Kamasi Washington is back with his second concept album of sweeping saxophones, and just like his first album is fraught with meaning and metaphor. The Earth side of the album represents the world how Washington sees it outwardly, and the Heaven side of the album represents how he sees the world inwardly, and somewhere in between is the artist’s struggle to reconcile these two points of view. We open with his version of Fists of Fury, a Bruce Lee movie theme that sounds like Sergio Leone crossed with Luke Cage. The whole album has a more orchestral feel replete with soaring chorus singers accompanying percussion and tinkling keyboards giving the whole album a big band feeling. Washington has again created a truly scintillating listen in crafting a jazz album with hints of blaxploitation and heaps of experimentation.
Originally published in Kirkby Extra, August 2018.
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Martin Summerfield
Monthly music columnist for the Kirkby Extra, sometimes article writer for Get Into This. Freelance writer/artist/maker. Archives
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