation of Coltrane's mother, Alice Coltrane.
Review
Brandee Younger Plucks And Shimmers A 'Soul Awakening'
From
Brandee Younger's Soul Awakening comes out June 7.
Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the Bandcamp playlist at the bottom of the page.
The title track of harpist Brandee Younger's new album, Soul Awakening, begins with a gathering stir, like some momentous weather moving in. Dezron Douglas plays the first decisive notes on upright bass, joined shortly by a flutist and three saxophonists. The song never locks into a tempo, but it has a guiding hand in Younger, with her subtleties of pluck and shimmer.
Younger, 35, has spent much of the last dozen years in a state of arrival, or maybe a process of emergence. Recent events suggest that she's now fully emerged. She was a winning feature of the most stylish jazz album from 2018, Makaya McCraven's Universal Beings. Like McCraven, she contributed a track to the all-star Beatles tribute A Day in the Life: Impressions of Pepper. A generous taste of her music, from a 2013 Field Recording filmed by NPR Music in an oddities museum, can be heard during a touching scene in Homecoming, Beyoncé's documentary film.
You wouldn't know this just by hearing it, but Soul Awakening was made in the same era as that Field Recording, near the dawn of Barack Obama's second term. It's a self-released album, but you wouldn't know that either. In terms of both production value and musical substance, it feels like an artifact of our moment: celestial, groove-forward, unabashed about its alchemies of style.
Those traits are all characteristic of Younger, who came to jazz through the unusual aperture of its pathfinding harpists — mainly Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. Each has a composition here: Ashby's "Games," a soul-strutting bossa nova from the 1968 album Afro-Harping; and Coltrane's "Blue Nile," a kaleidoscope swirl from the 1970 album Ptah, the El Daoud.
Younger, who's been playing these songs for maybe half her life, brings unforced authority to her interpretation, working with the album's muscular rhythm team of Dezron Douglas on bass and E.J. Strickland on drums. The only other cover is "Save the Children," which Marvin Gaye recorded for What's Going On, sung here by R&B shapeshifter Niia. (Younger dedicates the song to Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, who died in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.)
The original compositions on Soul Awakening are sturdy vehicles — ranging from the smooth-funk reflection of "Linda Lee" to the anthemic fusion of "Respected Destroyer," which has a front line of trumpeter Sean Jones, tenor saxophonist Chelsea Baratz and trombonist Corey Wilcox, and resembles recent output by Kamasi Washington's crew.
Tenor and soprano saxophonist Ravi Coltrane has been an important mentor to Younger, and he turns up on two tracks. "Soulris," the swaggering opener, is a Douglas tune that highlights the way Younger flows through the cracks, making her presence known no matter how heavy the turbulence. And "Love's Prayer" is a devotional in the mode of Ravi's mother, Alice.
Younger's glissandi and chordal filigree are integral to the structure of the song, and her solo — a delicate, resonant reflection that takes full advantage of the harp's sonic properties — feels just right. If Soul Awakening is a snapshot, it's vivid with the details. Still, one can only hope Younger has more in the pipeline; she and her audience still have some catching up to do.
- 1.Soulris ft. Ravi Coltrane 04:53
- 2.Lindalee0 4:43
- 3.Love's Prayer ft. Ravi Coltrane 05:22
- 4.Respected Destroyer ft. Sean Jones 07:01
- 5.Games05:42
- 6.Save the Children ft. Niia00:02 05:30
- 7.Soul Awakening 03:51
- 8.Blue Nile ft. Antoine Roney 07:33
Brandee Younger: Paying Homage to the Jazz Harpist Greats
Brandee Younger was once determined to bring her harp into unconventional places. Not the easiest to carry around, the acclaimed musician has played the harp in studios, bars, and other places with the cumbersomely large instrument—often having to carry it up and down flights of stairs.
The morning of our interview, Facebook’s “On This Day” feature brought up a seven-year-old photo of Younger and her harp underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, before her gig at Fat Cat later that evening. For Younger, she wanted to show the versatility of the instrument: “I want people to know that the harp can belong anywhere. We don’t have a ‘place.’”
While many people may only associate the instrument with classical music, Younger is one of several contemporary harpists to play jazz and other musical stylings on the instrument. The self-managed musician is the founder of the Brandee Younger Quartet, and has performed alongside a broad spectrum of artists including Ravi Coltrane, John Legend, The Roots, and Lauryn Hill, to name a few, as well as a variety of acclaimed symphonies and orchestras. Her original music has been featured on Beyoncé’s Netflix documentary, Homecoming, as well as HBO’s TV series, Random Acts of Flyness.
But Younger’s not just about playing jazz or classical music: “I didn’t want to only play Bach. I wanted to play what I heard on the radio. I just wanted the harp to become more relevant in music and not just be limited to classical and Celtic music.”
When Younger started playing harp as a child, she wore out the Alice Coltrane CD her parents gave her. She remembers thinking, “This sounds way cooler than my method book—I want to do this one day.” Before Google made finding information more accessible, Younger went on a quest to find Coltrane, even asking acquaintance and legendary trumpet player, Clark Terry, how to contact her—but to no avail.
After high school, Brandee studied harp and music business at the Hartt School of the University of Hartford, and then attended New York University for graduate school. At the same time, she also joined the faculty in the Hartt School Community Division and began developing working relationships with musicians like Slide Hampton and Ryan Leslie.
In 2007, Ravi Coltrane asked Younger to play in an ensemble at the Ascension Ceremony in honor of of his mother, Alice Coltrane, who had died earlier that year. The opportunity was monumental to Younger’s career, who was only 22-years-old at the time, but not in the way she expected. “It was a point for me to realize, and accept in myself, that I knew I didn’t want a career as an orchestral harpist,” says Younger. “Up to that point, I was dipping my hand in everything—jazz, lots of orchestra, top 40—but this narrowed it down for me. You play this odd instrument but you are not sure where you are able to fit in, or what you can do with it. But it was a moment where I definitely wanted to go in this [jazz and non-classical] direction.”
In 2011, Younger released her first EP, Prelude, followed by 2014’s Live At The Breeding Ground and 2016’s critically acclaimed Wax & Wane. Last year, Younger independently released the album Soul Awakening six years after completion—the very first album recorded by her own ensemble and including performances by her jazz mentors, Ravi Coltrane and Antoine Roney. A 2019 NY Times blurb claimed that Younger “has almost single-handedly made a persuasive argument for the harp’s role in contemporary jazz,” but with a “a hip hop mentality,” which Younger claims was major in terms of finally feeling seen musically.
