Kamasi Washington – The Epic (180g Vinyl 3LP)

The Epic is a brazen new release from young Los Angeles jazz giant, composer, and bandleader Kamasi Washington. It’s 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 who has featured Washington on his albums Cosmogramma and You’re Dead!

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.

LP1
1. Change Of The Guard
2. Isabelle
3. Final Thought
4. The Next Step
5. Askim

LP2
1. The Rhythm Changes
2. Leroy And Lanisha
3. Re Run
4. Miss Understanding
5. Henrietta Our Hero
6. Seven Prayers
7. Cherokee

LP3
1. The Magnificent 7
2. Re Run Home
3. Malcolm’s Theme
4. Clair De Lune
5. The Message