Kamasi Washington
On Brainfeeder
BIOGRAPHY
The story begins with a man on high. He is an old man, a warrior, and the guardian to the gates of a city. Two miles below his mountainous perch, he observes a dojo, where a group of young men train night and day. Eventually, the old man expects a challenger to emerge. He hopes for the day of his destruction, for this is the cycle of life.Finally the doors fly open and three young men burst forth to challenge the old master. The first man is quick, but no...
The story begins with a man on high. He is an old man, a warrior, and the guardian to the gates of a city. Two miles below his mountainous perch, he observes a dojo, where a group of young men train night and day. Eventually, the old man expects a challenger to emerge. He hopes for the day of his destruction, for this is the cycle of life.
Finally the doors fly open and three young men burst forth to challenge the old master. The first man is quick, but not strong enough. The second is quick, and strong, but not wise enough. The third stands tall, and overtakes the master. The Changing of the Guard has at long last been achieved.
But then the old man wakes up. He looks down at the dojo and realizes he’s been daydreaming. The dojo below exists, but everyone in training is yet a child. By the time they grow old enough to challenge the old man, he has disappeared.
This is, in essence, both a true story and a carefully constructed musical daydream, one that will further unfold in May of 2015, in a brazen release from young Los Angeles jazz giant, composer, and bandleader Kamasi Washington. The Epic is unlike anything jazz has seen, and not just because it emanates from the boundary-defying Brainfeeder, which isn’t so much a label in the traditional sense as it is an unfurling experiment conducted by the underground producer Flying Lotus.
The Epic is a 172-minute, three-volume set that includes a 32-piece orchestra, a 20-person choir, and 17 songs overlaid with a compositional score written by Washington. Pulsing underneath is an otherworldly ten-piece band, each member of which is individually regarded as among the best young musicians on the planet – including bassist Thundercat and his brother, drummer Ronald Bruner Jr., bassist (yes, there are two) Miles Mosley, drummer Tony Austin (of course there are two), keyboard player Brandon Coleman, pianist Cameron Graves, and trombonist Ryan Porter. Patrice Quinn’s ethereal vocals round out the ensemble.
The band are all from Los Angeles, mostly South Central, and its members – who call themselves variously “The Next Step” and the “The West Coast Get Down” – have been congregating since they were barely teenagers in a backyard shack in Inglewood. Washington, 32, has known Bruner since he was two. The rest met, at various stages, by the time they were in high school. The hours they have put into the music, playing together and practicing alone, total cumulatively in the tens of thousands.
"Nothing compares to these guys," says Barbara Sealy, the former West Coast director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, who has championed Kamasi and his compatriots from the beginning. “I challenge any group to go out on stage with them and see if they can keep up with it... Kamasi is at the top of his game, and only getting better.” “These young guys,” the rapper Common says, “remind me of why I love music.”
And the story The Epic tells, without words but rather through some combination of magic, mastery, and sheer force of imagination, is the story of Kamasi Washington and the Next Step and their collective mission: to remove jazz from the shelf of relics and make it new, unexpected, and dangerous again. They seek to both honour and alter tradition: as The Epic’s opening track announces, they are the “Changing of the Guard”. The sound can be felt like flames, sometimes waving in the coziness of a fireplace, in other moments sweeping everything around like a backdraft. But Kamasi is always in control of the burning.
“He just plays the craziest shit, man. I mean, everything — the past, present, the future,” Flying Lotus says, whose family lineage includes one of Washington’s direct musical forebears, John Coltrane. “It's hard to find unique voices in this music. Especially in jazz, more so lately, everybody is trying to do the same shit. I don't want to hear ‘My Favorite Things’ anymore… What I am hearing is a leader among artists.”
