Brandee Younger

Few harpists have carried their instrument so confidently into jazz, hip-hop and soul as Brandee Younger. Raised in Hempstead, New York, the American harpist, composer and educator studied at the Hartt School in West Hartford, Connecticut, and later took a Master of Music at NYU Steinhardt. Her playing moves easily between genres, and her albums weave together jazz, soul and spiritual influences.

Her first public appearance came in 2007, while still a grad student, when Ravi Coltrane asked her to take part in the memorial service for his mother, Alice. Across her early career she also worked with Pharoah Sanders, Jack DeJohnette, Common, John Legend and The Roots. Wax & Wane (2016) and Soul Awakening (2019) followed, then Force Majeure, a 2020 duo album with bassist Dezron Douglas. Her major label debut, Somewhere Different, came via Impulse in 2021 and earned a Grammy nomination for "Beautiful Is Black". Brand New Life, a tribute to Dorothy Ashby, won the 2024 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album.