JME Presents | Brandee Younger on the WJCT Soundstage

WJCT Public Media and the Jacksonville Music Experience present innovative, Grammy Award-nominated jazz harpist Brandee Younger on the WJCT Soundstage on Thursday, March 14. Jacksonville multi-instrumentalist Jay Myztroh and friends open the show.

Doors at 7 p.m.

Jay Myztroh and Friends at 8 p.m. 

Brandee Younger at 9 p.m.

****This is a seated show. 

Younger is revolutionizing the harp for the digital era, working relentlessly over the last 15 years to stretch boundaries and limitations for harpists. Younger made history in 2022, becoming the first Black woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for Brand New Life. The album pays homage to younger’s musical foremother, the trailblazing harpist Dorothy Ashby, while also speaking to the sentiments of more recent generations. Read a review of Brand New Life written by Grammy-Award winning jazz drummer and educator Ulysses Owens Jr. for the Jacksonville Music Experience. 

Stream Brandee Younger’s music here.

Praise for Brandee Younger and Brand New Life 

“Her radiant playing is as cogent on hip-hop and R&B albums as it is set against classical and jazz backdrops.”

-New Yorker 

“Younger… has made a career of showcasing the role of the harp, a classical instrument dating back to antiquity, in not only contemporary popular music, but moreover, in music genres rooted in Black culture: jazz, R&B, and hip-hop.”

-NPR Music 

“No harpist thus far has been more capable of combining all of the modern harp traditions — from Salzedo, through Dorothy Ashby, through Alice Coltrane — with such strength, grace and commitment.”

-Ravi Coltrane in the New York Times

“​​[Brand New Life] is music fueled by the joy of discovery and the shared love of an artist whose work has remained in conversation across generations.”

–Pitchfork  

“Younger has proven herself an exciting artist, willing and intent on reinvention, both of her own work and the work of those who came before her.”

-Ulysses Owens Jr. for the Jacksonville Music Experience

Younger’s ever-expanding catalog includes work with cultural icons, including Common, Lauryn Hill, John Legend, and Moses Sumney. With Brand New Life, Younger builds on her already rich oeuvre, and cements the harp’s place in pop culture. As the title of the album suggests, Brand New Life is about forging new paths–artistic, personal, political, and spiritual. “We’re bringing new life to Dorothy Ashby’s popular and previously unreleased compositions. We’re creating new life…for the instrument,” Younger said. 

DownBeat Magazine’s Critics Poll names Younger a “Rising Star” in 2020, and her work as side-woman is evidence of Younger’s undeniable presence in the sound of contemporary jazz today. In recent years, she has appeared on albums by Lakecia Benjamin, Robert Glasper, Jeremy Pelt, The Baylor Project and Makaya McCraven,among others. Younger’s commitment to honoring the legacy of black women harpists can be seen through her curatorial work. She has curated a number of performances dedicated to honoring the work of Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. This work speaks to her dedication as a purveyor of Black music and history.

Opening the show is Jay Myztroh and Friends, led by Jay Myztroh–a Jacksonville-based vocalist, musician, and composer and co-creator of the esteemed hip-hop soul duo Stono Echo with Paten Locke. Myztroh is also the chief singer and songwriter for the international collaboration Cosmic Link with Ben Dubuisson of High Noon (UK). Myztroh and Friends is a collective of premier local musicians and friends whose show is a flavor bomb from the visual aesthetic to the range of music styles. They come together to showcase Myztroh’s compositions as well as songs featured on the albums released by Stono Echo, Black Diamonds (2017), Cosmic Link, Metaphysical EP (2022), and Cosmic Link (2023). Jay is the arranger and music director for Myztroh and Friends which synthesizes his prowess of nearly twenty years as a professional entertainer with his formal academic study (BM Music Theory and Composition/MM Choral Conducting). Myztroh and Friends embarks on a dynamic journey that seamlessly blends power and finesse, offering a truly energetic and eclectic experience that makes it an unmissable show. Cosmic Link’s “Let It Go” was included in JME’s list of 23 Songs by Local Artists We Loved in ’23. Cosmic Link here.