Additional Information
Studio TD was packed for the free concert by harpist Brandee Younger, accompanied by drummer Allan Mednard and double bassist and electric bassist Junius Paul, on June 29 at 10 p.m. The audience was quickly captivated by this musically tight-knit trio, which opened the concert with a piece by Alice Coltrane—the musician who, along with Dorothy Ashby, introduced the harp to the jazz scene in the 1960s.
She wanted to pay a heartfelt tribute to this pioneer. But today, with eight albums under her belt, Brandee Younger has developed her own style.
“It’s always a pleasure to come to the Montreal Jazz Festival. The audience is exceptional,” she told me in an interview the day after her show. “They’re really into the music, and we can feel that from the stage.”
The music performed consisted mainly of tracks from his most recent album, Gadabout Season, which was released in 2025.
How did the harp come into her life? “A woman who worked with my father owned a harp, which she played as a hobby. I was 11 years old, and I played the flute. My parents convinced me to take private harp lessons, sensing that it could lead to a college scholarship if I was good at it.” That’s exactly what happened.
“I really studied classical music—very seriously,” says Brandee. “But I often went to see jazz shows. In high school, I also played the trombone; I was drawn to more popular music, the kind I heard on the radio: hip-hop, R&B. I had fun trying to play those songs on my harp.”
In the end, she chose to break free from the formalism of classical music, although she still listens to it today.
During her performance at Studio TD, her virtuosity—the result of her training—is evident. At the same time, she uses effects pedals that make her harp sound like a Japanese koto or even like an electric instrument with reverb.
She is constantly inventing new sounds. And her two faithful accompanists blend perfectly with her, with absolute subtlety.
How has her music evolved between her debut album, The Brandee Younger 4tet, released in 2014, and Gadabout Season, eleven years later?
“At first, I wrote a lot of brass parts, and that allowed me to hide behind a rhythm section that played loudly,” she says with a laugh. “My harp was never in the foreground, whereas today, in a trio, I no longer hide.”
“At first, I wrote a lot of brass parts, and that allowed me to hide behind a rhythm section that played loudly,” she says with a laugh. “My harp was never in the foreground, whereas today, in a trio, I no longer hide.”
Alongside her solo career, Brandee Younger loves collaborating with hip-hop artists. “That’s the New Yorker in me,” she exclaims.
“Hip-hop is a science; it’s poetry. Of course, there’s some bad stuff out there, but when it’s good, it’s fantastic.”
This openness to all styles of music is Brandee Younger’s trademark. On July 1, she will celebrate her 43rd birthday, which, in theory, gives her plenty of time to innovate.
Her harp still has more to tell us.
