If you were to create a list of sacred instruments, Alice Coltrane’s harp would be pretty near the top. That harp, the one she recorded her classic Impulse! recording sessions on, is now in the safe custodial hands of Brandee Younger. Just as there’s been a renewed appreciation of Coltrane’s music over the last decade so has Younger’s star risen as a new champion of this most “spiritual” of instruments.
On Brandee’s own third album for Impulse! she’s found her own harmony with Coltrane’s harp “It had to become my own,” she says. “This was not my first time playing the harp, but as this new music was unique to me, I had to become one with it at home.”
The album’s unusual title Gadabout Season is taken from a word that Younger and her trio drummer Allan Mednard and bassist ( and album producer) Rahsaan Carter took as an inspiration for a recent tour. A gadabout is a carefree pleasure-seeker who is always in motion, seeking out fun no matter the circumstances. That joyful spirit flows through to an album that feels like the work Younger has been waiting to record, a beautiful suite of uplifting tunes with an array of special guests including Makaya McCraven, Joel Ross and a flute playing Shabaka.
“The album reflects the journey — the search for meaning and beauty amid life’s most complex moments, ultimately emerging with a deeper sense of self,” says Younger. “Musically Gadabout Season is more creative and slightly more cerebral than my other works.”
Worthy nostalgia is a wonderful thing and it’s been great to see a resurgence in interest in Alice Coltrane’s back catalogue. But now her legacy genuinely lives on through not just inspiration but her actual harp being played by someone who feels like a genuine heir.
This is our album of the week until Friday 20th June 2025.