Two harpists have received praise from major publications for their latest albums.
Mary Lattimore’s album Silver Ladders made The New Yorker‘s “Best Music of 2020” list, coming in at number three. The list’s author Amanda Petrusich describes the album as “dissonant and surreal, apt and welcome company for a year that felt the same.” Petrusich gives a shout out for the album’s standout track, “Sometimes He’s in My Dreams.” Silver Ladders was produced by Slowdive’s Neil Halstead and was recorded over nine days at his studio. Released on Oct. 9, the album is available to stream online or purchase as an LP or CD. Read Harp Column’s interview with Lattimore in our July/August 2020 issue.
Brandee Younger’s soon-to-be-released album Force Majeure received praise in a recent review in The Guardian. Younger recorded the album with partner, bassist Dezron Douglas, from their New York home during the pandemic lockdown. The Guardian author John Lewis shares that “the harp and the double bass make great sonic partners: they reinforce each other through shared resonance, and Douglas’s serpentine, busy bass lines often sound like extensions of Younger’s harp.” Force Majeure features jazz standards from Pharaoh Sanders and the Coltranes, as well as several soul classics and original works. The album will be released on Dec. 4 through International Records. You can read Harp Column’s interview with Younger coming up in our January/February 2021 issue.