Several songs on Soul Awakening, most notably “Games” and “Blue Nile,” pay direct homage to Younger’s harp heroes, Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby, who paved the way for future women jazz players and harpists.
Dorothy Ashby
Described by Younger as a “musical goldmine,” Dorothy Ashby (1932-1986) was raised in a Detroit home filled with jazz, thanks to her father, guitarist Wiley Thompson. Ashby played several instruments growing up, including the saxophone and piano, but she mainly focused on the harp. “Nobody was doing what she was doing at that time,” says Younger. “No one is doing what she was doing now on the harp.”
Ashby produced 11 solo albums, including her most famous, 1968’s Afro-Harping. Along with her husband, John Ashby, she formed a theater group, best known as the Ashby Players, in which she created the music and lyrics, and which offered early theatre opportunities for black actors. The topics, Younger points out, “were about welfare and abortion, all the same issues that we are dealing with now in 2019.”
In the 1970s, Ashby was living in Los Angeles, working in recording studios and playing with pop artists, including Stevie Wonder and his song, “If It’s Magic,” featured on the 1976 album, Songs in the Key of Life. She passed away from cancer ten years later, leaving behind a legacy that expanded the capability of both the harp and black women in jazz. In a 1983 interview for the W. Royal Stokes book, Living the Jazz Life, Ashby remarked, “The audiences I was trying to reach were not interested in the harp, period—classical or otherwise—and they were certainly not interested in seeing a black woman playing the harp.”
Younger notes that for all of her genius and prolific work, Ashby never truly got her due, but people are finally catching on. Artists like Jay Z, Kayne West, and J Dilla were sampling her in the 1990s and beyond, and in hip hop sessions producers now ask for the “Dorothy vibe.”
Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane (1937-2007) started playing piano as a teenager in Detroit. She had a promising career ahead of her having already worked with Cannonball Adderley and other jazz legends before she was 20 years old. But it wouldn’t be until the early ‘60s, when she met and married legendary jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane, that she would find her calling.
In 1966, Coltrane joined her husband’s band as a pianist; however, a year later he passed away from liver cancer. The New Yorker noted that John had ordered a harp to add musical texture to his own music, but the instrument didn’t arrive until after his untimely death. In the midst of her grief, Coltrane began to play the harp, resulting in the beginning of an unparalleled jazz legacy.
In 1970, Coltrane met Swami Satchidananda, a spiritual guru that changed her life. She traveled to India, changed her name to Alice ColtraneTuriyasangitananda, opened a spiritual center, and cultivated a community in Southern California. Her spiritualism resulted in a withdrawal from the professional music scene, only performing during her devotions and services. However, her son Ravi got her back into the recording studio one last time for 2004’s Translinear Light, one of the final albums of her career.
Despite releasing over 20 albums as a bandleader and changing the landscape of jazz and the harp’s role in it, Younger points out that Coltrane existed in the shadow of her husband—some even called her “Yoko Ono to John Coltrane’s Lennon.” But more and more artists are paying homage to Coltrane, including Radiohead, Björk, and Erykah Badu. And with Soul Awakening, Younger is working to give her idols their due. “I made a conscious decision 10 years ago that everything I do, in some shape or form, pay homage to Alice and Dorothy,” she says.
Today, the harp is finally finding its place with more musicians like Younger who use it to play diverse styles of music. In addition to Younger, there’s Carol Robbins, one of the few students to be accepted as a student by Ashby, and who has been in Billy Childs’ Jazz Chamber Ensemble since 1999; Zeena Parkins, a jazz and free improvisation harpist who has played with Björk, Yoko Ono, and many others; Lori Andrews, who has recorded eight albums and played for four presidents, as well as Oprah Winfrey and Frank Sinatra; Joanna Newsom, a classically trained harpist whose unique music styling is most often described as psychedelic folk; Mary Lattimore, who has released five solo albums and performed with notable artists such as Thurston Moore and Waxahatchee; and many more contemporary woman harpists.
Thanks to Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, who paved the way for today’s women harpists, the instrument has reached new levels. The two served as pioneers and role models on both a “cultural and musical level,” Younger says, noting the importance of representation. “They opened the door for me and so many other players.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Elisa Shoenberger is a writer and journalist in Chicago. She writes regularly for Book Riot, Inside Philanthropy, Streeterville News and Best Lawyers and has written for the Boston Globe, Deadspin, Syfy and others. She also is an amateur alto saxophone player in her spare time.
https://www.jazziz.com/qa-with-brandee-younger-harp-and-soul/
Genre-defying harpist Brandee Younger’s fourth album, Soul Awakening, is a collection of eight unearthed gems surfacing years after they were originally recorded, that blend freewheeling improvisation and spiritual jazz with classical and experimental music. Produced by acclaimed bassist Dezron Douglas and featuring such first-rate musicians as saxophonists Ravi Coltrane and Antoine Roney, and drummers Chris Beck and E.J. Strickland, among others, Soul Awakening is out June 7 and includes some of Younger’s first compositions, as well as heartfelt tributes to harp pioneers Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, and more.
Younger spoke with JAZZIZ about the process of making the album and rediscovering its music years after it was first recorded. She also talked about how she started playing the harp and the challenge of experimenting with more modern sounds and genres, including jazz, hip-hop and pop. Below is an excerpt of our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity. You can also listen to a premiere of “Love’s Prayer” from Soul Awakening, featuring Ravi Coltrane, via the player below and click here to preorder the album.
<a href="http://brandee.bandcamp.com/album/soul-awakening">Soul Awakening by Brandee Younger</a>
JAZZIZ: When did you first start playing the harp?
BRANDEE YOUNGER: I came to the instrument because a woman at my dad’s job played it as a hobby. My parents thought that because I played the flute, it would be a good idea to bring her over to the house and we’d play some flute and harp duets. When I became interested in the harp, she recommended a teacher that was good with kids. Boy was she right! It was Karen Strauss, who I’m still very close with. She had me learn the basics and as long as I learned all my classical music and my method book and all that stuff, I’d come in with my cassette tapes and she would write some of the pop songs that were on them. So I was really able to have the best of both worlds. She allowed the learning to also be fun.
What prompted you to make that transition from classical to more modern music?
To be completely honest, I didn’t plan on playing for a living. But as it became more of a reality, I wanted to find a way to satisfy myself and play my instrument well. I already knew what I didn’t want to do – I didn’t want a full-time orchestral career. I always loved chamber music, so I always wanted small ensembles to be a part of it. I also loved pop music and hip-hop. I wanted to not only enjoy what I was doing but also to make music that people like myself would be interested in hearing. I feel familiarity is something my audience appreciates with a lot of my music. A lot of my music is a combination of what I was taught to play and what I listen to.
