![Image](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_1280,h_910/https://wjct.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/BY_YAGFOMO_no-text-1-scaled-e1709911798948.jpg)
Brandee Younger is a trailblazer. Over the course of the last 15 years, the New York-bred musician, composer and educator has contributed to works by a range of contemporary artists, from Common and Lauryn Hill to John Legend and Moses Sumney, placing her among a peer group of classically trained musicians strengthening the connective tissue between jazz and hip-hop, R&B, soul and pop. Along the way, she’s emerged as one of the more influential artists working in jazz today, shining a new light on her main instrument: The harp.
An unwieldy, perpendicular-shaped stringed instrument, the harp is more often associated with classical or symphonic music. Spiritual jazz pioneer, the late Alice Coltrane played the harp. But the late Dorothy Ashby is arguably the most influential jazz harpist. Samples of Ashby’s compositions began finding their way into hip-hop in the early ‘90s and Ashby’s work continues to be interpolated today. Younger’s 2023 album, Brand New Life, traces Ashby’s influence from post-bop jazz to contemporary hip-hop. The album earned Younger a Grammy nomination for best instrumental composition, making her the first Black woman to be nominated in that category.
Back in January Keanna Faircloth and Ulysses Owens Jr. – hosts of Jazz Beyond Tradition, a new program coming to WJCT News on Sunday nights in April – caught up with Younger during New York City’s Winter Jazz Fest, where Younger was performing with her trio. Hit play above to hear highlights from that conversation.
Brandee Younger plays the WJCT Soundstage on Thursday, March 14. Doors are at 7 p.m. and local singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jay Myztroh and Friends opens the show at 8 p.m. Younger goes on at 9 p.m. Tickets and more information here.
![](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_1080,h_1080/https://wjct.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/brandee_younger_with_jay-ig_1080x1080.png)
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Song of the Day | “Empty Trainload of Sky” by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
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The Neighborhood Playlist | July 20
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Jax Music Hour Playlist | July 20
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UK Shoegazers Slowdive to Kick Off New Fall Tour at St. Augustine Amphitheatre
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Flipturn, St. Paul & the Broken Bones Highlight this Year’s Two-Day Florida Fest in Jacksonville Beach
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Song of the Day | “Coast” by Kim Deal
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The Latest Collab from Dillon and Batsauce Serves Up High Quality Production with Kindred Spirit Kool Keith
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Song of the Day | “Lie 95” by Bartees Strange
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Newly-Released Archive Recordings of Neil Young & Crazy Horse, ‘Early Daze’ is a Crucial Document of the Group’s Prime Era
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Jax Music Hour Playlist | July 13
JME Live Music Calendar
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