Brandee Younger is one of the most celebrated and unique jazz artists to emerge in the 21st century. She redefines the harp’s potential in jazz and beyond.
Without a doubt, Brandee Younger is one of the most celebrated and unique jazz artists to emerge in the 21st century. Following in the footsteps of pioneering jazz harpists Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby, this Grammy-nominee continues to redefine the harp’s potential in jazz and beyond, with a matchless style that marries this American-invented art form with elements of classical, R&B, electronica, spirituals, hip-hop, and more.
Since her debut with the 2011 EP Prelude, Younger has honored her two main influences while also carving out a critically acclaimed reputation as a composer, improviser, bandleader, and highly sought-after collaborator. In addition to recording the music of Coltrane and Ashby, she has collaborated with John and Alice Coltrane’s son, Ravi, a spellbinding saxophonist, and with iconic figures in the Coltrane legacy, such as the late Pharoah Sanders. Along the way, she has also become a go-to player in popular music, contributing to projects and performances by artists such as Lauryn Hill, Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, the Roots, Common, John Legend, Makaya McCraven, Moses Sumney, and many others.
Her new album, Gadabout Season, is her eighth as leader, her third for the prestigious Impulse! label. Younger had the unique opportunity to record this album at her home studio in New York City on the harp belonging to Alice Coltrane.
Gadabout Season finds this NAACP Award Winner and newly-minted Doris Duke Artist Awardee reflective and exploratory on what is her most personal project to date, on which she has written or co-written nearly every composition. “The album reflects the journey — the search for meaning and beauty amid life’s most complex moments, ultimately emerging with a deeper sense of self,” says Brandee Younger. “Musically Gadabout Season is more creative and slightly more cerebral than my other works.”
Read on to learn more about her remarkable career and the making of her latest album.
Gadabout Season is your eighth album as leader, your third for a major label, the esteemed jazz label Impulse! It’s also the first comprised mainly of your compositions. Is this something you approached with confidence or a little trepidation, an album of all originals when you are so well known for your imaginative covers of other people’s tunes?
This is my third release for Impulse!, but my first album for the label was all originals as well. The main difference between that album, titled Somewhere Different, and this one is that this one is much more personal. Somewhere Different mimicked my live set, whereas Gadabout tells a story. These compositions are super personal, and it feels like a diary entry. That said, I don’t feel like I approached the release of it with a ton of confidence, because the vulnerability of it felt really uncomfortable.
The title of your album came from a word-of-the-day email while on tour with your collaborators, bassist-producer Rashaan Carter and drummer Allan Mednard. How did the meaning of “gadabout” – a carefree pleasure-seeker always in motion – inspire the album and its title track?
Well, “gadabout”, the word, actually popped up on a word-of-the-day email as you said, and it happened twice. It became a term we used when we were on the road, really tired, but trying to maximize the time we had—which is not much—between soundchecks, concerts, and those very early lobby calls. It came down to making an intentional decision to do something enjoyable — to experience the food of whatever country we were in, go for a walk, learn a little about the city.
That’s the most tangible way to explain how we saw the gadabout. On a larger scale, it’s about making an intentional effort to find joy and silver linings along life’s journey. Life sometimes takes dips, and it takes a lot of effort and intention to be happy. So, it’s just an intentional way of finding joy.
“Reflection Eternal” mirrors one of your biggest influences, the pioneering jazz harpist Alice Coltrane. How has she influenced your musical vision, both as an improviser and now as a composer? Please tell the story of how you came into the possession of her harp, the instrument with which you recorded this album?
Alice Coltrane has undoubtedly influenced my musical vision as an improviser. Hearing her music helped me hear the harp in a completely different way. The first time I heard the harp in the context of a rhythm section was on her composition “Blue Nile”, and I’d never heard a harp sound so soulful and swing through a blues like that. It really changed the game for me.
As a composer, she had a profound influence on me, as I didn’t study composition in school. I was a classical harp major for both undergrad and graduate degrees. So, when it came time for me to start writing my own music, the first thing I did was mirror one of her compositions. That’s how I got my toes wet in terms of writing music.
Now, about her harp — it’s really special. After she passed away, I began to play with her son, Ravi Coltrane. He “discovered” me, as he calls it, and invited me to play for her memorial in 2007 at St. John the Divine Cathedral. That began a wonderful working and mentorship relationship, where I learned a great deal as a musician and as a bandleader.
Over the years, I would always ask about the harp. Ravi would say, “I have the piano, my sister has the harp.” His sister Michelle lives in California, and we’re here in New York City. I finally got the opportunity to play it for a Red Bull event in California some years back, and that was amazing.