Is it difficult to do that?
On a musical level, the answer is yes. Some things just don’t work. Some things I absolutely need bass and drum for and, honestly, the rhythm section plays a big role in my sound. On a professional level, because I never sought out everything I now have, it’s just icing on the cake.
Is it difficult to improvise on a harp?
Absolutely. The harp is a diatonic instrument. It’s sort of like the white keys of a piano. Every time we have to change key or play a note outside the key, we have to change pedal. This is why you don’t see harpists playing “Giant Steps.” It’s funny because Gary Bartz recorded “Giant Steps” on his album Love Affair with Dorothy Ashby. It was really cool to talk to him about it. He told me he’d just say to her to come in and out as she pleased, because “Giant Steps” is basically constantly changing key every bar.
Also, for me, modal music is for the win. Modal music is always helpful. But some things, I approach like a piece of classical music, where I just have to learn things note for note in order to execute it.
Were there any key figures who helped you overcome some of those challenges during your formative years?
I feel like I’m forever in my “formative years.” But Soul Awakening really has many of my mentors on it. Antoine Roney and Ravi Coltrane have been huge mentors to me. And then, there’s Dezron Douglas, who produced the album. So yeah, nothing happened alone, I’ll tell you that!
The title of this album, Soul Awakening, evokes a type of spiritual journey. Is that the process you feel you went through while making the record?
Absolutely! At the time, I didn’t realize it but looking back, absolutely. I was initially hesitant to put the record out and it was Ravi Coltrane who made me look at it differently. He said a record is literally a documentation of where you are at that time. As a musician, one of the hardest things to do is to get out of your own head but looking at it that way helped me realize it was time to put it out there. And it was literally a process of getting out of my own head and go, “This is where I am now and it’s not where you’re going to be next year, and the year after that and the year after that.” So, for the title, I used the original title of the first track, a Dezron original, which he retitled to “Soulris.” In coming to a title for the record, I just couldn’t find anything more fitting.
Was your hesitance the main reason why you did not release Soul Awakening right away?
There were many different reasons. At one point, it was my hesitance. At one point, I just didn’t have enough music. That’s why we recorded it in two sessions and in two different years. Then, I did a live album because I needed merchandise but also because I didn’t want to just haphazardly release a studio album. After that, Supreme Sonacy happened. And then, after that, Anne Drummond the flute player told me she wanted to record an album just like that. So, we recorded Wax & Wane with and that took about a year and a half to complete.
So, all that kept pushing Soul Awakening further down. That and the fact that I’m self-released, so I’m always doing everything myself. Finally, late last year, I said to myself that it was time. But I never meant for it to reach the three-year mark before I released it.
What was it like to rediscover the music on this album?
It was one of the reasons I decided to finally release it. A few of the songs on it, like “Respected Destroyer,” “Games” and “Blue Nile,” I perform on a regular basis. They’re in my regular rotation with my band. But with the other songs, I did take a big vacation of not listening to them for years and it was fun to rediscover them. It was interesting because I’m in a different place than I was, career-wise. Also, I never studied composition in school, so these are some of the first pieces I ever composed. It will be interesting to hear play them at the album release concert because we haven’t played the songs for so long.
The tracklist on Soul Awakening includes Dorothy Ashby’s “Games” and Alice Coltrane’s “Blue Nile.” How much would you say they influence your music?
They’re my biggest non-living influences musically and culturally. When I was younger, I used to run around in school with my Alice Coltrane CD, listen to it on my portable CD player. I wanted to know more about her, I wanted to meet her… I wanted everything Alice Coltrane. And this was before the internet. With Dorothy Ashby, it was even more difficult because there was less available on her at the time. To this day, a lot of my time is spent trying to learn and study them as people, as women, as musicians and as harpists. For someone like Dorothy, who literally had eleven albums as a leader and so many people still don’t know about her. I feel like people need to know about their music and for me, it is a total point of passion to make sure they do.
It almost feels like the potential of the harp in music other than classical has rarely been tapped. As someone who works to counter this trend, do you think there are any challenges that prevent this instrument from playing a more prominent role in modern music?
I know a lot of harpists that are doing a lot of great things off the beaten path. What I do is very specific. I’m in the lane of jazz; I’m in the lane of pop music. But there are difficulties. If you look at what Dorothy was doing back then, she was on Earth Wind & Fire records, Bill Withers records… Part of it is because it was more commonplace to have live instruments back then. Nowadays, with so much produced music and electronic-made music, there is a tendency to shy away from using live instrumentation.
Also, physically, the harp is the hardest thing to move around. I used to really hardcore bring my harp anywhere. Places like someone’s basement studio, down the steps, for a middle-of-the-night session in Manhattan or Brooklyn, with strangers and people I never met. Nowadays, I record from home a lot and it’s logistically easier for me. I don’t really have to do things I used to do and could have ended differently. But I did it all for the music.
Photo: Erin O’Brien
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/arts/music/brandee-younger-a-harpist-finding-her-way-to-jazz.html
Critic's Notebook
Brandee Younger, a Harpist Finding Her Way to Jazz
Brandee Younger was a teenager — an aspiring classical harpist, growing up on Long Island — when she came across an eye-opening issue of Harp Column magazine. A trade bimonthly with a loyal constituency (motto: “practical news, for practical harpists”) had published a readers poll celebrating the instrument’s most influential figures of the 20th century.
“There were all these teeny squares,” Ms. Younger said recently, recalling the cover illustration, a yearbook-style photo mosaic. “I saw one dark square. So I flipped through the pages to see who it was, and it was Dorothy Ashby.”
This was a fateful discovery for Ms. Younger, 32, who has become a harpist of rare prominence in jazz, building on an African-American legacy largely defined by Ms. Ashby and Alice Coltrane. “Wax & Wane,” Ms. Younger’s sleek, assured new album, luxuriates in groove: It’s the latest statement from a jazz generation weaned on hip-hop producers like J Dilla. But the album is also a genuflection, featuring three songs associated with Ms. Ashby, including the title track.
