Gig review: Kamasi Washington, Glasgow
Kamasi Washington | Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow | Rating ****
Trombonist Ryan Porter was another childhood recruit to this future band of jazz warriors, investing his tone with such blues, it was claimed he sounded “as if he had five ex-wives”. Such lifetime immersion in their art has resulted in a supremely confident and commercially accessible gumbo of conscious soul, funk and psychedelia-seasoned jazz fusion which draws a line from Herbie Hancock and Alice Coltrane to Washington’s hip-hop collaborators Lauryn Hill and Kendrick Lamar, and then supplies the widescreen cinematic backdrop.
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Hide AdWith his aptly named breakthrough album The Epic running to three hours, this 90-minute taster, including a number from keyboard player Brandon Coleman’s solo album and an economic but eloquent “conversation” between the drummers, was over in a flash, such was the informal atmosphere and fluid dynamism of the performance.
Highlights included his father Ricky Washington guesting on soprano saxophone for a spry, propulsive number with Afro funk overtones, and vocalist Patrice Quinn, whose smooth scatting added an almost cosmic dimension to the delivery, floating elegantly over uplifting devotional The Rhythm Changes.