In what we’ve been calling the “Year of Alice,” with so many events — the exhibition at the Hammer Museum, the concert at Carnegie Hall — we wanted the harp to be part of this celebration. We got it restored, and it had its “debut” at the Detroit Jazz Festival. After that, we had the harp shipped to New York, and it arrived just in time as I was recording my album. I recorded the album at home, so I had the time to get up in the morning, practice on it, and find my own voice on her instrument. This made it special and enabled me to execute the music from a personal place.
“Breaking Point” is one of my favorites on the album, a fusion of Debussy’s pastel chord voicings and then a driving, detective movie beat with cool electronic touches that sound like backward looping. How did this track come about?
Oh my gosh, that composition came from a place of anger! I was studying some harp competition repertoire at the time for my students, and there was this one part of a piece that I really loved and held onto. But what I wanted this piece to do was evoke a sense of discomfort and anxiety. It’s not in an even time meter — I didn’t even write a time meter! I wrote the bassline first and then added the harp part on top.
Rashaan is responsible for the electronic touches. He added them to the whole album. I didn’t want it to be too electronic. I just wanted little hints of what I’d do in a live performance, since I use a delay pedal, but he really had fun with it, and I’m so glad you like it.
“Surrender” is a ballad you wrote for and which features one of your frequent collaborators, pianist Courtney Bryan. How did Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” inspire this tune, which you saw has a “church spirit?”
Well, first of all, I called Courtney Bryan because whenever Courtney and I play, there’s always church involved, regardless of where we’re playing! We grew up in similar church backgrounds. I’m Baptist, and we have a loud church, LOL. So, it’s quite ironic that the piece inspiring this one was absolutely not a Black church, but the complete opposite experience.
As a harpist, one of the most popular pieces we play is Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols”. It’s traditionally performed in a cathedral with a children’s choir — just harp and these pure voices resonating with the high steeples of the cathedral. Imagine how pure that sounds! That’s what I aimed for in writing this. I wanted it to be still. Even in the beginning, I’m not rolling the chords. I wanted it to begin with almost a stoic quality, and if you want to go searching, the Britten piece that inspired it is the second movement of “A Ceremony of Carols”, and it’s titled “There Is No Rose”.
Once again, you traverse a diverse range of styles and moods on Gadabout Season, from jazz and classic to R&B, hip-hop, gospel, and even subtle electronica. Do you think this fusion of styles is where jazz as a whole is heading?
I think the fusion of multiple styles is a part of where jazz is heading. Jazz has always incorporated multiple styles of music, but it has also been the source of many styles. Nothing’s too foreign. Those elements have always been present, but different artists choose to emphasize different aspects. So, it’s a natural evolution, and it’s exciting to see where it all goes!
The album’s final track, “Discernment,” has a kind of psychedelic haze. What’s the story behind this track, one which is a real showpiece for saxophonist Josh Johnson and another frequent collaborator, Meshell Ndegeocello?
To clarify, Meshell Ndegeocello isn’t actually on this track, but she suggested I add Josh Johnson to it. Rashaan Carter created the track. He took a sample of something I played and built the foundation from that. Then the three of us — Rashaan, Allan, and I — got together in the studio and played over it. After that, I sent it to Meshell for her opinion, and she just said, “Call Josh, call Josh.” It’s funny, because once everything was done and she listened to the track, she just said, “You’re welcome,” and walked away. Haha!!
Like some of your earlier albums, you manage to record this and achieve excellent sound quality, thanks to a studio setup in your apartment. Do you find recording at home an easier way to work?
Absolutely. Recording at home allows me to move at my own pace, which is really important for a project like this, one where I wanted to be intentional with every sound. It gave me time to experiment and to sit with the music without the pressure of watching the clock, but also without any additional people around. It was just the three of us (and special guests) without any engineers, agents, etc. I’ve always done my overdubs at home, but this was the first time recording with the full band in my space. It was a learning experience, but also a freeing one, and I think that ease and comfort come through in the final sound.
Your prior release, 2023’s Brand New Life, was a tribute to another of your significant influences, Dorothy Ashby. Tell us a bit about what Ashby meant to you and how it was covering some of her great moments on record, including “If It’s Magic”, the Stevie Wonder classic on which she played.
Dorothy Ashby was probably the most prolific jazz harpist to date. She had an extensive body of work, yet she was often underappreciated both as a harpist and as a musician. Covering “If It’s Magic” was special. I heard a bootleg of her playing it solo in the early 1980s at the Detroit Institute of the Arts, and that’s where my version came from. It was a way to honor her influence and bring some of her magic to life.
