{"id":10696,"date":"2025-06-15T23:57:36","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T04:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=10696"},"modified":"2025-06-16T08:24:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T13:24:12","slug":"fate-gadabout-brandee-younger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/fate-gadabout-brandee-younger\/","title":{"rendered":"Trusting Fate: A Conversation with Brandee Younger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Across cultures and ages, the harp has long been associated with peace and tranquility. Its light tones are painted as a ray of light shining down from the heavens. But there is so much more to the instrument. As George R.R. Martin provided in the literary antecedent to the show Game of Thrones<\/em>, \u201ca harp can be as dangerous as a sword, in the right hands.\u201d As a result, it should come as no surprise there are artists like Zeena Parkins<\/a> and Jacqueline Kerrod<\/a> who explore the strings\u2019 outer sonic edges. In reality, most music lies between the extremes of idealized grandeur and wild experimentalism. Alice Coltrane\u2019s melding of Eastern spirituality and avant-garde sensibility straddled the two well, but she is hardly the only harpist to do so. Brandee Younger paves another path, particularly in her collection of original compositions on Gadabout Season <\/em>(Impulse!, 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many have, and will, underscore the connections between Coltrane\u2019s legacy and Younger\u2019s continued growth as an artist. The younger harpist was inspired to pursue improvised music \u2014a less common arena for their instrument of choice \u2014upon hearing the elder\u2019s \u201cBlue Nile.\u201d When the journeyer in Satchidananda passed away in 2007, Younger performed at her memorial service. And, in the years since, has worked closely with the legend\u2019s family, including her son, Ravi Coltrane. Younger has also curated and performed at several tributes to Coltrane at venues as prominent as Carnegie Hall and SFJazz. With Gadabout Season<\/em> – released on the Coltranes\u2019 label of choice no less – she even records herself using Alice\u2019s restored Lyon & Healy harp that was gifted to the latter by John around the time of his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those connections to Alice are certainly evident on the opening track to Gadabout Season<\/em>. The aptly titled \u201cReckoning\u201d seems to reflect a moment of the leader coming to terms with her role in the marginalized line of improvised harp. The piece sounds like an outtake from an Alice Coltrane record with a slow-moving bassline, skittish percussion, and harp glissandos that practically beg for a Pharaoh Sanders tenor sax solo. The opener merely sets the stage for the following track, which attempts to craft an open slate. \u201cEnd Means\u201d with guest Shabaka on flute is an exercise in an atmospheric ambiance that reflects the rural vastness of the cabin in upstate New York, where much of the album\u2019s pieces were written. The sparseness of notes on \u201cEnd Means\u201d also serves as a pivot point to move the core trio – with longtime collaborators drummer Allan Mednard and producer-bassist Rashaan Carter – towards the follow-up tracks that dig deeper into Younger\u2019s interests in hip hop and R&B. And, by incorporating such additional elements, further opens the door to emotions beyond the stereotype of a peaceful harp, from the bouncing joyfulness of the title track to the burning anger of \u201cBreaking Point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, Gadabout Season <\/em>is a compelling listen because it neither ignores the contributions of Younger\u2019s predecessors nor finds the artist inescapably bound to them. In leading her own way, Younger produces a music truer to herself as an individual – unquestionably one of the most important harpists performing today – while fully bringing out the true meaning of playing Coltrane\u2019s instrument. It\u2019s not the soundbox or strings that give a harp its heart; it\u2019s the soul of the person behind it. By refusing to be defined or limited to what many may assume of her, Younger honors the legacy of Alice Coltrane in a way deeper and more meaningful than covers of \u201cLord, Help Me to Be\u201d or \u201cOhendaruth\u201d ever could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PostGenre: You were recently part of a special performance at Carnegie Hall to honor Alice Coltrane. How did it go?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brandee Younger: It was really beautiful, even more than we were expecting it to be. Hearing the strings in that space is always great. Carnegie Hall is not really designed for a band, but it is fantastic for strings. But what made the performance particularly special was how it was a family affair. And I think it was well received too. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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