Category: Best Music

His first album was “The Epic” which was what the title says. Kamasi Washington is one of the greatest new artists in jazz music and if you haven’t listened to his debut album there’s a new EP coming out this summer, with the first release called ‘Truth’.

(a review from Pitchfork)

A young boy splashes his face, streams of water seep through his little fingers. A younger woman looks up at an older woman, her eyes beaming in admiration. Two men wrestle in a field, their arms locked gently within a ring of flower petals. The video for Kamasi Washington’s new single, “Truth,” unfolds much like the saxophonist’s strain of big band jazz: warm, enveloping, and communal. There’s a bright intimacy from which Washington’s music derives, and it always seems to land exactly at the right time. His exceptional 2015 debut album, The Epic, arrived at the height of racial tensions in America; songs like “The Rhythm Changes,” “Malcolm’s Theme” and “The Message” sought to pacify our collective angst.

“Truth” hits the same chord, even if the external factors have changed. Against a backdrop of “fake news,” chemical warfare and presidential missteps, Washington’s 13-minute opus thrives with gospel-infused power, resting alongside his previous work while occupying new sonic space. “Truth” is the first song from the musician’s forthcoming EP, Harmony of Difference, which he debuted at the Whitney Biennial earlier this year. Dubbed a six-movement suite, “Truth” is the record’s centerpiece, fusing elements of its five previous tracks into one composition. Beginning with a pensive melody, the song swells into a tidal wave of choral moans, saxophone squeals and volcanic drum fills. Like much of Washington’s previous work, “Truth” is incredibly opulent in its maximalist approach. The huge scale makes his music feel like a sacred offering in bleak times.