Making the most out of what has truly been an extremely difficult year for musicians (and just about everyone), New York bassist Dezron Douglas and harpist Brandee Younger have released a brilliant and uplifting album, titled Force Majeure on Chicgao’s International Anthem label, featuring recordings from their weekly live-stream sessions “Force Majeure: Brunch in the Crib with Brandee & Dezron”.

Recorded in their Harlem apartment, using a single microphone, this fifteen-track album features many of the highlights from the couple’s Friday morning show, which continued to gain more and more national attention with each broadcast. The two started off playing standards, or compositions the duo wanted to dive deeper into, however as time went on, they began to take requests from viewers, friends, and family, as well as incorporating music that fit the moment or connected with major developments in the world, like this summer’s social unrest and uprising in response to the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless other Black Americans. For instance, on this recording they dedicate their version of John Coltrane’s “Wise One,” to Arbery, stating that “pure evil” took this person’s life.

Other highlight’s include incredible renditions of Pharoah Sanders’ “The Creator Has A Master Plan”, Alice Coltrane’s “Gospel Trane”, “Never Can Say Goodbye” made popular by The Jackson 5, Gloria Gaynor and others, Kate Bush’s “This Women’s Work”, The Stylistics “You Make Me Feel Brand New”, John Coltrane’s “Equinox”, as well as their original composition “Toilet Paper Romance,” which they ended ever set with.

One of the best parts about this album is how raw it is, featuring excerpts of the two talking to the viewers/listeners, like Younger stating “that makes me happy” after performing the standard “Sing”, and Douglas opening the record with “If you haven’t lost your mind yet, that’s great … if you have lost your mind, that’s okay too. But you know what’s always great, coffee.”

Overall, this is a great album that specifically speaks to the hardship, heartbreak, and challenges that we’ve all had to deal with over the past year, and provides soulful comfort and healing through music that’s intimate, spiritual, and most importantly, real.

Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger — ‘Force Majeure’
(International Anthem)

1. Coffee (intro)
2. Gospel Trane
3. Equinox
4. The Creator Has A Master Plan
5. Sing
6. You Make Me Feel Brand New
7. We’ll Be Right Black
8. Never Can Say Goodbye
9. This Woman’s Work
10. Nothing Stupid
11. Inshallah
12. Wise One
13. Force Majeure
14. Toilet Paper Romance
15. Flatten The Curve (outro)

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• Jazz
• New Releases
• Spiritual Jazz