Music Review: The Epic

5/5 stars

Kamasi Washington could not have picked a more fitting title for his latest album. At almost three hours long, The Epic is a three part jazz journey complete with orchestral buildups, suspenseful grooves and waxing solos. Even the cover art features Washington staring down from the heavens, sax in hand, questioning those who would dare challenge him. In his face is a reverence for jazz as an art form. Throughout The Epic, Kamasi Washington honors the old jazz legends while heralding in the new masters.

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Originally from Los Angeles, Kamasi Washington is a saxophonist, composer and bandleader who has been active since 2004, when he released his first album as part of the Young Jazz Giants. Since then he has built up a reputation in his efforts to bring jazz into the present. He has toured with numerous hip hop artists, including Snoop Dogg, and was heavily featured on Flying Lotus’ You’re Dead and Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. The Epic was released on Brainfeeder, a label founded by electronic artist Flying Lotus that usually focuses on electronic music and instrumental hip hop.

Despite Washington’s ties to more currently popular musical forms, in no way do the members of his ten-piece band tone down their playing to make it more accessible. Each solo is complex and building in a way that honors jazz music. Although Washington is very clearly heavily influenced by John Coltrane, he has interesting parts in his solos where he slows down and seems to be choosing notes very deliberately.

Despite showing reverence for old forms, The Epic is still very much in the present. Very rarely do the drums swing, and when they do, the hits are very pronounced and exaggerated. Also, Washington makes heavy use of a string orchestra and vocal choir. While these aspects are unconventional for a jazz album, they are incorporated seamlessly while naturally building to the ends of solos. In addition, the chords are rarely fully voiced, allowing for the piano, keyboard and basses to add more freely to the groove.

The entirety of the album is nuanced, driving, and mind bending, but it also has its standout moments. “The Changing of the Guard” introduces the band and its style. “Isabelle,” coming later in the first disc, is a much prettier, down tempo ballad. The second and third discs are a little more accessible than the first, especially as they include “The Magnificent 7” and “Rerun Home” which both feature catchy yet driving, epic grooves that provide excellent templates for the soloists to express over. Not to be overlooked either is “Miss Understanding,” which is probably the most straight jazz track on the album and includes Washington and his band riding over fast swing. Lastly, “Cherokee” is the perfect summer song, consistently oozing good vibes as Patrice Quinn sings the classic head over the band’s bright, easygoing funk.