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Kamasi Washington review – hip-hop and P-funk inform an outrageously joyful set
In a dazzling performance, the jazz saxophonist draws out tracks from his latest album into giddy extemporisations, ceding the floor to a series of awesome soloists
When his father, Rickey, takes the lead on Asha the First, pulling dizzying flurries of notes from his soprano sax over a hook first picked out on a piano at home by his four-year-old granddaughter, Washington sits centre stage, nodding insistently. It’s a similar scene as trombonist Ryan Porter plays a liquid solo on Together, while amid Road to Self (KO), Washington breaks into laughter at the absurd skill powering Brandon Coleman’s keyboard expedition, which sutures G-funk style on to proggy fusion phrasing. During Lesanu he arrives at something dazzling by responding to almost imperceptible tempo shifts plotted by drummer Tony Austin and bassist Joshua Crumbly, the trio eventually clicking in a manner that recalls a rapper finding a cadence that makes a beat feel whole.
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