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The harp wouldn’t seem to be an instrument associated with jazz. But as it turns out, there has been a significant number of jazz harp virtuosos over the last century. Two of the pioneers in the field were Dorothy Ashby (1930-1986) and Casper Reardon (1907-1941).
They were followed by Ruth Berman-Harris (1916-2013), Pearl Chertok (1918-1981), Dorothy Ashby (1932-1986), Corky Hale (1936- ), Deborah Henson-Conant (1953- ) and Alice Coltrane (1937-2007), probably the best known jazz harpist of all — and the widow of jazz icon John Coltrane.
Two of the leading names in the contemporary jazz harp field, Brandee Younger (April 4) and Edmar Castañeda (May 9) are appearing on the SCP Jazz series this season. In an interview published on grammy.com, Castañeda, a native of Colombia, discussed how he has drawn on his roots in Latin folkloric genres for his explorations with jazz.
The following is an excerpt from that interview:
Did you play as a child?
Edmar: I started when I was 13, in Colombia. Then I came to the United States when I was 16.
How did you get exposed to the harp?
Edmar: The harp is a traditional instrument from my country. In one part of Colombia, the way we play the harp is very [much] folk music. When I was 7 years old, that’s when I met a harpist for the first time. I fell in love with this instrument.
And then, when I was 16, I came to this country, to New York. I [got into] jazz for the first time. I just fell in love with that music.
The harp is generally considered a classical-music instrument.
Edmar: Yeah, it’s one of the oldest instruments on Earth. All the instruments come from the harp. The piano comes from the harp. It was a very popular instrument a long time ago.
When did you realize jazz and the harp could intersect? Were you into people like Dorothy Ashby?
Edmar: Yeah, I think Dorothy’s the only one who really plays jazz. Alice Coltrane was mostly a pianist and singer, right? For her, it was more experimental music with jazz. But the harp is not a lead instrument like it was with Dorothy.
How did you make that connection?
Edmar: I started with folk music. Then I met jazz with the trumpet — I used to play the trumpet. In high school, they put me on the trumpet — no harp for anything. That’s when I learned about Duke Ellington, Miles Davis — all these crazy, amazing [jazz] musicians. I started getting inspired by that and tried to imitate it a little bit on the harp.
Where do Colombian folk and Colombian jazz meet?
Edmar: For me, I never heard jazz in Colombia. There’s great Colombian jazz, too, but when I was there, I was more into folk music.
How did your recording career start?
Edmar: My first album was maybe 15 or 20 years ago. It was different concepts with [clarinetist] Paquito D’Rivera, [drummer] Ari Hoenig and [flugelhornist] Mike Rodriguez. And then I did this same group with a trombone — Marshall Gilkes. Then I did a duo album with Gonzalo Rubalcaba. He’s one of the top piano players from Cuba.
Then I did the World Ensemble, which was a nine-piece band, live at the Jazz Standard. Then I did a live album with Hiromi, a Japanese pianist, [called] “Live in Montreal.” Then, a duo with [harmonica player] Grégoire Maret. Then we came to this “Family” album.
Released in 2021, “Family” mixes originals like “Song for Jaco [Pastorius]” and “Acts,” with “My Favorite Things” and “Cancion Con Todos,” a Latin American standard. Castañeda recorded the album with his wife and two children and will feature tracks from the disc in his SCP Jazz concert.
