The American saxophonist's first monumental work. If you don't know the name KAMASI WASHINGTON, you have certainly heard his work with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Snoop Dogg, George Duke, Heavy D, Stanley Clark, Quantic or more recently with his friend Flying Lotus (on You're Dead) or Kendrick Lamar (on To Pimp A Butterfly).A 33-year-old composer and multi-instrumentalist, KAMASI WASHINGTON leads on The Epic - a debut album of nearly three hours, divided into three suites - a 32-piece orchestra and a 20-person choir. Accompanied by his long-standing band, The Next Step/The West Coast Get Down, composed of ten musicians from Los Angeles (including bassist Thundercat, trombonist Ryan Porter and pianist Cameron Graves...), WASHINGTON offers both a tribute to the jazz of his elders Coltrane, Coleman and Ayler and experiments to push its boundaries, mirroring what his label mates do with funk, hip-hop and electronic music. Flying Lotus, the Coltrane's great-nephew and chief experimentalist, was not mistaken, offering KAMASI WASHINGTON a luxurious platform for his jazz explorations. "It's hard to find new voices in jazz today," admits the Brainfeeder boss. "Many musicians play the same thing, I can't stand hearing pale copies of My Favorite Things anymore; what I hear on The Epic is the music of a great composer." "Kamasi Washington and his dectet are indeed the actors of contemporary jazz and a unique musical language." - FIP
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