Brandee Younger - Gadabout Season

Label: Impulse!, 2025

Personnel - Brandee Younger: harp; Rashaan Carter: bass; Allan Mednard: drums; Shabaka: flute (#2), clarinet (#3); Joel Ross: vibraphone (#3); Makaya McCraven: percussion (#3); Niia (#9); Courtney Bryan: piano (#7); Josh Johnson: saxophone (#10).

Grammy-nominated harpist and composer Brandee Younger is a spiritual colorist who favors a heavenly smooth texture over any form of wild improvisation. Deeply influenced by jazz harp pioneers Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby, Younger also weaves elements of R&B and hip-hop into her music, making Gadabout Season her most personal work to date. Presented in a trio format with select guest appearances, the album notably features Younger playing the harp that once belonged to Alice Coltrane.

“Reckoning”, where a sweeping, hallowed harp resonates with power; “End Means”, featuring Shabaka’s glowing flute over a 10-beat cycle groove anchored by bassist/producer Rashaan Carter and drummer Allan Mednard; and “Discernment”, where an atmospheric psychedelia of sorts gains further dimension through saxophonist Josh Johnson’s well-placed multiphonics—all emerged from sketching and improvising at the close of home sessions.

“Breaking Point” thrives on a gripping bass groove around which the entire piece revolves. It leans into a funkier aesthetic, enhanced by jazzy undertones and some atypically adventurous plucks from the bandleader. The title cut, “Gadabout Season” (a gadabout being a carefree pleasure-seeker constantly in motion), is intended to embody joy, guesting vibraphonist Joel Ross, percussionist Makaya McCraven, and Shabaka on clarinet. Despite its compelling lineup, peculiar pacing, and staccato patterns, the piece didn’t resonate with me as much as “New Pinnacle” or “Surrender”. The former is an R&B-inflected ballad shaped by dulcet melodies and woozy bass wobbles, creating a velvety texture, while the latter—written for pianist Courtney Bryan, who soulfully discourses here—is imbued with divine consciousness and plenty of light.

If “BBL” adopts a funky groove within its modal R&B framework, then “Unswept Corners” leans fully into soul, tempered by Niia’s ethereal vocals. The spacious, spiritual vibe is a constant throughout, giving Younger’s music a peaceful, uplifting, and luminous aura.

Favorite Tracks:
06 - New Pinnacle ► 07 - Surrender ► 09 - Unswept Corners

Brandee Younger - Brand New Life

Label: Impulse! Records, 2023

Personnel - Brandee Younger: harp, vocals; Rashaan Carter: bass; Junius Paul: bass; Makaya McCraven: drums, percussion // Guests - Meshell Ndegeocello: vocals; Joel Ross: vibraphone, xylophone; De’Sean Jones; flute; Pete Rock: additional production, drum programming; 9th Wonder: additional production, drum programming; Mumu Fresh: vocals; Yuri Popowycz: strings.

Brandee Younger has no rival in today’s jazz harp world. Her music is contemporary, often spiritual, and terrifically eclectic with oodles of crossover currents that include soul, funk and hip-hop. Brand New Life, the follow-up to Somewhere Different (Impulse!, 2021), is a tribute to one of her harp heroes, Dorothy Ashby, whose music she approaches here from new angles. With drummer extraordinaire Makaya McCraven as producer and fully operational behind the kit, this session presents 10 concise tracks - some of them featuring guest artists.

The title track, a slick R&B cut enriched with modulation, has Baltimore-based singer Mumu Fresh at the front; Ashby’s “Livin’ and Lovin’ in My Own Way” is infused with trippy hip-hop flavors by the hand of DJ/rapper Pete Rock; “Dust” - another piece by Ashby - features Meshell Ndegeocello on vocals over the jumpy feel of a good reggae tapestry; and “The Windmills of Your Mind” - which was composed by Michel Legrand but included on Ashby’s 1969 album Dorothy’s Harp - welcomes additional production and drum programming from 9th Wonder. 

Yet, my favorite Ashby-related numbers here are the album opener, “You’re a Girl For One Man Only”, a previously unrecorded song where Younger underlines the beauty of the melody over a chord progression that induces peace of mind; and “Running Game”, a soothing modal exercise made lovable through technical perfection and spiritual emotion.

Another highlight is Younger’s “Moving Target”, which, developing in seven, fuses funk, jazz and soul elements. You can hear syncopated trap beats, flute by De’Sean Jones, and an enthusiastic vibraphone solo by Joel Ross. The disc closes with a magical harp-only rendition of “If it’s Magic”, one of the most beautiful ballads composed by Stevie Wonder.

Younger carries on to explore her instrument on each piece, delving into the implications of delicately plucking or freely sweeping the chosen strings to optimum effect.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - You’re a Girl For One Man Only ► 06 - Running Game ► 08 - Dust

Robert Glasper - Black Radio III

Label: Loma Vista Recordings, 2022

Personnel includes - Robert Glasper: piano, keyboards; Terrace Martin: saxophone, synth; Keyon Harrold: trumpet; Isaiah Sharkey: guitar; PJ Morton: keyboards, vocals; Jahi Sundance: turntables; Derrick Hodge: bass; Burniss Travis II: bass; Justin Tyson: drums, keyboards; Esperanza Spalding, Lalah Hathaway, H.E.R., Gregory Porter, Ledisi, Ty Dolls $ign: vocals; Q-Tip, Amir Sulaiman, Meshell Ndegeocello: spoken word; and more. 

Grammy-winning keyboardist/composer Robert Glasper has been alluring audiences with his hybrid style, which incorporates jazz, neo-soul, R&B and hip-hop elements. One of his top outings was Black Radio, released 10 years ago on the Blue Note Records, and the timing to celebrate it couldn’t have been better than now, with the third installment of the series. However, despite being thematically strong, this glossily produced music aims for a more commercial path that often doesn’t impress me. 

Although finding limited thrilling moments, I would like to bring to your attention pieces such as the slow-grooving opener, “In Tune”, where the adroit spoken word of Amir Sulaiman is crossed by the sped-up trumpet lines of Keyon Harrold; “Why We Speak”, where jazz-funk vibes embrace the breezy voice of Esperanza Spalding and the unmistakable rapping of Q-Tip (founder of the alternative hip-hop pioneers A Tribe Called Quest); and a catchy neo-soul interpretation of Tears For Fears’ massive pop hit “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, here deeply sung by Lalah Hathaway.

My second group of choices is “Black Superhero”, a lustrous blend of jazz, soul and hip-hop with a strong anti-racism message as it urges every one to find black inspiration through the steely words of rappers Killer Mike and Big K.R.I.T. and the voice of BJ the Chicago Kid; and “Better Than I Imagined”, a R&B cut that brings H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello’s vocal melodies and spoken word, respectively, to the foreground while having drummer Justin Tyson flexing his muscles with kick-and-snare drum patterns in the back.

Glasper uses this album to uplift heavy hearts but don’t expect anything groundbreaking, especially in its second half. If “It Don’t Matter” sounds unexceptional, even with a competent vocal pairing between singers Gregory Porter and Ledisi, then the throwback dance-pop-soul of “Out of My Hands” or the drained closer “Bright Lights” are dismissible. Black Radio III is an uneven album with just a few inspired tracks.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - In Tune ► 04 - Why We Speak ► 07 - Everybody Wants to Rule the World