New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Today, GRAMMY-nominated harpist and composer Brandee Younger debuts the title track off her upcoming album
Brand New Life, out April 7th via Impulse! Records (preorder now). The R&B, jazz and neo-soul inflected track - co-written by the harpist and GRAMMY-nominated singer, songwriter and rapper Mumu
Fresh - breezes in over the easygoing, seductive rhythms of Rashaan Carter (bass) and Makaya McCraven (drums) like a transcendent dream. "Brand New Life" is a stunning collaboration between the two artists: Younger's swirling harp strum opens the proverbial door for some tender-hearted interplay between Fresh's sensual lead vocal and an angelic choir, which ethereally echoes the key lyrics in the song: "Here's to love, here's to life, nothing ever really dies." The single, like the entirety of
Brand New Life, is a reminder of Younger's inimitable power as a composer and ability to transcend genre with her instrument.
Brandee says of the track: "Salaam Remi linked us for this track and I couldn't be more grateful. There was a very specific sound that I had in mind and Mumu
Fresh truly brought the song to a whole new dimension. There's deep, significant personal meaning behind every single lyric and that comes across in her delivery.."
Brand New Life combines original works from Younger, select reinterpretations of
Dorothy Ashby's work, and previously-unrecorded compositions by Ashby.
Brand New Life also includes features by Pete Rock, 9th Wonder, and Meshell N'degeocello, and production by Makaya McCraven.
Celebrated as the premier harpist of her generation, Brandee Younger has broken new ground for harpists over the entirety of her career. Younger made history as the first
Black female solo artist to be GRAMMY®-nominated for Best Instrumental Composition, for "Beautiful is Black" from her genre-busting 2021 major-label debut album, Somewhere Different. That same year the album also garnered an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Jazz Album - Instrumental. Along with the release of
Brand New Life, Younger will be embarking on a series of headlining shows across the U.S. this spring, and will follow her whirlwind 2023 with a residency as SFJazz's Resident Artistic
Director in early 2024. See below for a full list of tour dates.
BRAND NEW LIFE TRACKLIST:
You're A Girl For One Man Only
Brand New Life (feat. Mumu Fresh)
Come Live With Me (Interlude)
Livin' and Lovin' in My Own Way (feat. Pete Rock)
Running Game Intro
Running Game
Moving Target
Dust (feat. Meshell N'degeocello)
The Windmills of Your Mind (feat. 9th Wonder)
If It's Magic
LIVE DATES:
March 31st: Big Ears, Knoxville, TN with Makaya Mccraven
April 1: Big Ears, Knoxville, TN
April 7: Public Records - Brooklyn, NY
April 24 The Cat in The Cream, Oberlin, OH
May 24: Manchester Craftsmen's Guild - Pittsburgh, PA
May 25: Caffe Vivaci - Cincinnati, OH
May 26: The CUBE - Detroit, MI
May 27: Blue LLama - Ann Arbor, MI
June 4 Dazzles, Denver, CO
June 6-7: Dimitriou's Jazz Alley - Seattle, WA
June 8: The Old Church - Portland, OR
June 22: Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD
June 23: Arts Nova, Philadelphia, PA
June 28:
Victoria Jazz Festival - Victoria, BC
June 29: Vancouver Jazz Festival - Vancouver, BC
July 2: Montreal Jazz Festival - Montreal, QC
July 7: Festival du Jazz, St Moritz, Switzerland
July 8: North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, NL
July 10, Perugia Jazz Festival, Perugia, Italy
March 7-10, 2024: SFJazz Resident Artistic Director