The harp is an instrument whose roots stretch to antiquity, with variations across continents and cultures; one of Ms. Younger’s notable peers, Edmar Castañeda, plays a Colombian harp in a drivingly percussive style. Yet the concert harp is a European classical instrument, and its presence in jazz was marginal — a matter of gossamer drapery — before Ms. Ashby, whose 1957 debut album, “The Jazz Harpist,” established her fluency as an improviser.
https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/harpist-brandee-soul-awakening-interview
FEATURES Harpist Brandee Younger is Ready for Her Close-Up
June 12, 2019
Bandcamp
Brandee Younger knows what she’s up against. As a harpist, she knows people will hear her music and drop the names Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby. Younger is fine with that: Coltrane and Ashby are legends who are still somewhat underrated in the pantheon of all-time great jazz musicians. “It’s a compliment,” Younger says over coffee on an unseasonably cold day in Manhattan. “Every concert I do pays tribute to them in a way. I feel like they never got their due.”
She’s right. Say the name “Coltrane” to old-school jazz guys, and they’ll talk about Alice’s husband, John, the iconic saxophonist who is credited as the godfather of spiritual jazz (though Sun-Ra’s music argues otherwise). Ashby is best known for her 1968 album Afro-Harping, where she worked the harp into soul and funk arrangements, creating an innovative sound that no one has been able to replicate since. Younger is heavily influenced by Coltrane and Ashby—two strong black women who navigated a male-dominated industry to create their own path. They also didn’t care about genre: Though their music scanned as “jazz,” they only wanted to serve the spirit. How the music came out was God’s part.
Compact Disc (CD), T-Shirt/Apparel
Younger carries all of that into her new album, Soul Awakening, a meditative set of songs completed in 2013 but just now seeing the light of day. The album is purposely influenced by the works of Coltrane and Ashby, down to the overcast ambience that permeates songs like “Games,” a cover of Ashby’s Afro-Harping cut of the same name, and “Blue Nile,” a recreation of Coltrane’s cut from 1970’s Ptah, the El Daoud. A feeling of deep reflection runs throughout the record; it’s the rightful heir to equally celestial recordings like Coltrane’s Journey to Satchidananda and Universal Consciousness.
In the six years since the album was recorded, Younger has released a live album and a proper solo LP, recorded a Beatles cover for a star-studded tribute album, and rubbed elbows with the legendary producer Quincy Jones. Because she’s grown so much creatively, she thought the music on Soul Awakening might sound dated when compared with what she’s working on now. “I thought about it, and I knew that I had to get it out of my system before I did anything else,” Younger says of the album. “I realized that I’m stunted until I get it out.” She is already a big deal in the Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York jazz scenes, and beloved by crate-diggers seeking music with substance. But while her name may ring out with the gray beards on Bleecker Street, Soul Awakening feels like both an introduction and a pathway to even greater recognition. After a few false starts and some session work that never materialized (she recorded hours of harp for John Legend’s smash hit “All of Me” and none of it appeared on the song), Younger is ready to make the leap to the next level.
Up until now, Younger has mostly sustained her career via word-of-mouth recommendations from big-name musicians—producers like Ryan Leslie, who mentioned her to singer Cassie, or bassist Derrick Hodge who shouted her out to Common, or her work with Salaam Remi, which led to her playing harp on Mack Wilds’s Grammy-nominated album New York: A Love Story. She also scored a Beyoncé look: Younger’s original composition, “Hortense,” was featured in the recent Netflix concert film, Homecoming. “Because I had no idea when it would occur in the doc, I kept thinking I’d hear maybe 10 to 20 seconds of a bit of harp,” Younger says. “But I was completely floored to hear how the song was featured: In its entirety, in such a special and personal segment of the documentary.” And while none of these accomplishments have put Younger’s name on the lips of mainstream music fans, they represent the kind of slow groundswell that eventually build to a crossover.
Over the past two years, Younger’s name has also surfaced in the liner notes of Makaya McCraven’s Universal Beings and Moses Sumney’s Aromanticism (Bandcamp’s No. 1 album of 2017), and she’s carved out a niche as an indispensable force in black music. “As a technician, she’s incredible,” McCraven says. “Brandee commands space. She brings an intensity to the music that everyone responds to.” Sumney took it a step further, calling her the best harpist in America, who isn’t beholden to the classical canon one would expect of her instrument. Sumney once saw Younger play in a swanky soul food spot in Harlem. “And that’s what listening to her play sounds like,” he adds, “like you’re in a fancy soul food restaurant in Harlem, on a Sunday afternoon with the after-church crowd. To work with Brandee is to take a masterclass on preparedness meeting spirit.”
That preparation has led to this point, and it seems the time is right for Younger to rise to the fore—even if the music that’s poised to take her there was created at a very different time in her life. “I sort of view it as a snapshot of where I was, and it’s still representative of where I am today,” Younger says. “What comes next will hopefully be a better version of that.”
https://burningambulance.com/2016/03/07/interview-brandee-younger/
Interview: Brandee Younger
Written by burning ambulance
Jazz has a new harpist: Brandee Younger.
Following in the footsteps of Alice Coltrane and particularly Dorothy Ashby, she’s blending classical technique with an appreciation for—and creative use of—hip-hop, R&B and funk grooves. Her studio debut as a leader, Wax & Wane, is out now. (Get it from Amazon.) It features flautist Anne Drummond, tenor saxophonist Chelsea Baratz, bassist Dezron Douglas (playing electric rather than upright), drummer Dana Hawkins and guitarist Mark Whitfield. The string duo Chargaux also appear on a few brief interludes.
Wax & Wane is decidedly more funk than jazz; its opening track, “Soul Vibrations,” is built on a groove that recalls Sly & the Family Stone, and Younger blends into the ensemble at first, rather than immediately seizing the lead. But when she does begin to solo, her sound is otherworldly and science-fictional, and her ability to pluck individual notes at high speed is almost reminiscent of a fusion-era guitarist rather than the shimmering glissandos typical of the harp (though she does that, too). Three of the tracks—the opener, “Afro Harping,” and the title piece—were originally recorded by Ashby, but Younger’s arrangements have a lushness that separates them from the earlier recordings, and the best pieces here, like the pulsing “Essence of Ruby” and the album-closing “Black Gold,” are Younger originals. Wax & Wane is a short record, offering seven tracks in under a half hour, but it provides a potent introduction to Younger’s work. (She can also be heard on two albums by saxophonists: Marcus Strickland‘s Of Song and Michael Campagna‘s Moments.) Fans of jazz harp, as well as flautist Bobbi Humphrey‘s early’70s Blue Note albums (Drummond is basically a co-lead voice on several tracks), will find this a highly enjoyable way to spend a half hour.
Stream Wax & Wane:
Younger answered questions via email.
—Phil Freeman
The harp is an uncommon instrument – in jazz, and generally. What drew you to it, and who were your early inspirations?
