New music that is really NEW. Jazz is not dead. It is alive and well. Live musicianship and song writing is alive and well. Los Angeles has so many hidden local music treasures. Though you’ve seen and heard them play with other groups in other genres all around the world, musicians such as Kamasi Washington and Terrace Martin (saxophonist and producer of Kendrick Lamar’s celebrated album, To Pimp a Butterfly) are among them. The legacy of West Coast jazz and Gerald Wilson’s arranging legacy is in tact and going full steam ahead. The beauty of the city and depth of young musicians runs all through Washington’s debut three album project.
THREE!?!?! WHO DOES THAT!??!
Greatness does that. Masterfully put together, each song going one into the other. There is NO skipping around here. It’s like being at a live jazz show but it is in your stereo or headphones. CHOPS CHOPS CHOPS to spare here. Do yourself a favor and get this….ASAP.
Birgitta Johnson, Ph.D. (@DrBirgittaSays) is the Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and African American Studies at University of South Carolina.
Tags: Jazz, kamasi washington, the epic, west coast LA
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