Going to the Proms was a new experience for me, so i was initially bewildered by the crowds of students sitting in groups having picnics and jolly times, around the rear of the Albert Hall. I soon realised they were queuing for the £6 standing tickets when the doors opened and a civilised charge developed. Our seats in the stalls were superb, as was the sound. Ive never heard a piano 'ping' in such a pure, vibrant way. As my friend remarked, Brandon Coleman looked like he was loving every minute playing such a concert quality instrument. He could hardly wipe the smile off his face, and he stole the show in several numbers.
Accompanying two drummers, double bass player Miles Mosley was effortless, funky and refined; forever driving the groove, he performed two astonishing solos that you had to witness to believe. The main players - Kamasi on sax, his father Rickey on flute, Ryan Porter on trombone, were superb, and the orchestra and choir were used to boost the sound to epic proportions with regularity. No trumpet ? So what ! But the repetitive nature of the ascending octaves of "Aahs" from the choir did have me wondering if Spock and Captain Kirk would appear and try "to boldly go" somewhere cosmic like Proxima Centauri , or even higher, the packed out upper circle. Kamasi's new song was entitled "Space Travellers Lullaby" so I do wonder if they have a Star Trek box set on the tour bus that sends them all to sleep!
Some of the City of Birmingham orchestra's arrangements were magnificent and raised the level of musicality to new heights, conducted by Jules Buckley. The concert ended with a terrific, jazz funk number, which had a ever building structure that threatened to raise the roof when both drummers went into full attack mode. The encore followed in the same vein, leaving the soul searching and chin scratching numbers from earlier on fading in the memory. "Henrietta" was sung by the sparingly used female vocalist Patrice Quinn, whose mimes of guitar playing and reaching to heaven in apparent ecstasy were best ignored. Kamasi is a sax virtuoso who seems right at home leading 50 or more musicians in all sorts of genres. Dont be confused by the African tutu attire and wild hair, this dude can write and play ! I will be off to my local record shop to buy "The Epic" asap.
The following is info about Kamasi lifted from his website.
At the age of 13, Kamasi Washington started a lifelong quest discovering the many wonders of music. One night, his father left his soprano saxophone lying on the piano. Kamasi, filled with curiosity for all the beauty he heard from the instrument, picked up his father’s horn. Even though he didn’t know anything about the saxophone – in fact, never even touched one – he played Wayne Shorter’s composition “Sleeping Dancer Sleep On,” his favorite song at the time.
At the prestigious Hamilton High School Music Academy, within two years, Kamasi earned the lead tenor saxophone chair in the top jazz ensemble. At the same time, Kamasi joined the Multi School Jazz Band (MSJB) where he reunited with several childhood friends who were pursuing their passion for music. During his senior year of high school, Kamasi formed his first band, “The Young Jazz Giants,” with childhood friends including Ronald Bruner, Stephen Bruner and Cameron Graves. After high school, Kamasi received a full scholarship to study ethnomusicology at UCLA, where he explored many of the non-western musical cultures around the world. During the summer after his freshman year, Kamasi recorded his first album with “The Young Jazz Giants” to spread new sounds of jazz all around the country. In his second year at UCLA, Kamasi went on his first national tour with the west coast hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg. Later that year, Kamasi joined the orchestra of one of his biggest heroes, Gerald Wilson, and later went on his first international tour with R&B legend Raphael Saadiq.
Over the years, Kamasi has performed and recorded with many of his musical heroes from various genres, including Gerald Wilson, McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Burrell, George Duke, Lauryn Hill, Jeffrey Osborne, Mos Def, Quincy Jones, Stanley Clark, Harvey Mason and Chaka Khan. Kamasi’s own band “The Next Step” is a modern spin on a big band, which includes two drummers, two upright bass players, keyboard players, three horns players, a pianist, and a vocalist. In addition, Kamasi is part of a west coast musical collective called the “West Coast Get Down.”
Most recently, Kamasi worked on Kendrick Lamar’s acclaimed 2015 album “To Pimp A Butterfly.” On May 5th, Kamasi released his groundbreaking solo album “The Epic” on the trend-setting record label Brainfeeder. “The Epic” is a 172-minute, triple-disc masterpiece, featuring Kamasi’s ten-piece band “The Next Step” along with a full string orchestra and full choir. “The Epic” debuted #1 on several iTunes Jazz charts, including the US, Canada, Australia, Russia and UK.
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