While this is a tribute to Ashby, it takes some fun directions, such as the reggae-influenced “Dust”, featuring Meshell Ndegeocello, and the hip-hop flavored “Livin’ and Lovin’ in My Own Way”, featuring Pete Rock. Was this a premeditated plan to give Dorothy’s work a more contemporary sheen?
Yes, it was intentional, but it wasn’t just about making her work sound more contemporary. It was about connecting with artists who shared a special kinship with her, like Pete Rock, 9th Wonder, and Meshell Ndegeocello. Both Pete Rock and 9th Wonder sampled her music, and 9th Wonder discovered her through a sample from Pete Rock. Meshell was also a big fan of hers. So, it was about honoring that connection.
When I recorded these pieces, I didn’t want to play them the way she would have. I played all the music through my own lens, making sure I respected her legacy. For example, the instrumentation was intentional. You hear vibraphone, you hear flute—those are instruments she used. I just recorded it in a way that felt like me.
The title track, featuring vocalist Mumu Fresh, “Brand New Life”, is representative of how you are adding a celestial spin to what I would call an old-school R&B slow jam. Is this a style of music that you were drawn to in your youth?
This answer is a hard yes! My parents were listening to old-school R&B. They met at Howard University in the 1970s, so they were literally children of that era. You definitely hit the nail right on the head.
You were the first African-American woman nominated for a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition for “Beautiful Is Black” from your 2021 album, Somewhere Different. What was it like receiving this honor? The album also has a track called “Olivia Benson”, the central character from the TV show Law & Order: SVU. Are you a fan of the show, and have you heard from the actress who portrays her, Mariska Hargitay?
Yes, I was the first woman nominated in that category, and it was really special. I was surprised and shocked, because it’s not like Black women don’t write music! It hit me that people often mistake me for a singer, and while I love singers, Black women can do everything. It was a little disappointing that it took this long for a Black woman to be nominated in that category, but it was indeed an honor.
As for “Olivia Benson” from my last album, I am a huge SVU fan. I haven’t heard from Mariska Hargitay, but Danny Pino, who played Detective Amaro, does follow me on Instagram!
One of my favorite albums of yours is the one you recorded at home with bassist Dezron Douglas during the COVID-19 pandemic, Force Majeure. It’s super charming the way you feature little bits of dialogue and conversation before and as you’re recording. So, were you sending a message, or just coping, with the selections on it, the wonderfully charming cover of “The Creator Has a Master Plan” and “Toilet Paper Romance?”
The truth is, at first, these all started as live streams. There was no intent to make this an album. It was just a live stream that we quickly realized was touching people at the exact moment they needed it. We often chose songs based on what one of us felt like playing. I like to lean towards tunes that make me feel happy. For example, “Sing” from Sesame Street is probably my favorite on the album. It just makes me feel happy.
“The Creator Has a Master Plan” was special, and because we both had the opportunity to play with Pharoah Sanders, maybe there was a bit of a message there. Then something like “Toilet Paper Romance” was just a literal response to the times—everyone was fighting over toilet paper, and it was absolutely ridiculous!
It’s humbling that so many people are still touched by it today. Every time I’m at a show, people come up to me and tell me how much those sessions helped them during such a dark time.
For those who may not know, how and when did you become interested in music, and start studying the harp? Who were your major artistic influences, maybe ones beyond harpists?
I was always interested in music, and I grew up singing in the church choir, like so many other musicians. I actually started out on flute, but it’s a funny story—I meant to pick the clarinet, but once I opened the case and saw it was a flute, I was too embarrassed to say anything, so I just went with it!
There was a woman at my dad’s job who played harp as a hobby, and my parents asked if they could bring me over to play with her. We played some harp and flute duets, and she mentioned that I might be able to get a scholarship if I learned the harp and became proficient at it. That’s all my parents needed to hear!
Beyond harpists, I’d say French composers like Ravel and Debussy have been huge influences. And, like I mentioned earlier, old-school R&B is a big part of my musical DNA.
Collaboration appears to be a significant motivating force for you, both on your projects and when guesting with others, including mainstream pop artists such as John Legend, Lauryn Hill, and Beyoncé, as well as jazz veterans like Ravi Coltrane, Makaya McCraven, and Christian McBride. What have been some of your most memorable moments in collaborations? Is there someone you would love to join forces with, but haven’t yet?
I do love collaborations. I’ve always excelled in small ensembles; back in college, I excelled in chamber music way more than orchestra. I love being able to contribute a little harp love to different styles of music. It’s also special when you get to collaborate with people who are close to you. Makaya McCraven is someone I’ve known for years, and the Alice Coltrane concert we did at Carnegie Hall felt like a family affair.
One of my most memorable moments? Say what you may about Ms. Lauryn Hill, but being able to play some of those hits with her on stage is a feeling like no other.