CAPE MAY CONVENTION HALL / SATURDAY, MAY 17

The Story

Emerging artist Brandee Younger has been gradually building an avid following over the past decade through the intoxicating textures of her chosen instrument, the harp. By infusing elements of classical, jazz, soul, funk and hip-hop to the harp tradition pioneered by her predecessors and idols Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, the Long Island-bred musician has been taking her chosen instrument to higher ground. As The New York Times stated of this exceptionally talented rising star on the jazz scene: “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.”

Younger studied harp at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford as an undergrad in the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz program. She began working in New York with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane on a series of concerts honoring the music of his mother, the late pianist, organist and harpist Alice Coltrane, and subsequently appeared on recordings by Robert Glasper, Christian McBride, John Legend, Lauryn Hill, The Roots, Makaya McCraven, Kassa Overall, Lakecia Benjamin and Meshell Ndegeocello. She premiered as a leader with 2011’s Prelude and subsequently released Live at the Breeding Ground in 2014, Wax and Wane in 2016 and Soul Awakening in 2019, then broke new ground with Somewhere Different, her 2021debut on the Impulse! Records label. Her most recent recording is 2023’s Brand New Life, which found her alternately paying tribute to pioneering harpist Dorothy Ashby, whose1968 album Afro-Harping laid the foundation for the instrument’s role in post-bop jazz.  That album also won Younger a 2024 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album.

The Sound

Fronting a trio of bassist Rashaan Carter and drummer Allan Mednard, Younger will perform thoughtful originals from Brand New Life, including the ethereal title track and the kinetic “Unrest,” as well as the alluring neo-soul number “Moving Target.” She may also cover Dorothy Ashby’s lovely “You’re a Girl for One Many Only” and Alice Coltrane’s beautifully transcendent “Turiya & Ramakrishna.”