BRANDEE YOUNGER Vinyl & CDs

Review: Brandee Younger has always been a unique artist: a harpist who frequently utilises the instrument in a wide variety of (sometimes surprising) musical contexts and whose impressive CV also includes work with hip-hop luminaries such as Common and Ryan Leslie. On her fifth solo album, and second for Impulse!, Younger continues this adventurous but highly entertaining approach, offering up a mixture of original compositions and Dorothy Ashby covers that frequently draws influence from hip-hop, smooth jazz, modern soul and fusion. Highlights are plentiful, with our picks including the luscious, harp-laden soul head-nod of 'Brand New Life' (where Mumu Fresh delivers a sublime lead vocal), Pete Rock hook-up 'Livin' And Lovin' In My Own Way', and the duelling harp and vibraphone solos of the vintage Roy Ayers-inspired goodness of 'You're a Girl For One Man Only'.

Review: Continuing to affirm the harp's place within the annals of jazz, Brandee Younger returns with her second album and pays tribute to one of her forebears, the mighty Dorothy Ashby. Mixing her own original pieces with reinterpretations of Ashby's work, Younger infuses her playing with the cultural context of a life raised on hip-hop, rock and pop. It's a subtle amalgamation which guides the rhythm and intonation of her playing, but the results are exquisite and highly individual, placing Younger in the upper echelons of harpists from any era you care to mention.

Review: Performer, composer and educator Brandee Younger is an accomplished ensemble leader who has worked with the likes of Lauryn Hill and Phaorah Sanders. Here she is back at the front of her own troupe with an album that was recorded in New York City at the legendary studio of Rudy Van Gelder. The music is richly detailed contemporary jazz but with echoes of Black greats like Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby. Legendary bassist Ron Carter appears as does Tarriona Tank Ball to make this a real jewel of a record.