Kamasi Washington
"Harmony of Difference"
(Young Turks (ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK) {)
Sax man and bandleader Kamasi Washington has turned a new generation on to jazz not by compromising or crossing over, but with the boldness of his vision. Sure, it helps that he's closely associated with fellow innovators on the spectrum of contemporary black music, from rapper Kendrick Lamar to electronic producer Flying Lotus to bassist Thundercat. But Washington's sensibility is essentially an old-fashioned one, in which he and his superb group of musicians stretch out in big-band and small-group settings.
The Los Angeles tenor sax player made a grand entrance with his 2015 triple album, "The Epic." Another full-length project is due next year, and "Harmony of Difference" is a refreshingly taut, disciplined six-song EP that clocks in at a mere 34 minutes, written to accompany a visual art exhibit by his sister Amani that was featured at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York this year. It plays as a wordless consideration of diverse cultures, races, and attitudes in five short pieces called "Desire," "Humility," "Knowledge," "Perspective," and "Intergrity" that weave together elements of hard bop, funk, and bossa nova. Washington then wraps it up masterfully on the closing 13-minute "Truth," which puts a choir and strings to effective use. _ Dan DeLuca
