Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth (#4/5 Outside Albums of 2018)

The second jazz album in this little series, this time the monster double-album+EP by Kamasi Wahsington and company: Heaven and Earth. I mentioned in my little piece about the Sons of Kemet album this year that my taste in jazz kind of follows a natural trajectory based on my overwhelming love for metal, and while I was beginning to enjoy jazz in general a lot more after learning it was more than just elevator bullshit, I would say Kamasi Washington was the the guy that helped me get much more into it, specifically with his similarly monolithic 2015 album, The Epic. What grabbed me with that album was not just the energy or the talent of the musicians involved, but how the smart compositions and the sheer, relentless freedom with which the band played somehow didn’t contradict one another, which is the sign of a both cohesive and well-led band. And while everyone on that album plays phenomenally, it is the main sax man himself who often grabs the spotlight with his vibrant performances. While playing The Epic (and this album) for my friends, it unfortunately usually ends up being Kamasi’s sax solos that push those on the fence off to the “not for me” side. While I have since come to appreciate more of what good there is on the smoother side of jazz, I still find myself gravitating more toward rougher jazz, and Kamasi Washington certainly embodies that wild spirit I find so captivating in jazz. His high-pitched solos I liken to the death growls of metal. They sound purposely abrasive and grating, but they add that element of extreme grit to their respective styles and take a level of skill to properly execute that the outside world doesn’t really appreciate. Needless to say, I was really looking forward to another three fucking hours of Kamasi’s brand of violent jazz. As much as I do appreciate Kamasi Washington’s continued commitment to the excitement of the genre through his own extravagant performances here, as well as the more spotlighted performances of his bandmates, something about this album felt off to me, and by the time I had listened through a few songs, I began to realize that the compositional chemistry wasn’t as consistent on this record. I don’t know if the band approached things a little differently on this album or maybe even tried to forceably replicate what they had so masterfully done on The Epic, but it felt much less confident in the compositional department than Kamasi’s previous work. There are a few more dull, sloggy pieces like the too-sleepy “Space-Traveler’s Lullaby”, the basic piano-led cut “Show Us the Way”, or the properly odd “Vi Lua Vi Sol” that just drag the energy down on this album too often, but that may just be my preferences for Kamasi’s wickedly animated jazz talking. Nevertheless, we still get a good number of well-orchestrated pieces, like the epic “Song for the Fallen”, the wild “Hub-Tones” or the booming emotional resolution of the intro track, “Fists of Fury”. Indeed, I was hoping for a bit more consistent song-writing on this album, but there is no shortage of talented performances here, and the sheer volume of this thing ensures that there is definitely enough for a full meal of whatever flavor of jazz you might be craving. JAZZ!