Articles

West Coast Get Down: Kamasi Washington, Cameron Graves, Throttle Elevator Music

by Russell Perry
October 27, 2020

In the past several years, a suite of players have emerged from Los Angeles, many of whom grew up together, loosely connected by the name West Coast Get Down. The most visible player in this scene is Kamasi Washington from a jazz perspective, but Stephen “Thundercat" Bruner and Miles Mosley have made significant records in a pop and R'n'B vein. Composer and pianist Cameron Graves anchors Washington's releases and has become known as a significant artist through his own release. ...

Highlights of the Final Decade of the First 100 Years of Recorded Jazz (2011 - 2018)

by Russell Perry
July 21, 2020

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 ...

Kamasi Washington at the NorVa

by Mark Robbins
March 16, 2020

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 ...

Kamasi Washington at Academic Community Hall of Hong Kong Baptist University

by Rob Garratt
September 11, 2019

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 ...

Nate Chinen on jazz criticism and the trouble with defining music

by Leo Sidran
May 15, 2019

Kamasi Washington at the Ogden Theatre

by Geoff Anderson
November 6, 2018

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 ...

Playing Changes by Nate Chinen

by Joe Dimino
October 29, 2018

This week we look at a great new book, “Playing Changes" by Nate Chinen. The show begins with a cut by Arthur Blythe, “Jitterbug Waltz" and moves right on into a more recent cut from Kamasi Washington off his CD The Epic. The program goes on highlighting artists featured in each chapter of this groundbreaking book on the continuing evolution of jazz music around the world. Also featured on the show is Brad Mehldau with a song ...