Brandee Younger

Jazz, classical, soul, and pop harpist Brandee Younger was born on July 1, 1983, in Hempstead, New York. While she has released several albums as a leader, she remains a popular studio musician and has worked on albums by a wide variety of artists including Ravi Coltrane, John Legend, Makaya McCraven, Pharoah Sanders, Charlie Haden, Lauryn Hill, Jack DeJohnette, Common, The Roots, Reggie Workman, Drake, and many others. Growing up in Hempstead, she began studying the harp when she was in her teens and went on to earn undergraduate degrees in Harp Performance and Music Business from the Hartt School of the University of Hartford. While there, she became involved with the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz and African American Studies, which encouraged her move towards jazz music. Already an educator, performer, and concert curator, she formed her own group – the Brandee Younger 4Tet – and released the Prelude EP in 2011. While pursuing her own career, she continued to collaborate with other musicians as well as performing with classical ensembles such as the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the Soulful Symphony, the Waterbury Symphony, the Ensemble Du Monde, and others. Her next release, Live at the Breeding Ground (2014), was recorded with her combo, the Brandee Younger 4Tet. After the release of her 2016 album, Wax & Wane, she issued the album Soul Awakening (2019), which had been recorded in 2012 and featured appearances from saxophonists Ravi Coltrane and Antoine Roney. After she released Force Majeure (2020), she signed with the Impulse! label and issued the albums Somewhere Different (2021) and Brand New Life (2023). Brandee Younger was named Player of the Year in Instruments Rare in Jazz in 2020 by the Jazz Journalists Association. That same year, she was voted Rising Star in DownBeat Critics Poll in the harpist category.

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