Brandee Younger - LYDIALIEBMAN.COM

Album: Soul Awakening
Street Date: June 7, 2019

Surfacing six years after its completion in 2013, Soul Awakening 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 Brandee Younger’s artistic signature and the reemergence of the harp as a pillar of modern popular music. Brandee will be celebrating this new release at the Blue Note in New York City on May 21 and May 22.

Charged with the task of creating timeless works in a time of increasingly disposable content, 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.

Created to convey the stirring energy of the group’s live show, Soul Awakening combines electric and acoustic sounds that showcase the quartet’s aptitude for freewheeling improvisation, spiritual jazz, and experimental music. Stand out tracks include the album opener, “Soulris”, which is penned by Dezron Douglas and is featured on his 2018 EP Black Lion, and the second track “Linda Lee”, which is named for Younger’s mother, Linda Lee McNease-Younger. Other highlights include “Respected Destroyer, a staple of The Soul Rebels’ repertoire which enlists trombonist Corey Wilcox, and the title track which includes flutist Nicole Camacho.

This collection of compositions blends seamlessly two of Younger’s popular live staples: “Games” by Dorothy Ashby and “Blue Nile” by Alice Coltrane –– both harpists and muses of Younger’s, whom she cites as profound influences. The ensemble also covers Marvin Gaye’s “Save The Children” as a tribute to Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, daughter of famed musician and family friend Jimmy Greene and wife Nelba Marquez-Greene, who was a victim in the tragic Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Soul Awakening is an evergreen compilation of songs that convey the universal relevance and urgency of the 4tet’s core ideals — from social justice to creative freedom — and belie its years on the shelf. The release of this album follows the 2014 Live At The Breeding Ground, the harpist’s 2015 appearance as a featured artist on the Supreme Sonacy album from Revive Music/Blue Note Records and the subsequent full-length album Wax & Wane, which arrived in 2016. Most recently, Younger has been actively working, recording and touring with Makaya McCraven following the release of his new recording Universal Beings. She arranged and performed a track for Impulse Records’ latest release last year: A Day In The Life: Impressions of Pepper - a tribute to the Beatles, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The harpist has been keeping an active touring schedule as well. She recently completed a European tour with her trio as well as a solo tour across Alabama, Washington and Utah. She performed at a number high profile festivals including the Detroit Jazz Festival, John Coltrane Jazz & Blues Festival and the Hyde Park Jazz Festival as part of the Ravi Coltrane Quartet. She has also taken part in a number of university residencies; most recently at DePaul University in Chicago, Michigan State University in East Lansing, and University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Younger has collaborated with a number of high profile artists including Lauryn Hill, John Legend, Moses Sumney. Most recently, she performed on the Tonight Show with The Roots and producer Salaam Remi. An independent artist, Brandee has self-managed throughout the entirety of her career.

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Album: Wax & Wane
Street Date: February 19, 2016

Evoking the musical equivalent of rare gems, Brandee Younger emerges from the legacies of Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane as she ushers in a new era that celebrates the unsung titan of string instruments. Born during the REVIVE Music and Blue Note Records sessions for “Supreme Sonacy Vol. 1,” Younger’s latest album, “Wax & Wane” is a testament to her musical forebears that fuses classical technique with the persistent groove at the core of the Black music canon.

“‘Wax & Wane’ represents constant change -- back and forth,” says Younger. “We chose it as the title of the project because it is truly representative of the human experience, as an artist and individual. The high points and low points coloring the continuous struggle for balance at every phase of the journey exist - as they do in daily life - at the core of all of my work. ‘Wax and Wane’ is also the name of one of Dorothy Ashby’s compositions from her album ‘The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby’.”

With “Wax & Wane,” Brandee Younger is poised to take her place as a sonic tour de force and the latest innovator in a lineage of groundbreaking musical agitators leading to the rise of the harp. Spiritually transcendent and perennially fresh, “Wax & Wane” strikes a delicate balance between pushing the envelope and flat out breaking the mold. “I wanted to place the harp in a totally different context than what listeners are generally accustomed to and continue to position the harp in way that’s relevant today,” says Younger. With this seven track collection, Younger presents an altered universe where the fluttering polyphonic exchange of the harp and flute expand and contract against a dense rhythmic display."

PHIL FREEMAN
BURNING AMBULANCE
"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)." Full feature here.

RAJUL PUNJABI
THE VILLAGE VOICE
"Somewhere beyond the fairy forests and angel wings that harp music traditionally evokes lies Brandee Younger’s rebellion. She’s classically trained, but a typical week for her is more likely to include a jazz jam session one night and a hip-hop studio recording the next afternoon. There’s no room for coyness in her music, although her eyes betray a glimmer of mischief when she plays — which she’s done for everyone from Alice Coltrane’s family to world- famous rappers." Full feature here.

DAVE SUMNER
BANDCAMP DAILY
"And, no, she doesn’t ignore the lineage of her instrument: Harpist Dorothy Ashby’s ‘60s transition from swing to soul jazz is present, as is Alice Coltrane’s ‘70s shift from avant-garde to spiritual jazz. But on Wax & Wane, Younger runs those influences through the lens of modern groove and present-day melodies. It’s why her singular sound is so very today, even as the echoes of her jazz harpist forebears reverberate through each tune." Full feature here.