Brandee Younger 4tet - Live At the Breeding Ground

Styles: Harp Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:01
Size: 131,9 MB
Art: Front

( 4:33)  1. Soul Vibrations
( 3:59)  2. Wax and Wane
( 4:56)  3. Essence of Ruby
( 6:28)  4. Hortense
( 4:46)  5. Respected Destroyer
( 5:45)  6. Games
(13:10)  7. Blue Nile
( 7:24)  8. He Has a Name (Awareness)
( 5:55)  9. Effi

While a list of currently operating notables on nearly any given instrument could fill anywhere from a chapter to a book or two, a rundown of head-turning active jazz harpists might only fill out a very small portion of a leaflet. The most important among them Latin jazz trailblazer Edmar Castaneda, refined role model Carol Robbins, and wide-ranging experimentalist Zeena Parkins, to name just a few all manage to say something unique with the instrument, pushing it into places where it wasn't always welcome or expected before. Brandee Younger, who manages to do the same here with a post-Alice Coltrane/Dorothy Ashby brand of soulful and mystical jazz that's coated with a twenty-first century urban glaze, has earned her place on that short list. On Live At The Breeding Ground, Younger taps into the spiritual well that fueled the art of both Ashby and Coltrane, yet she remains ever-cognizant of the time in which she lives and plays. Younger goes in a heavy and funky direction with some help from E.J. Strickland's hard-hitting drum work and Dezron Douglas' bubbly bass ("Soul Vibrations"), builds easy-to-absorb melodies atop slick foundational grooves ("Essence Of Ruby"), sparkles aside soprano saxophonist Stacy Dillard ("Hortense"), and creates music that's simultaneously powerful, sophisticated, hypnotic, and sly (Stanley Cowell's "EFFI"). 

Younger's most direct allusions to the aforementioned female harp pioneers Coltrane's "Blue Nile"; Ashby's "Wax And Wane" and "Games"serve as fitting tributes. "Blue Nile" veers close to Coltrane's version, speaking directly of the weighty blues spirit that exists within her legendary husband's music. The Ashby tunes offer more surprises. The free-your-mind aesthetic of the original "Wax and Wane" is washed away by a flow of energy, transforming the very nature of the piece, and the pseudo Afro-Brazilian vibe of Ashby's version of "Games" is replaced by a measured, searching sound that gives way to a more outwardly soulful statement. While Younger, as mentioned, isn't alone in elevating and broadening her instrument's place in jazz, this album certainly indicates that she's carved out her own niche and done her part. She's as hip as harpists come. 

~ Dan Bilaswky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/live-at-the-breeding-ground-brandee-younger-self-produced-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Brandee Younger: harp; Dezron Douglas: bass; E.J.Strickland: drums; Chelsea Baratz: tenor saxophone; Stacy Dillard: soprano saxophone.

Live At the Breeding Ground

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Brandee Younger - Wax & Wane

Styles: Harp Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 26:40
Size: 62,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:42)  1. Soul Vibrations
(5:46)  2. Essence of Ruby
(2:04)  3. Ruby Echo
(3:15)  4. Afro Harping
(4:11)  5. Wax and Wane
(1:46)  6. Ebony Haze
(4:53)  7. Black Gold

Being a harpist on the jazz scene can’t be easy.  And though jazz, as much as any genre, takes a sincere stab at incorporating non-traditional instruments into the body of work, it’s a not a huge stretch to assume that a harpist has gotta work a bit harder than most to find ways to fit in.  Historically, there aren’t a lot of predecessors to glean wisdom from on a course to chart, and it’s not like the current scene is loaded with jazz harpists, so hoping for some gestalt action from fellow birds of a feather might be too much to expect.  But it’s in the context of those potential obstacles that it’s so encouraging when someone like Brandee Younger steps up with such creative abandon to express a bold vision, and it’s why it’s really easy to forget that there may have been some obstacles less than ordinary in her path getting there. Younger’s debut EP Prelude immediately displayed equal willingness to groove, swing and sway.  That was followed by the excellent live set Brandee Younger 4tet Live @ the Breeding Ground, an album that kicked up all kinds of sparks and heat.  A great live set recording is the kind of thing where you immediately go and check the tour page on the artist’s site to see if she’s performing in a town near you.  Younger’s Breeding Ground release elicits that kind of response.  It has all the electricity you want to feel from music and it has all the intelligence you want to excite your cortex.  And while much of the music sounds planted firmly in Today, Younger doesn’t turn her back on what came before.  The composition “Soul Vibrations,” a frequent tune performed by jazz harp trailblazer Dorothy Ashby, is a fixture in Younger’s repertoire.  Another trailblazer in jazz harp is Alice Coltrane… a different sound and a different approach than Ashby, yet Younger seamlessly insinuates her own sound onto the Coltrane composition “Blue Nile” and makes it part of the whole mix for some remarkable cohesion.  A mix, worth noting, that incorporates an impressive number of Younger originals.  Another Ashby tune Younger embraces is “Wax and Wane.”  It’s also the title of her newest release.