My parents met a woman who played harp and thought that it would be interesting for me to learn about, since I was already involved in music. Then they learned that it was a scholarship instrument. End of story, LOL. My early inspirations, aside from my teacher (who did things like play on the QE2!) were really Alice Coltrane, Carlos Salzedo, Marcel Grandjany & Dorothy Ashby. It was really cool early on to hear the harp’s many capabilities.
Your album is relatively short—seven songs in less than half
an hour—where most jazz musicians frequently go long, trying to fill up
the whole CD. Why did you decide to make such a concise statement?
Since the record is narrowly one concept only—funky—we wanted to make a
clear, somewhat bold statement and didn’t need much more. More will be
said in the next record. This recording is truly made for vinyl!
I’m assuming you have a background in chamber and/or
symphonic music as well as jazz—how does that experience impact your
jazz work, in terms of improvisational methodology and stuff like that?
Yes, my background is in classical music. It has a major impact on everything that I play, so my style has sort of morphed into this blend of classical-jazz-spiritual, as a result of studying these styles.
What are your ambitions for future work? Can you see yourself going in an Alice Coltrane-ish direction, with strings and heavy orchestration, or are you going to continue exploring groove and R&B-influenced sounds like on this record?
Ah, Transfiguration
My next record, which is completed already, is more of a traditional jazz ensemble: bass, drums, harp and tenor sax. Well, at least I think that’s a traditional ensemble. It has a more diverse layout, with some groove-oriented music, Alice Coltrane-ish and more traditional sounds. After that, I’m scaling down and recording a solo record. I think it’s important for the harp to be viewed as a fully functioning instrument that can also stand on its own. After that, I may begin to look into some orchestrations—but with the right producer.
You’ve been a guest on a couple of other players’ albums—what have they wanted from a harpist?
Everyone wants something different. I’d say that most musicians want “colors” that can be achieved through swift arpeggios. Also, some folks favor the Alice Coltrane-esque glissandi, while others want the harp as a melody or rhythm instrument, because they want a lighter texture than what the piano offers.
What are the challenges of traveling to gigs with a harp, and
of harp ownership generally? How often does it have to be tuned, for
example, and how laborious a process is that?
Ugh. That’s the drag. It’s especially a drag in a major city like New York, where it’s often difficult to unload. Harpists in the city either drive a large vehicle or use a trained harp mover. If it’s an especially difficult situation, I minimize what I have to bring and take a van taxi. You need a few muscles. Harps have to be maintained and kept at a consistent temperature with the right amount of humidity. String upkeep has been tough as of late, due to an inconsistency in the gut supply. You’re looking at about $500 for a full set of strings (a concert grand harp has 47 strings) so when they’re breaking at record rates due to bad gut supply, it really grinds your gears! I know that’s probably TMI, but you asked. The harp has to be tuned daily. It should be tuned daily and the more it is tuned, the better it holds its pitch. Harpists carry tuning keys, so we tune it ourselves.
Do you have a particular brand/model of harp that you favor, the way pianists will prefer Bösendorfer to Steinway or vice versa?
Not particularly. I own and play Lyon & Healy brand harps, and
they’re based in Chicago. However, I do like quite a few models from
other harp brands here in the States, France & Italy.
Jazz Night In America: Video Episodes And Shorts
Brandee Younger: Taxidermy, Two-Headed Skeletons And Jazz Harp
Among the vestment racks, satchel purveyors and art galleries of New York's SoHo neighborhood lies a small merchant unlike its neighbors. It's called The Evolution Store, and it peddles, um, natural-history collectibles. You know, preserved insects, taxidermy, skulls and bones, remnants of marine creatures. It's as if a museum ran out of space and started putting its sloths and tarantulas in the gift shop.
Naturally, our video producers saw it and thought: Obviously, we need to record there.
We're not quite sure what any of this has to do with Brandee Younger, though she is a rare breed in her world: a jazz harpist. Well, she's classically trained, and plays her share of freelance and wedding gigs — in her C.V. are recordings for rappers Common and Drake — but like predecessors Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby, she's also developed a way to improvise and truly groove on the harp. In 2011, she recorded an EP with her jazz group, and she's got more recording sessions for a full-length record in the next month.
With a full band, the song heard here, "Hortense," takes on a distinct Caribbean bounce, a one-drop reggae beat anchoring Dezron Douglas' bass line. Stripped down to a duo, it wafts and glides, all arpeggios and plucked wires. There's glass everywhere inside The Evolution Store; appropriately, the performance was sparkling and crystalline. If Younger and Douglas were unnerved by all the stuffed, mummified and two-headed fauna around them, they didn't let on — during the performance, anyway.
Credits
Produced by Saidah Blount, Mito Habe-Evans, Patrick Jarenwattananon; Videographers: Gabriella Garcia-Pardo, Mito Habe-Evans, Tim Wilkins; Audio engineered by Kevin Wait; Video edited by Gabriella Garcia-Pardo and Mito Habe-Evans; Special thanks to The Evolution Store
https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/brandee-younger
“No harpist thus far has been more capable of combining all of the modern harp traditions — from Salzedo, through Dorothy Ashby, through Alice Coltrane — with such strength, grace and commitment.” - The New York Times
A leading voice of the harp today, performer, composer, educator, and concert curator Brandee Younger defies genres and labels. She has performed and recorded with artists including Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Common, John Legend, The Roots, Stevie Wonder, and Lauryn Hill. In 2019, she released her fourth solo album, Soul Awakening, and her original composition “Hortense” was featured in the Netflix Concert-Documentary,
Beyoncé: Homecoming. This same year, Ms. Younger was selected to perform her original music as a featured performer for Quincy Jones and Steve McQueen's’ “Soundtrack of America.” Ms. Younger’s ability to seamlessly inject the harp into arrangements and venues where it has historically been overlooked is a testament to her deep love for and exemplary command of the instrument.
Ms. Younger earned her Bachelor of Music in Harp Performance at the Hartt School of Music and her Master of Music at NYU Steinhardt. She has taught at Adelphi University, Nassau Community College, and The Hartt School Community Division at the University of Hartford and teaches masterclasses globally. Past residencies and masterclasses include The Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), University of Birmingham (UK), Howard University, Drexel University, Princeton University, Tulane University, Trinity College, The Hartt School, University of Michigan, DePaul University, and Berklee College of Music. She also serves as Symphonic and Jazz Harp Artist in Residence at the Cicely L. Tyson Community School of Performing and Fine Arts.
