Kamasi Washington - The Epic

Hot damn they do.

Fucking love that first album. Will pedal home via HMV on the off chance they have it.

That track is awesome.

for folks who are interested in retro '70s-style prog-jazz from this year I recommend Escondido Sessions by the Brian Ellis Group: http://open.spotify.com/album/4bd3e1VbBFLGkPFOtLbiDk

re cover art :
was an eyebrow raising moment when i found out that the picture is kamasi standing in front of a graffiti/wall mural.
i thought the art had been done specifically for the release.
(or was it ?)

Yeah, good call on the Ambrose Akinmusire.

― o. nate, Wednesday, October 7, 2015 9:29 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

cool! glad you like ambrose.

also appreciated 誤訳侮辱's thoughts on him upthread

Davu Seru is well worth checking out everything he does in interesting tho he's def improv/free/spiritual hat

http://www.davuseru.com/

well if you guys like that Sons of Kemet thing then you might like this (cool video though):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KsxTgYdQNM

was an eyebrow raising moment when i found out that the picture is kamasi standing in front of a graffiti/wall mural.
whaaaat that's crazy (cool)

shadow photoshopped out or something I assume

spiritual hat too

This was cool but not really worth three hours of my life. Good playing, ehh compositions, the choir needed to go away. I feel let down.

Holy shit the new Sons of Kemet is great.

Just saw them in Istanbul! Good show

I am enjoying this album; it is fantastic commuting music.

I wish the choir was mixed just a hair louder, and that a couple of the bigger voices in it blended a little more.

A twelve minute song from this album appeared in the middle of my Spotify discovery playlist. It was good, but didn't particularly fit in there.

I am enjoying this album; it is fantastic commuting music.

Yeah, I've been listening to this more lately (mostly because of this thread), and it's been growing on me -- and I've particularly enjoyed it while I'm out walking around. Still feels sort of exhausting, though.

I love it. The choirs are a great throwback and I think work very well. That said, it's hard to sit through for three hours or so, and instead pick a disc and listen to it by itself.

I wish the choir was mixed just a hair louder

Hah, I was thinking I wish they were further back in the mix, ghostlier.

The thing is, they often double a horn so they kind of blend in as it is; I want them a hair louder so the points where they do go off in another direction jump out at the listener more.

more in 'the jazz group + real producer' vibe, like that Dave Douglas group with Shigeto, but judging off one track this is more fun:
https://soundcloud.com/brainfeeder/kneebody-daedelus-drum-battle

New album by Matthew Halsall + Gondwana Orchestra is really nice - spiritual/Alice Coltrane/Dorothy Ashby/Theme de Yoyo vibes. Maybe a bit Gilles Peterson, depends on how allergic you are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syxfpcmhlUc

finally digging into this - pretty good if kinda generic spiritual hat. choir stuff reminds me mostly of A New Perspective. tbf I'm not all the way through it yet, maybe it'll hit some more peaks I just haven't gotten to yet. Playing is all uniformly good.

Superb UK debut tonight at the Barbican; just seven performers, until K's dad Ricky Washington joined in on flute for the last few songs.

He's cancelled Paris tomorrow (Sunday), so has just added an extra date at London Scala - http://scala.co.uk/events/kamasi-washington/ - highly recommended.

Video footage of last night's London show still streaming at https://boilerroom.tv/session/kamasi-washington-live-from-the-barbican-at-the-efg-london-jazz-festival/

...also some audio here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p034hxyg

okay, i'll quit posting this everywhere but: free NYC show this summer
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/19/kamasi-washington-jazz-summerstage/

feeling pretty lucky! I am going to see him play tonight at the new Blue Note that just opened in Waikiki :D

The last part of the sentence should be enough to make you feel that way.

True dat. Waikiki has been lacking decent places to hear music, so Blue Note opening is v welcome.

Oh, yeah that too. Lots of good things in the sentence.

Yee :)

Got damn does his band kill it live! Listening to The Epic a few times did not prepare me.

got tix to see him at the montreal Jazz Fest, super pumped

Got damn does his band kill it live! Listening to The Epic a few times did not prepare me.

― davey, Tuesday, March 15, 2016 5:14 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah honestly i hope they are recording some dates over this last year's touring, would love a live album

i have really been getting into this album lately

surprisingly i am finding the vocal stuff to be some of the most engaging work on here.. henrietta, the malcom x song, cherokee

and clair de lune is so gorgeous, what an amazing piece

yeah, it's the vocal tracks I tend to turn to most. I usually hate vocal jazz, but those are the highlights. The Rhythm Changes is also gorgeous.

saw him last night

amazing show. first jazz show i've seen not at a jazz bar and also first fusion jazz show i've ever been to

only thing i didn't like was two drummers... they did some cool stuff with it but it was overall just dumb. plus it was at a big venue so obviously they mic'd the kick so it sounded beefy and cheezy as hell

Anybody go to the Central Park show? I thought about it, but ultimately didn't.

Going to see him tomorrow!

new EP the harmony of difference

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-kamasi-washingtons-expansive-winding-truth-from-new-ep-w476357

new song "truth"

digging it

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-kamasi-washingtons-expansive-winding-truth-from-new-ep-w476357

oops

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtW1S5EbHgU

good stuff, guy't got style

guy's....

The Axelrod vibe that someone mentions upthread is very evident on Truth, I think. There's a Wrecking Crew feel to the playing; when the strings come in at about 9 min it could be a Glenn Campbell session.

new "EP" Harmony of Difference is out!
Sounds great so far

though it's funny this is an EP in today's bloated mindset, it's 6 songs including a 13+ minute epic and 31 minutes, that could easily be an old jazz LP

Truth is so brilliant and epic, definitely one of my favorite tracks of the year

yeah i really like this a lot and honestly with its brevity i could see throwing it on more often than the epic