Forthcoming Events
October 2024 | ||
13th October 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Salle Pleyel Paris, France |
|
17th October 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Great Hall, Cardiff University Student Union Cardiff, UK |
|
28th October 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Palais des Beaux-Arts (Bozar) Brussels, Belgium |
|
29th October 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
X-TRA Zürich, Switzerland |
|
November 2024 | ||
4th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Klub Studio Krakow, Poland |
|
5th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Sono Centrum Brno, Czech Republic |
|
6th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Theaterfabrik Munich, Germany |
|
9th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
De Oosterpoort Groningen, Netherlands |
|
10th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Paradiso Grote Zaal Amsterdam, Netherlands |
|
16th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Moriska Paviljongen Malmö, Sweden |
|
17th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Den Norske Opera & Ballett Oslo, Norway |
|
February 2025 | ||
4th February 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Unknown venue Fort Lauderdale, US |
|
March 2025 | ||
12th March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Fållan Stockholm, Sweden |
|
17th March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Stage Theater des Westens Berlin, Germany |
|
19th March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Klub Stodoła Warsaw, Poland |
|
21st March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Theaterfabrik Munich, Germany |
|
24th March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
La Riviera Madrid, Spain |
|
30th March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
X-TRA Zürich, Switzerland |
|
31st March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Les Docks Lausanne, Switzerland |
|
April 2025 | ||
1st April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Salle Pleyel Paris, France |
|
3rd April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Great Hall, Cardiff University Student Union Cardiff, UK |
|
4th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Albert Hall Manchester, UK |
|
5th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Glasshouse International Centre for Music Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK |
|
6th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Barrowland Glasgow, UK |
|
8th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
3Olympia Theatre Dublin, Ireland |
|
11th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Project House Leeds, UK |
|
13th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
O2 Academy Brixton London, UK |
|
14th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Brighton Corn Exchange Brighton, UK |
|
17th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Carlswerk Victoria Cologne, Germany |
|
19th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Batschkapp Frankfurt, Germany |
|
22nd April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Alcatraz Milan, Italy |
|
24th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Estragon Bologna, Italy |
|
26th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
SPOT / De Oosterpoort Groningen, Netherlands |
|
27th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, Netherlands |
Kamasi Washington
On Brainfeeder
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Latest News
BIOGRAPHY
The story begins with a man on high. He is an old man, a warrior, and the guardian to the gates of a city. Two miles below his mountainous perch, he observes a dojo, where a group of young men train night and day. Eventually, the old man expects a challenger to emerge. He hopes for the day of his destruction, for this is the cycle of life.Finally the doors fly open and three young men burst forth to challenge the old master. The first man is quick, but not strong enough. The...
The story begins with a man on high. He is an old man, a warrior, and the guardian to the gates of a city. Two miles below his mountainous perch, he observes a dojo, where a group of young men train night and day. Eventually, the old man expects a challenger to emerge. He hopes for the day of his destruction, for this is the cycle of life.
Finally the doors fly open and three young men burst forth to challenge the old master. The first man is quick, but not strong enough. The second is quick, and strong, but not wise enough. The third stands tall, and overtakes the master. The Changing of the Guard has at long last been achieved.
But then the old man wakes up. He looks down at the dojo and realizes he’s been daydreaming. The dojo below exists, but everyone in training is yet a child. By the time they grow old enough to challenge the old man, he has disappeared.
This is, in essence, both a true story and a carefully constructed musical daydream, one that will further unfold in May of 2015, in a brazen release from young Los Angeles jazz giant, composer, and bandleader Kamasi Washington. The Epic is unlike anything jazz has seen, and not just because it emanates from the boundary-defying Brainfeeder, which isn’t so much a label in the traditional sense as it is an unfurling experiment conducted by the underground producer Flying Lotus.
The Epic is a 172-minute, three-volume set that includes a 32-piece orchestra, a 20-person choir, and 17 songs overlaid with a compositional score written by Washington. Pulsing underneath is an otherworldly ten-piece band, each member of which is individually regarded as among the best young musicians on the planet – including bassist Thundercat and his brother, drummer Ronald Bruner Jr., bassist (yes, there are two) Miles Mosley, drummer Tony Austin (of course there are two), keyboard player Brandon Coleman, pianist Cameron Graves, and trombonist Ryan Porter. Patrice Quinn’s ethereal vocals round out the ensemble.