She holds leadership positions through the Apollo (theater) Young Patrons Steering Committee and the American Harp Society, Inc. where she is Director at Large. As a concert curator, Ms. Younger organized “Divine Ella,” part of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture’s annual Women’s Jazz Festival. She also served as curator of the 2016 Harp On Park concert series, “highlighting the diversity of the harp and the contemporary importance of an ancient instrument,” and most recently coordinated Her Song, featuring the works of women composers, both for Arts Brookfield.
Brandee Younger
Brandee Younger (born in Hempstead, NY) is an American harpist. Younger infuses classical, jazz, soul and funk influences to the harp tradition pioneered by her predecessors and idols Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. Younger leads her own ensemble, performs as a soloist and has worked as a sideman for such musicians as Pharoah Sanders, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Bill Lee and Reggie Workman, and other popular artists including Lauryn Hill, John Legend (Love in the Future), Common (Finding Forever), Ryan Leslie, Drake, Maxwell, The Roots, Moses Sumney and Salaam Remi. Younger is noted for her work with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, who was featured on her latest release, Soul Awakening. Currently, she actively records and tours with drummer and producer Makaya McCraven, following the release of his 2018 recording Universal Beings.
Current features
In April 2019, Younger's original composition "Hortense" was featured in the documentary Homecoming, by Beyoncé.[1] The recording used was from an NPR Music Field recording released in 2013.[2] Also in the spring of 2019, Younger was selected to present a spotlight performance on the second night of Quincy Jones' "Soundtrack of America",[3] the series opening of The Shed in NYC, curated by Steve McQueen and Quincy Jones himself. She was also featured in the series opening concerts, alongside Kelsey Lu and performed a feature with Moses Sumney. Her original work is also heard in the 2018 HBO TV series Random Acts of Flyness, by filmmaker and director, Terence Nance.
Early life
Brandee grew up in Hempstead, NY and Uniondale, NY and began her harp studies as a teen under the tutelage of Karen Strauss. She received further instruction from harpists Rebecca Flannery, Susan Jolles, Emily Mitchell and bassist Nat Reeves. Younger went on to earn undergraduate degrees in Harp Performance and Music Business from The Hartt School of the University of Hartford. While there, she was mentored by the faculty of the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz and African American Studies. Nate Chinen of The New York Times noted that "Ms. Younger quickly found a kinship with Hartt's jazz program, run at the time by the august alto saxophonist Jackie McLean. He told her to drop by whenever she wanted. 'So I did,' she said."[4] Entering New York University for graduate school six months later, she had already established an impressive résumé, having joined the harp faculty at the Hartt School Community Division, opened for Slide Hampton as a member of Hartford-based collective The New Jazz Workshop and developed a working relationship with Grammy-nominated producer and artist Ryan Leslie and Grammy Award-winning producer Omen. Building upon that foundation, Younger began working with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane on a series of concerts honoring the music of the late pianist, organist and harpist, Alice Coltrane. Younger is the cousin of urban farmer and MacArthur Fellow Will Allen. She is also the cousin of Jordan Younger, cornerback of the Toronto Argonauts.
Career
Over time, Younger has built her career as an educator, concert curator, performer and bandleader of the Brandee Younger Quartet. Her debut EP Prelude was released in June 2011, having been recorded in an analog studio with Dezron Douglas, E.J. Strickland and vocalist Niia. The original standout track "So Alive" was later featured in the Mercedes Benz Mixed Tape compilation; the track was lauded by Mercedes Benz as "...a compelling soul jazz composition, in which all instruments are melded to a haunting universe centered around Niia's celestial voice. Beguiling musical subtlety in these times of loudness." As a classical musician, Younger has been featured as a soloist with The Harlem Chamber Players, and has performed with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Waterbury Symphony, Soulful Symphony, Ensemble Du Monde, Camerata New York and the Red Bull Artsehcro, a "non-conformist" orchestra. Younger was selected to be a 2013 Harlem Arts Festival artist and performed at Marcus Garvey Park at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater that year. In hip hop and R&B, Younger has worked with Common, Drake and John Legend to name a few. Younger has released three other recordings as a leader, including the EP Prelude, released in 2011, Live At The Breeding Ground, released in 2014, and Wax & Wane from 2016.
Since the 2011 debut of her Prelude EP, Younger released Brandee Younger Live @ The Breeding Ground, a breakthrough performance on Blue Note Records and Revive Music's 2015 Supreme Sonacy Vol. 1 LP, and the more recent release of her critically acclaimed 2016 Wax & Wane LP. An independent artist, Younger has self-managed throughout the entirety of her career. She arranged and performed a track for Impulse Records' 2018 release A Day In The Life: Impressions of Pepper - a tribute to the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,[5] and she has performed on the Tonight Show with The Roots and producer Salaam Remi.
In August 2020, Younger contributed to the live streamed recording of the singer Bilal's EP VOYAGE-19, created remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. It was released the following month with proceeds from its sales going to participating musicians in financial hardship from the pandemic.[6][7]
Work as an educator
Younger is on the teaching artist faculty (harp) at New York University.[8] She has taught at Adelphi University, Nassau Community College, The Hartt School Community Division at the University of Hartford and also maintains a rigorous schedule as a private instructor. She has lectured and conducted masterclasses at The Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), University of Birmingham (UK), Howard University, Drexel University, Princeton University, Trinity College, Berklee College of Music, The Hartt School, Elyrica Summer Music Program, Connecticut Valley Harp Intensive, NOLA Jazz & Pop Festival and she also serves as Symphonic and Jazz Harp Artist in Residence at the Cicely L. Tyson Community School of Performing and Fine Arts. Recent residencies include intensives at Michigan State University, DePaul University, Tulane University.
Awards and titles
In 2020, Younger was awarded "Player of the Year in Instruments Rare in Jazz" by the Jazz Journalists Association.[9] The same year she was named winner of the DownBeat critics poll in the category of "Rising Star" harpist.[10] She also was featured on Downbeat magazine's July 2020 cover along with Dezron Douglas and six other artists.[11]
Younger has received a handful of bylines for Revive Music and Harp Column Magazine and holds several leadership positions as a member of the Apollo Young Patrons Steering Committee, and Vice President of the Metro NYC and Long Island Chapters of the American Harp Society. She also serves as Director At Large of the American Harp Society, Inc. Stepping away from traditional venues to bring live performance to alternative spaces, in 2016 Younger served as curator of the weekly Harp On Park lunchtime concert series "highlighting the diversity of the harp and the contemporary importance of an ancient instrument" and in 2019, curated Her Song, highlighting the works of women composers for Arts Brookfield. In 2017, she curated Divine Ella, a concert dedicated to the legacy of Ella Fitzgerald as part of the historic Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture's annual Women's Jazz Festival.[12] Brandee is among the musicians included in the book The New Face of Jazz[13] by author, Cicily Janus, "Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz", by Chris Becker and was also featured in the Impulse Artist Series' "Alter Ego Series"[5] in November 2010, a young artist series created by classical pianist Jade Simmons.