Younger’s take on a contemporary soul-jazz sound is positively addictive.  Where Live @ the Breeding Ground showed she has the ability to kick out flames and flash a sharp edge, Wax and Wane is proof that the music is still highly charged even when Younger chooses to lower the voltage and develop a flow that’s gift-wrapped for dance.  The trio of bassist Dezron Douglas, guitarist Mark Whitfield and drummer Dana Hawkins dig deep for a groove that’s light on its feet with “Essence of Ruby.”  And though it’s a tune just dripping with sunshine, the tenor sax of Chelsea Baratz reminds us that sometimes the heat of sunshine burns.  But perhaps most impressive, and enjoyable, is how the seemingly different goals of the rhythm section, tenor sax, and the duo interaction of Younger’s harp and Anne Drummond‘s flute work in tandem in a fluid construct, as if Younger’s crew were taking individual streams of water and weaving them into a flowing river. But then there’s a track like the elegant “Ruby Echo,” and the abundance of warmth generated by the melodic bursts from harp and strings… an elegance that remains when the thick grooves return on “Afro Harping.” The cinematic “Ebony Haze” recalls Alice Coltrane’s spiritual heavy works on the Impulse label.  Those early 1970’s recordings were melodically striking and maximized dramatic effect without risking its abiding sense of serenity.  It’s nifty that Younger shows she’s already got a handle on that approach to her instrument and compositions, but it’s that she’s able to drop that track right after the groove-heavy “Wax and Wane” and park it up against the fender of subsequent track “Black Gold,” with its drifting ambiance and punctuated tempos, that’s an entirely different level of creative deftness. Younger is showing all kinds of promise with her recordings to date, and it’s a seriously positive sign about the strength of the modern jazz scene that albums like Wax and Wane are getting a share of the spotlight. https://www.birdistheworm.com/recommended-brandee-younger-wax-and-wane/

Personnel:  Brandee Younger (harp), Anne Drummond (flute), Dezron Douglas (electric bass), Mark Whitfield (guitar), Dana Hawkins (drums), Chelsea Baratz (tenor sax) and Chargaux (violin, viola).

Wax & Wane

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Brandee Younger - Brand New Life

Styles: Harp Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:02
Size: 86,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:58) 1. You’re a Girl for One Man Only
(4:32) 2. Brand New Life feat. Mumu Fresh
(2:22) 3. Come Live With Me (interlude)
(4:58) 4. Livin’ and Lovin’ in My Own Way
(1:07) 5. Running Game (intro)
(4:39) 6. Running Game
(4:21) 7. Moving Target
(4:36) 8. Dust feat. Meshell Ndegeocello
(2:56) 9. The Windmills of Your Mind feat. 9th Wonder
(3:29) 10. If It’s Magic

Harpist Brandee Younger is defying expectations. Over the past fifteen years, she has worked relentlessly to stretch boundaries and limitations for harpists. In 2022, she broke new ground by becoming the first black woman ever to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. Ever-expanding as an artist, her album, Brand New Life, builds on the already rich oeuvre, seamlessly transcending genre.