The band are all from Los Angeles, mostly South Central, and its members – who call themselves variously “The Next Step” and the “The West Coast Get Down” – have been congregating since they were barely teenagers in a backyard shack in Inglewood. Washington, 32, has known Bruner since he was two. The rest met, at various stages, by the time they were in high school. The hours they have put into the music, playing together and practicing alone, total cumulatively in the tens of thousands.
"Nothing compares to these guys," says Barbara Sealy, the former West Coast director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, who has championed Kamasi and his compatriots from the beginning. “I challenge any group to go out on stage with them and see if they can keep up with it... Kamasi is at the top of his game, and only getting better.” “These young guys,” the rapper Common says, “remind me of why I love music.”
And the story The Epic tells, without words but rather through some combination of magic, mastery, and sheer force of imagination, is the story of Kamasi Washington and the Next Step and their collective mission: to remove jazz from the shelf of relics and make it new, unexpected, and dangerous again. They seek to both honour and alter tradition: as The Epic’s opening track announces, they are the “Changing of the Guard”. The sound can be felt like flames, sometimes waving in the coziness of a fireplace, in other moments sweeping everything around like a backdraft. But Kamasi is always in control of the burning.
“He just plays the craziest shit, man. I mean, everything — the past, present, the future,” Flying Lotus says, whose family lineage includes one of Washington’s direct musical forebears, John Coltrane. “It's hard to find unique voices in this music. Especially in jazz, more so lately, everybody is trying to do the same shit. I don't want to hear ‘My Favorite Things’ anymore… What I am hearing is a leader among artists.”
Forthcoming Events
October 2024 | ||
13th October 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Salle Pleyel Paris, France |
|
17th October 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Great Hall, Cardiff University Student Union Cardiff, UK |
|
28th October 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Palais des Beaux-Arts (Bozar) Brussels, Belgium |
|
29th October 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
X-TRA Zürich, Switzerland |
|
November 2024 | ||
4th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Klub Studio Krakow, Poland |
|
5th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Sono Centrum Brno, Czech Republic |
|
6th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Theaterfabrik Munich, Germany |
|
9th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
De Oosterpoort Groningen, Netherlands |
|
10th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Paradiso Grote Zaal Amsterdam, Netherlands |
|
16th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Moriska Paviljongen Malmö, Sweden |
|
17th November 2024 |
Kamasi Washington
Den Norske Opera & Ballett Oslo, Norway |
|
February 2025 | ||
4th February 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Unknown venue Fort Lauderdale, US |
|
March 2025 | ||
12th March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Fållan Stockholm, Sweden |
|
17th March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Stage Theater des Westens Berlin, Germany |
|
19th March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Klub Stodoła Warsaw, Poland |
|
21st March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Theaterfabrik Munich, Germany |
|
24th March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
La Riviera Madrid, Spain |
|
30th March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
X-TRA Zürich, Switzerland |
|
31st March 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Les Docks Lausanne, Switzerland |
|
April 2025 | ||
1st April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Salle Pleyel Paris, France |
|
3rd April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Great Hall, Cardiff University Student Union Cardiff, UK |
|
4th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Albert Hall Manchester, UK |
|
5th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Glasshouse International Centre for Music Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK |
|
6th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Barrowland Glasgow, UK |
|
8th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
3Olympia Theatre Dublin, Ireland |
|
11th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Project House Leeds, UK |
|
13th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
O2 Academy Brixton London, UK |
|
14th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Brighton Corn Exchange Brighton, UK |
|
17th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Carlswerk Victoria Cologne, Germany |
|
19th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Batschkapp Frankfurt, Germany |
|
22nd April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Alcatraz Milan, Italy |
|
24th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
Estragon Bologna, Italy |
|
26th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
SPOT / De Oosterpoort Groningen, Netherlands |
|
27th April 2025 |
Kamasi Washington
TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, Netherlands |