Jazz harpist Brandee Younger plays to her instrument’s strengths — review

Brandee Younger is the go-to harpist of her generation, with credits ranging from veteran saxophonist Pharoah Sanders to John Legend, Drake and drummer/producer Makaya McCraven. At this intimate first-house set, she held the audience in her spell with a well-worked and original blend of subtle R&B and soulful modal jazz. Songs from her highly praised Impulse! album Somewhere Different dominated, alongside covers of songs by the two pillars of jazz-harp lineage, Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane.

Younger plays to the harp’s strengths rather than seeking to mimic more conventional jazz instruments, and steers the celestial ripples and sonic resonance firmly towards earth. At this performance, her melodic snippets, glistening runs and artfully placed modal voicings were accompanied by close-worked trio support. Serenity was maintained, and contemplation too. But with drummer Allan Mednard conjuring the bustle and chatter of urban life, moods were rooted more in the day-to-day world than in fantasy or escape. It was like being invited into an urban rooftop garden.

The evening opened with Younger gently swaying in time as she transported the orchestrated detail of Alice Coltrane’s “Rama Rama” to jazz-trio harp. Melodies got a rippling response, double bassist Dezron Douglas underpinned with a riff and rimshots came at angles while cymbals hissed. Younger’s “Love & Struggle” came next, with bass and harp playing a unison line; as the song evolved, sparse hip-hop acquired stabbed modal chords and a bass solo raised the crowd. The two-part “Unrest”, written in 2020 and inspired by the protests Younger witnessed from her Harlem apartment, conjoined an extended feature for solo harp with a groove-switching scamper of funk and fast walking-bass swing.

As the performance progressed, Younger’s clarity of vision stood out. She changed Ashby’s “Afro-Harping” from Sixties soul to a hip-hop groove, transposed the decorative twists of Alice Coltrane’s “Turiya and Ramakrishna” from piano to harp and made both feel like a natural shift.

Younger dampens the harp’s stark sonorities with a subtle technique that is made more effective by her trio’s empathetic support. Bassist Douglas is a master of the funky riffs and vamps the holding role demands and Mednard adds percussive cut and thrust to make lead lines fly.

The balance, drive and understated panache continued when Douglas switched to bass guitar for his composition “Spirit U Will”, the first of three originals to end the set. The slow-burning “Tickled Pink” was the closer with solos for all, an insistent riff and a perfect fadeaway ending.

It took time to coax an encore from the trio. The polyrhythmic pulse of an Alice Coltrane cover only left the audience wanting more.

★★★★☆

ronniescotts.co.uk