Soul Awakening
Surfacing six years after its completion in 2013, this eight-track collection was recorded in 2012 under the direction of producer and bassist Dezron Douglas, and embodies the ambition, vigor and aesthetic ideals of The Brandee Younger Quartet, at and since its inception. A benchmark recording that captures the group's collective brilliance in its infancy, Soul Awakening is a synthesis of the people, places and moments that impacted Younger most, ahead of the album's creation. The very first album recorded by the ensemble, Soul Awakening, marks the birth of Younger's artistic signature and the reemergence of the harp as a pillar of modern popular music.
Younger and Douglas, alongside drummer E. J. Strickland and saxophonists Stacy Dillard and Chelsea Baratz, enlist a who's who of featured collaborators to best translate their ethos. In doing so, Soul Awakening becomes a full circle release for Younger that combines her band with two of her greatest mentors: saxophonists Antoine Roney and Ravi Coltrane. Other notable contributors include drummer Chris Beck, trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, trumpeter Sean Jones, and vocalist Niia.
Soul Awakening received a positive critical response. Nate Chinen of NPR stated: "In terms of both production value and musical substance, it feels like an artifact of our moment: celestial, groove-forward, unabashed about its alchemies of style." Briana Younger of the New Yorker wrote: "Her radiant playing is as cogent on hip-hop and R&B albums as it is set against classical and jazz backdrops."
"The new album came about after Ms. Younger performed a tribute to Ms. Ashby commissioned by the Revive Music Group. She connected with Casey Benjamin of the Robert Glasper Experiment, who produced 'Wax & Wane' with a contemporary flair. 'Afro-Harping,' which in Ms. Ashby's original 1968 version feels dialed in to hippie frequencies, sounds on the new album like a post-Dilla instrumental, a remix in real time." - Nate Chinen/New York Times[4]
Discography
As leader
- 2011: Prelude, Independent
- 2014: The Brandee Younger 4tet, Live at the Breeding Ground, Independent
- 2015: Supreme Sonacy, Blue Note Records / Revive Music
- 2016: Wax & Wane, Independent/ Revive Music
- 2018: A Day In The Life: Impressions of Pepper, Impulse!
- 2019: Soul Awakening, Independent
As sideman/contributor
- 2006: Cassie, Cassie
- 2007: Finding Forever, Common
- 2008: In This Day, E.J. Strickland
- 2008: Overdose On Life, featuring Drake, Mickey Factz, and Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes, Omen (record producer)
- 2009: Of Song, Marcus Strickland
- 2009: Blending Times, Ravi Coltrane
- 2012: Retox, Lakecia Benjamin
- 2012: Moments, Michael Campagna
- 2013: New York: A Love Story, Mack Wilds
- 2013: Love in the Future, John Legend
- 2014: Face Forward, Jeremy Pelt
- 2016: Everything's Beautiful, Robert Glasper, Miles Davis
- 2016: The Dreaming Room, Laura Mvula
- 2016: Rebel/Find it Hard to Say, Ms Lauryn Hill
- 2016: The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald, Jane Monheit
- 2017: Bringin' It, Christian McBride Big Band
- 2017: Residente, Residente
- 2017: Aromanticism, Moses Sumney
- 2018: Universal Beings, Makaya McCraven
- 2018: Old Fashioned Gal, Kat Edmonson
- 2019: Sex High, Salaam Remi & James Fauntleroy
- 2019: Resavoir, Resavoir
- 2019: Dreams, Fairytales, Fantasies, A$AP Ferg ft Brent Faiyaz & Salaam Remi
- 2019: Poetry in Motion, The Soul Rebels
- 2020: Dreamers Do, Kat Edmonson
- 2020: I Think I'm Good, Kassa Overall
- 2020: We're New Again, Gil Scott-Heron, Makaya McCraven
- 2020: Pursuance: The Coltranes, Lakecia Benjamin
- 2020: Græ, Moses Sumney
- 2020: Lagos and Pepper Soup, Michael Olatuja
- 2020: Universal Beings E&F sides, Makaya McCraven
- 2020: Black Love, Salaam Remi ft. Teedra Moses & D-Nice
- 2020: VOYAGE-19, Bilal
References
- Cicily Janus, The New Face of Jazz: An Intimate Look at Today's Living Legends and the Artists of Tomorrow, Billboard Books, 2010.
External links
- Official website
- Brandee Younger on Facebook
- Brandee Younger NPR First Listen
- Bandcamp Daily Feature
- The New Yorker Magazine
- Greenwich House Music School Profile
- Brandee Younger biography, AllMusic
Interview | Brandee Younger: From Handel to R Kelly to Alice Coltrane – and now, something totally new
The jazz harpist Brandee Younger knows the strengths of her instrument: its trembling, watery consistency, the way it easily fills vast harmonic space. And she knows the limits – namely the way that its pedal system can keep things frustratingly diatonic, and make jazz harmonies tough. Oh, and good luck lugging a harp to a jam session. (Younger’s done it — not a pleasant trip.)
But Younger, who started out taking classical lessons as a child but almost immediately started transposing R Kelly songs onto the harp, has a way of making things work. In the past few years, she’s moved a few steps further: Modern jazz picks up a lot from welding outside musics with its own history — particularly a sensitivity to tonal range, and ideas about how polyrhythms can team up with textures to make a rugged thatch. Younger embodies all that, and puts the harp right up there as an addition to the palette of freeform, hip-hop-infused modern jazz.
She’ll appear with an expert band this weekend at her Bohemian Caverns debut, performing Friday and Saturday nights. We caught up this week to discuss how she made the transition to jazz on an uncommon instrument, the legacy of figures like Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby, and the way that bucking expectations has helped her find her voice.
http://brandee.bandcamp.com/albumPrelude by Brandee Younger
CapitalBop: Did you always start out wanting to do jazz? What was the path you took to the music?
Brandee Younger: There was a woman who worked with my parents, who played harp…. They would bring me over to her house. I played flute so we played some duets. The interest was there…. I was about 12 years old… They were thinking ahead to what I could do to get a scholarship to [college]….
