Kamasi Washington - The Epic

Kamasi Washington's debut as a jazz bandleader!

Kamasi Washington, a member of the studio band that composed To Pimp a Butterfly, has released a triple-album set that functions as an extravagant love letter to (among other things): soul jazz, John Coltrane (various periods), and 1970s fusion leaders such as Miles Davis and Weather Report. It's a large and generous canvas, with the feel of a generational intervention.

As a member of the studio wrecking crew that brought Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly into being, this saxophonist-composer is unusually well poised to secure the attention of listeners who have previously been uninterested in jazz. (This past spring's celebration of all-things-TPAB was sufficiently strong that Billboard even published a well-reported piece that detailed exactly how Lamar's album came to feature so many jazz figures, including Washington.)

The second truth is that jazz could use a few more people with Washington's cachet in the wider world-touring with Snoop Dogg, or putting out albums on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder imprint. Admitting this is not tantamount to saying that jazz is in some unhealthy creative state (it isn't), but rather that the music currently faces an uphill struggle in the marketplace (as it often has).

 

Volume 1 – The Plan

Change of the Guard

Isabelle

Final Thought

The Next Step

Askim

Volume 2 – The Glorious Tale

The Rhythm Changes

Leroy and Lanisha

Re Run

Miss Understanding

Henrietta Our Hero

Seven Prayers

Cherokee

Volume 3 – The Historic Repetition

The Magnificent 7

Re Run Home

Malcolm's Theme

Clair de Lune

The Message

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