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Jazz Articles about Kamasi Washington
Highlights of the Final Decade of the First 100 Years of Recorded Jazz (2011 - 2018)
by Russell Perry
This is the last of a series of five programs featuring jazz since 1990, presented as a single selection for each year to reflect trends, career highlights and new artists, at least as the narrative appears from the temporally-challenged context of the last 25 years. The idea to attempt such an abbreviated one-track--per-year survey comes from a terrific essay from critic Gary Giddins, “Postwar Jazz: An Arbitrary Roadmap (1945--2001)." As we approach the present our perspective gets more-and-more limited. In ...
Continue ReadingThrottle Elevator Music: Emergency Exit
by Karl Ackermann
The sub-genre of “punk jazz" has existed—on paper— since the 1970s when Patti Smith proposed a collaboration with Ornette Coleman. That partnership did not materialize. When all the moving pieces are pulled together there is little substance to suggest that the category ever shared specific practices or conventions. Then, in 2012, Throttle Elevator Music emerged with their self-titled debut (Wide Hive Records). The original group was a trio posing as a quintet. Drums and guitars were manned by Mike “Lumpy" ...
Continue ReadingThundercat: It Is What It Is
by John Bricker
If you're looking for some dreamy neo-soul and jazz fusion with a charming sense of humor, no one can satisfy you like Thundercat. Released on April 3, his fourth studio album, It Is What It Is, demonstrates his seemingly limitless confidence and charm as a singer, songwriter and bassist, delivering a solid crop of gorgeous and personal songs. After releasing two acclaimed solo albums and playing some incredible features for artists like Erykah Badu, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino, Stephen ...
Continue ReadingKamasi Washington at the NorVa
by Mark Robbins
Kamasi Washington credits his father, jazz saxophonist Ricky Washington, with his success in the music world. The two stood side by side on the stage of The NorVa in Norfolk, Va fronting the rest of Kamasi's band. Washington came to the forefront with the masterful 2015 album The Epic a combination of R&B, hip-hop, classical and jazz. His 2018 follow up, Heaven and Earth, made many “best of" lists cementing the tenor saxophonist's reputation as an important player on the ...
Continue ReadingKamasi Washington at Academic Community Hall of Hong Kong Baptist University
by Rob Garratt
Kamasi Washington Academic Community Hall of Hong Kong Baptist University Jazz World Live Series Hong Kong September 6, 2019 The anointed savior of 21st century jazz, Kamasi Washington is all about size, scale and scope. He writes big, brash, hummable themes, punctuates them with gutsy, garrulous, saxophone solos, and embraces weighty spiritual and sociological themes-- assembling huge groups playing for peace and unity. His big ideas are presented in unwieldy ...
Continue ReadingNate Chinen on jazz criticism and the trouble with defining music
by Leo Sidran
Kamasi Washington at the Ogden Theatre
by Geoff Anderson
Kamasi Washington Ogden Theatre Denver, CO October 26, 2018 Kamasi Washington is an ambitious guy. His first major label album was a 3-CD release running 173 minutes, The Epic (Brainfeeder, 2015). He followed that up with a mere 6-song release, but most recently came out with yet another 3-CD set Heaven and Earth (Young Turks, 2018). Obviously, he has a lot to say. It's not just the amount of music he releases that's ...
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