It’s interesting, my teacher was really easygoing. So I would often come to lessons taking whatever I heard on the radio that I thought I wanted to play, and she would transcribe it for me. I think that really helped me, because I worked on the music that I was assigned but I was also able to do the stuff that was fun for me. It wasn’t until around 10th grade that I switched teachers, and Betty was the harpist with the Met and she prepared me for college auditions. That was when I really got my butt into gear and learned the repertoire. It was all classical. I always joke that I went from R Kelly to Handel.
The agreement was that as long as I did my classical studies, then I could do my pop stuff. I always had to complete that first, but the interest was always there. I didn’t really consider putting the harp into a jazz context until my parents got me this Alice Coltrane CD. I was like, “Oh, this sounds cool.” I was already interested in jazz; I played trombone in high school. But it wasn’t ever something I thought of seriously on the harp.
When I got to college it was a lot of catch-up I had to play….. I worked some with Nat Reeves, the bassist. We did some lessons where he would help me not be married to the music – to improvise. By the time I had finished college, he hooked me up with Kenny Garrett…. I got over myself and started to branch out a little bit more…. I did some harp-bass duets. I wasn’t eager to involve drums because I thought it would be too much….
In 2007, Alice Coltrane passed away and Ravi [Coltrane] called me to do the memorial…. The memorial was a musical memorial, so it was Rashied Ali, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Cecil McBee, Reggie Workman, Geri Allen, Steve Wilson… It was a huge concert of her music that really was a sort of turning point for me when I decided to start taking it seriously, in terms of trying to play jazz.
It was finally a point where I felt like I liked what I was doing. I never really enjoyed orchestra; it’s a high-pressure situation where you’re counting 100 measures and then playing for one bar…. I really like French music, and that’s it – I just like the French stuff. But I can’t just sit there and play the French stuff all day.
CB: What was it like for you, growing up, trying to break into jazz? You can’t exactly show up at a jam session with a harp and just hop up onstage like a horn player would.
BY: I did once [go to a jam session like that ] – when I moved to Brooklyn, I had a gig with Bill Lee.… I joined his big band. We used to rehearse once a week, in Ft. Greene… We’d rehearse there on the ground floor, and one of the trumpet players in the band, Igmar Thomas, he said: “Why don’t you bring your harp to this jam session?” … I was like, “No I’ll feel like an idiot!” But I brought my harp early so that it wasn’t embarrassing [getting it onto the stage].… I did that a couple times. It’s really a hassle bringing that thing around.
The transition [to jazz] is a struggle – it’s hard to get all those chord changes with the pedal.
CB: What possibilities does the harp open up in jazz that other instruments cannot?
BY: The texture. The main reason that Bill Lee used me in his big band is that he wanted a texture that wasn’t as heavy as a piano…. Yet he didn’t want a guitar. So it was sorta like a perfect in-between….
I don’t try to make the harp sound like a guitar. I don’t try to make it sound like a piano. I try to make it clear that it’s a harp. So there are plenty of things that I do that are very harp-specific. Just the fact that I can arpeggiate in ways that other instruments cant, at a speed that other instrumentalists can’t – unless you’re John Coltrane!
CB: Tell me about Alice Coltrane’s influence on you, once you started checking out her music hard.
BY: The CD of hers that my parents gave me was a compilation.… The song that I gravitated towards was “Blue Nile.” I still play it on like every gig…. I was around 15 or 16 years old, and the first thing I said was, “Wow, that’s cool.” Because all the time, studying all this classical music, I was playing these tunes from the radio but I didn’t know what to do with them to make them sound the way I wanted them to sound. Hearing the rhythmic aspect as well as the way she would use her glissandos – the only thing that people think harps can do [laughs] – it really opened up a whole new area to me. Because I didn’t know anything other than what was in my textbook….
And then beginning to listen to Dorothy Ashby’s music also opened a whole different door. Their playing is so very different. Dorothy Ashby played bebop on harp. She was a pianist as well, and she really chose harp has her primary instrument and was able to do basically anything she wanted to do…. She had this ability to comp like a guitar player, and she also made it clear that she was a harp player – her voicings were just beautiful.
CB: Who will you be playing with at Bohemian Caverns?
BY: We’re gonna have Dezron Douglas on bass, EJ Strickland on drums and Chelsea Beratz on tenor sax…. Dez and I went to college together – we met back in 2001. EJ and I met right after college. When I started to think about what I wanted to do musically … after college I moved to the city, and in 2009 I went into the studio and recorded some tunes. I’d originally planned to use them as a demo. That was just EJ, Dezron and myself. I ended up releasing it as an EP. That wasn’t supposed to be standing on its own; I had planned to follow it up a long time ago. But we released that EP and I’ve just been very fortunate to be keeping the band together the best as I possibly can. They’re touring all over the world, but we play together as much as we can. They’re my first choice.
CB: It seems like you aspire to help bring the harp into contemporary music, by way of jazz.
BY: Mike West recently wrote a blurb in the City Paper saying, “These are the rules of playing the jazz harp – Brandee Younger doesn’t follow them.” And I posted this blog that pretty much explains where my style comes from. Right away, I say that from 2007 to ’09, working with Ravi – that was a very impressionable moment for me. It was a transitional point where I was a sponge. Playing his mom’s music, I would say, “Well, how do you want this? How do you want that?” He would say, “I want elements of my mom, of Dorothy Ashby, and of Carlos Salzedo.” … There’s actually an interview with John Coltrane where they ask, “Who are your main influences?” and he says Ravi Shankar, Carlos Salzedo and Ornette Coleman. It’s kind of incredible that in that moment it seemed like there was no thought – it was just automatic… It’s so cool for someone like me to hear that. It’s clear that Ravi wanted straight-ahead jazz elements and then he wanted classical elements….
His mom played the piano, organ and harp … I’m enmeshing those things in my playing. And then I’m a hip-hop baby. I was born in the ’80s, so that’s always been a part of me. One of the struggles that I face is, how do I make my music represent a part of me, as a person? So it’s all just striving to put all those together, and hoping it comes across.
CB: You said the EP was meant to have a follow-up. Is a debut LP in the works?
BY: Alright, alright! [laughs] I finally
said, “Alright, come hell or high water, I’m going to finish this before
my birthday.” My birthday is July 1, which means I will have recorded
the darn thing by July 1. 
—
Brandee Younger performs at Bohemian Caverns at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Tickets cost $18 in advance, or $23 at the door, and can be purchased here. More info is available here.
Brandee Younger - Millennium Stage (September ...
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Brandee Younger Performs "Blue Nile" by Alice ... -
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