Kamasi Washington has been brewing a new concoction, a
jazz gumbo with uplifting female and male vocalists, sometimes a Lalo
Schifrin soundtrack dramatic flair, or a rousing choir, wild solos, deep
and funky grooves, futuristic add-ons, and all led by the powerhouse
saxophonist Kamasi at the whirlwind helm, like a grand chef, or the
conductor of a high-energy band and high-speed locomotive all at once.
His second and most recent album “Heaven and Earth” (2018) with an
attached EP “The Choice” (2018) along with his EP “Harmony of
Difference” (2017) strive hard to match, and they do come close enough
to his best-known recording to date, his double-album debut masterwork,
“The Epic” (2015).
Funkadelic is not a group that comes to mind when listening to “The
Epic” but seeing Kamasi live over the past year and listening to the
more recent recordings, Funkadelic is an honourable nod after all with
its outrageous psychedelic rock and funk assault for a party on fire,
and which Kamasi also reignites.
It is this magic spark, this eternal flame that artists come around
to only when they are at the height of their game, whether consciously
or not, but it is not an arena for just any musician by pedigree alone.
And in jazz, this cosmic plateau of sound seems harder to reach with
each passing generation, but it can and is reached nonetheless, mostly
when least expected, and this is what Kamasi achieves with aplomb.
Kamasi wants to be heard and in live performances this can even
approach an unbearable volume, at least when it is a performance
indoors, as if he is competing with My Bloody Valentine for the loudest
live band of all time, but he doesn’t need to go this route to have his
message heard so loud and clear. Similarly to his friend Flying Lotus,
pushing jazz into new terrain in such leaps and bounds is enough.
Some websites and critics are now calling Kamasi the Jazz King, king
of a nation without borders and easily a nation of millions if the fans
are all included. Hopefully, Kamasi would simply laugh out at such a
suggestion, but he does carry himself with a majestic aura, and he
cloaks himself in colourful robes with African designs; as well, and at
his best musically, the forces of nature are also heard in his whirlwind
of masterful musical interplay, powerful forces seem to be conjured and
unleashed as jazz.
There is a glorious triumph in Kamasi’s newest recordings, and
especially sung so lucidly by Patrice Quinn on the track, “The Journey”
in its chorus: “Life and love, and peace in my heart / Hallelujah, joy
springs / And every day, a brand new start / Hallelujah, joy springs.”
Say it Loud Kamasi, after all.
Kamasi Washington is on tour in Europe in June & July 2019
June 1, Saturday – https://www.heartlandfestival.dk/english" rel="nofollow - Heartland Festival, Kværndrup , Denmark
June 2, Sunday – Berns, Stockholm, Sweden
June 3, Monday – Sentrum Scene, Grünerløkka, Norway July 3, Wednesday- The House of Teachers, Vilnius, Lithuania
July 7, Sunday – http://www.palacakropolis.cz/work/33298?event_id=28410&no=62&page_id=33824" rel="nofollow - Palac Akropolis, Prague , Czech Republic
Senior writer: Tony Ozuna
from jazzineurope.mfmmedia.nl
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