As the title of the album suggests, Brand New Life is about forging new paths–artistic, personal, political, and spiritual.“We're bringing new life to [Dorothy Ashby’s] old compositions. We're creating new life…for the instrument,” Younger said. The album includes original works by Brandee Younger, reinterpretations of Dorothy Ashby classics, along with a couple of covers that redefine the category.
https://jazz.centerstagestore.com/collections/20-promo-1-14/products/brandee-younger-brand-new-life-cd

Brand New Life

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Brandee Younger - Somewhere Different

Styles: Harp Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:35
Size: 101,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:42) 1. Reclamation
(7:11) 2. Spirit U Will
(4:31) 3. Pretend
(5:21) 4. Somewhere Different
(5:41) 5. Love & Struggle
(7:05) 6. Beautiful Is Black
(4:02) 7. Olivia Benson
(3:01) 8. Tickled Pink

Harpist and composer Brandee Younger has joined Impulse! Records to release her major-label debut album Somewhere Different. The album blends the sounds of jazz, classical music, R&B, hip-hop and funk into one genre-defying recording.You can listen to the first single Reclamation right here. Somewhere Different was produced by Dezron Douglas and recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in New York between November of 2020 and February of 2021.

The eight-track recording features drummer Allan Mednard, bassist Rashaan Carter, trumpeter Maurice Brown, tenor saxophonist Chelsea Baratz, flautist Anne Drummond and drummer Marcus Gilmore. It also features guest vocals by Tarriona “Tank” Ball from Tank and the Bangas and a special appearance by legendary bassist Ron Carter.A boundary-pushing musician and composer, Younger has shared the stage with major names in jazz, hip hop and R&B including Ravi Coltrane, Christian McBride, John Legend, Pharoah Sanders, Common and Lauryn Hill.

Younger’s last release was Force Majeure, a duo album recorded with Dezron Douglas and released in December.With Somewhere Different, the artist touches on a number of musical and emotional themes while maintaining a cohesive, contemporary sound with a refined focus.“I hope it is enjoyable to listen to, not hard to listen to, nothing to be analyzed or over-analyzed, but that people will just enjoy it,” Younger tells music journalist and author Marcus J. Moore in the record’s liner notes. “Everything has a groove, and that’s me.” https://jazz.fm/brandee-younger-somewhere-different-impulse-records/

Somewhere Different

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Brandee Younger - Soul Awakening

Styles: Harp Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:38
Size: 102,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:53)  1. Soulris (feat. Ravi Coltrane)
(4:43)  2. Linda Lee
(5:22)  3. Love's Prayer (feat. Ravi Coltrane)
(7:01)  4. Respected Destroyer (feat. Sean Jones)
(5:42)  5. Games
(5:30)  6. Save the Children (feat. Niia)
(3:51)  7. Soul Awakening
(7:33)  8. Blue Nile

Sure the recording for Soul Awakening was completed in 2013, but we are more than fortunate that harpist Brandee Younger and producer/bassist Dezron Douglas have chosen now to free this music from the vaults. For Soul Awakening brings a defining clarity to what we've experienced on previous releases, such as the raw, groove/fusion of 2014's The Brandee Younger 4tet: Live at the Breeding Ground (Brandee Younger), and 2016's Wax & Wane (Brandee Younger). 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. Presented here as a gently swelling, rolling, almost 1960's pop radio instrumental, "Games," composed by another of Younger's great influences, Dorothy Ashby, spotlights Douglas and Strickland exercising great rhythmic restraint under Younger's gorgeous, delicate sweeps. 

Trumpeter Sean Jones, who held his own with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter on their 2011 Tribute to Miles tour and held the lead trumpet position for Jazz at Lincoln Center from 2004-2010, leads trombonist Corey Wilcox through a range of trade-offs and colors Younger's solos on her ever shifting "Respected Destroyer." Featuring tenor saxophonist Antoine Roney and more shimmering solos from Younger, Alice Coltrane's "Blue Nile" closes Soul Awakening on the same high peak that it thrillingly began. ~ Mike Jurkovic https://www.allaboutjazz.com/soul-awakening-brandee-younger-self-produced-review-by-mike-jurkovic.php

Personnel:  Brandee Younger: harp; Ravi Coltrane: tenor saxophone (1, 3); Chelsea Baratz: tenor saxophone (2, 4, 7); Stacy Dillard: soprano saxophone (7, 8); Antoine Roney: tenor saxophone (8); Sean Jones: trumpet (4); Freddie Hendrix: trumpet (4); Corey Wilcox: trombone (4); Nicole Camacho: flute (7); Niia: vocals (6); Dezron Douglas: bass; E.J. Strickland: drums; Chris Beck: drums (1,3).

Soul Awakening

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