Gadabout Season＜Colored Vinyl＞

A gadabout is a carefree sensualist, an on-the-go pleasure-seeker constantly seeking out people and new experiences simply for joy. Gadabout Season is Brandee Youngers third date for Impulse, a label synonymous with her greatest influence, Alice Coltrane. It runs so deep and wide in Youngers creative spirit that she plays Coltranes newly restored harp here, leading a trio with Rahsaan Carter and drummer Allan Mednard. She also recruited prestigious guests including Makaya McCraven, Shabaka Hutchings, Joel Ross, Courtney Bryan, Niia, and Josh Johnson. Younger wrote the majority of the album in her cousins cabin in upstate New York, then recorded it in her Harlem apartment with Carter producing and engineering the set from a bedroom. The album opens with "Reckoning," an intensely beautiful fantasia for harp and pastoral electronics. Hutchings flute introduces "End Means," an Eastern-tinged folk melody offered in close dialogue with the trio as the flutist improvises before being joined by the harpist in a gorgeous modal solo. Hutchings also appears on the title cut playing clarinet alongside vibist Ross and McCraven on percussion. An intricate, utterly lovely piece, it joins rhythmic invention, classical harmony, and jazz motivics in seamless interplay. Hip-hop is at the center of "Breaking Point," introduced by Carters circular bass vamp before Younger and Mednard join in. They crisscross hard and post-bop atop slippery breaks and a funky backbeat. Youngers solo is inquiring, seeking overtones made with dissonant chords atop an electronic texture that becomes its own dimension. Through an interlude, "Reflection Eternal," Younger offers solace with her overdubbed instrument and ambience. The sets finest moment occurs on "Surrender," written for and featuring pianist and MacArthur Fellow Courtney Bryan. There are traces of sacred music reflected in the intricate dialogue between harp and piano with Carter as bridge. Both women have strong backgrounds in the church, and this tune feels like a prayer after an altar call. It is the most resonant composition here. "Unspent Corners" features a wonderful guest spot from pianist/vocalist Niia (Bertino). Her wordless singing acts as a chorale and her piano dialogues with Younger as Mednard and Carter carry the bottom. Its tender, intricately melodic, and almost crystalline. Josh Johnsons saxophone and intricately layered production allows for overdubbing and spatial creation from Carter. As Younger erects a tonal, then harmonic base, he signals the saxophonist to enter and Johnson does, with restraint, carefully conversing with the harpist as Mednard subtly yet kinetically marks the flow. At one point, Carter overdubs saxophones, infusing them with reverb and echo appended by a dubwise snare. Though a ballad, it is the most labyrinthine and mysterious track on Gadabout Season. This album, with its delicate yet indelible Afro-Futurism, melds Eastern and Western harmonic, compositional, and improvisational nuances. As a whole, it extends not only Youngers musical reach, but also readily reflects the influence of her mentors in this, a music that could only be born in the 21st century, and as such, its a gamechanger. ~ Thom Jurek

NYを拠点とするジャズ・ハープ奏者が、インパルスでの3作目を発表。アリス・コルトレーンが遺したハープと馴染みのリズム隊という基礎編成に、シャバカやマカヤ・マクレイヴンらもゲスト参加。優美でいて力強いハープの響きは、ヒップホップ世代らしいビート感と自己探求的な奥行きを湛えている。神聖な美学と共に、ジャズの伝統と革新を表現したような銘品だ。
bounce (C)鬼頭隆生

アリス・コルトレーンらハープ界の先人達の継承と革新的な解釈で、独自の作曲スタイルを確立し、ジャズ～クラシック～R&B～ヒップホップを昇華した"ヒップホップ世代のハープ奏者"ことハイブリッド才媛:ブランディー・ヤンガーの2025年作となる3RD。ラヴィ・コルトレーンやロバート・グラスパー、コモンらとのジャンル不問のスリリングな共演歴を経た彼女のソウルフルでスピリチュアル、高揚感溢れるファンクなグルーヴは脈々と続くブラックミュージックの今と密接にコミット。本作は、シャバカ、コートニー・ブライアン、ナイア、ジョシュ・ジョンソンら盟友である先鋭達がズラリ参加の傑作。ええやんええやん。
intoxicate (C)黒田"ハイプ"朋規