Review: Kamasi Washington- The Epic

I had never heard of Kamasi Washington before I took a look at this album, but due to his appearance on To Pimp a Butterfly, the appearances by bass legend Thundercat, and the fact that this is in fact a three hour jazz fusion record, I was pretty drawn to it. Kamasi Washington handled saxophone here, and as a saxophone player myself (I've played since I was eight), I can really appreciate his skill. His playing can be extremely melodic, but in his faster runs, he pulls everything off so cleanly. When he's trying to screech and be noisey, he reaches harmonics I can only dream of (the embouchure and breath control required to reach some of the pitches heard on this album is staggering).

So, Kamasi Washington is a master saxophonist, but the members of his band prove that they're not about to be one upped. Every member has their own improvisational spotlight, and they use those opportunities to the utmost degree. The rhythm section on this album is what I found the best. The drumming and interplay it gets with the bass is superb, and the fact that all the players so easily follow these complex rhythm and time changes is impressive. It's clear that so much effort went into the arrangement of these songs, and even though I feel like a lot of the album is improvisational, there's a lot of evidence of just painstaking amounts of care and rehearsal. It's a loose jammy album, but with a rigid backbone, which gives it a duality that displays the skill of its musicians two fold.

 This album definitely lives up to its name. It is easily one of the most epic things in jazz I have ever heard. This is up there with some of Miles Davis' best fusion pieces and Kamasi Washington is next in line for John Coltrane status. This album is practically perfect, and I find it hard to talk about, because it is just so amazing, and it needs to be heard. If you're at all a fan of jazz or jazz fusion, missing this album would be a mistake. This will definitely be a contender for my album of the year. 

Out of a total of five stars, I give this:

Check back in later for my views on the new Jamie xx and the new Sun Kil Moon record, Universal Themes. I might also get around to looking at Surf as well.

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Review: My Morning Jacket- The Waterfall

So, it's been a while. I really have been trying to form an opinion on this album for a while now, and I've been having a little bit of difficulty. My Morning Jacket has been a favorite group of mine for a good while, and as such, I probably had some pretty high expectations. I remember being a little disappointed with Circuital when it first dropped, but with repeated listens, it eventually made sense to me. I feel like My Morning Jacket for me is a group with projects that don't immediately grab me, but grow to be very big over time, which is why I won't be rating this. I'll feel weird about giving a rating when I am still kind of wrestling with it.

My Morning Jacket's sound has always been pretty spacey, and that is no different here. Jim James' vocals are soaked in reverb, which gives them a very heavenly and calming feel. Calming is probably a word that would describe this album pretty well to me. Though it has some propulsive drum grooves ('In Its Infancy (The Waterfall)'), some synthy sections and lyrical content that is a little darker than the normal MMJ fare, there isn't really a hard guitar breakdown in the tracklist here. I do enjoy some of the mellower moments here ('Get The Point'), as they kind of throw back to the Tenessee Fire era of the band, but I feel like with that hard track there, a bit of their sound is missing. I think they're trying to distance themselves from the eclecticism of Evil Urges, which apparently did not sit well with fans and critics, but is actually my favorite album by them. All I'm saying is I wouldn't mind a 'Highly Suspicious' in there somewhere.

I do feel like the mellow sound keeps the record pretty consistent, and there's a alot of trance like grooves to get lost in here. I don't think I've ever heard the rhythm section provide tighter and more catchy grooves. These tracks will probably be a hit when stretched out for live performances (seeing them in June, so I'm hoping). I splurged for the deluxe version of the album, which had some pretty decent bonus tracks (I actually really enjoyed the track 'Hillside Song'. A little out of the MMJ wheelhouse, but it was a nice little singer songwriter number).

All in all, I feel like this added some new hits to the My Morning Jacket live repertoire, and is probably one of there most consistent and focused in recent years. I do kind of miss some of the experimentation found on some of their releases from the mid to late 2000s, but I have feeling that this project might grow on me like Circuital did. Looking forward to see what the band does with these tunes live.

Check back in soon when I take a look at The Epic, the aptly titled 3 disc jazz record by Kamasi Washington. I'll also take a look at the new Jamie xx project, In Colour.

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I Saw of Montreal!

A few nights ago, I went to my first of Montreal show, and it was pretty amazing. I've seen video of performances, but it's quite something else to really experience. Icky Blossoms opened the show, and though I had never really heard of them, I thought they did a great job. They were kind of a synthy danceable indie act, and whoever they got to be their touring rhythm section (they're a three piece with no dedicated bass or drums) were great, especially the bass player. His low end really shook the place, and the effects he put on the bass were really interesting.

of Montreal opened with a small narration before quickly diving into 'Bassem Sabry' of the new album, Aureate Gloom. It sounded great live. They played right on through to 'Suffer for Fashion', and did a pretty good amount of tunes without letting up. Very high energy and the crowd was dancing to every second. The thing that was really interesting to me during the performance was the lighting effects. They had a projector running visuals, but then crew members would come on stage with large white discs and other shapes for the projectionist to screen images onto. The highlight of this was when Kevin Barnes was surrounded by screens and given wings with some really psychedelic patterns. Near the middle of the show, the band slowed the pace a bit with a country cover, along with 'Obsidian Currents'. Then, the energy was right back up to the ceiling.

After another small narration and surfing  through the crowd, Kevin Barnes led the band through a multi-song encore including high intensity versions of 'Gronlandic Edit', 'She's a Rejecter', 'Heimdalsgate like a Promethean Curse' and 'The Past is a Grotesque Animal'. 'Gronlandic Edit' in particular was amazing with all the vocal harmonies working so well, and the masked dancers were insane. The guitarists antics on 'Rejecter' were pretty impressive, where he jumped into a dancer's arms and kept playing without missing a beat.

On the way out, I stopped by the merch table, where I got a copy of the bassist Bob Parin's solo album (he was on fire that night) and a vinyl copy of Hissing Fauna. Icky Blossoms were also there selling their merch, and then (gasp) David Barnes just waltzes on through. I was super star struck. I probably sound like such a creeper, but it was awesome.

All in all, a great concert experience. Getting that close to the action was awesome, and I don't think I've ever been to show where you could get so close to the band. It was incredible.

Check in later for my opinion on The Waterfall, the newest effort by My Morning Jacket, who I'll also be seeing soon. That should be fun.


"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."