THIS JUST IN: We’re hearing that, hidden in the gatefold of this glorious new 4-LP set is ANOTHER album, a 40-minute EP called “The Choice.” Keep an eye out and let us know what you find!
First off, some words from Mr. Gene:
“This week KAMASI WASHINGTON, one of the most astounding forces in all modern music known approximately as Jazz, has released his highly anticipated latest opus. Like the 2015 breakout release aptly titled “The Epic”, this newest offering “Earth And Heaven” holds a ton of listening in its 2.5 hour length (2CD or 4LP). Sprawling from social conscious vocal, chorus, speech sampled, and orchestral to funk and hip-hop inflected jams the brilliant and life enhancing common thread is Washington’s passionate voice on tenor sax; evoking loving tinges of Pharaoh Sanders and Gato Barbieri yet very much all his own, fiery, swinging, and totally on point. We are grateful.” – Gene Berger
The long-awaited follow up to Washington’s debut The Epic, Heaven & Earth is comprised of two halves, which find Washington confronting quotidian realities with cosmic themes. A further investigation of Washington’s world building ideas, the new album explores his reckoning with current global chaos and his vision for the future.
Washington convened his band, The Next Step, as well as members of the long running collective The West Coast Get Down at Henson Studios in Los Angeles to record the 16 tracks on Heaven & Earth. The music was composed, written and arranged by Washington, with new arrangements of jazz and bebop legend Freddie Hubbard’s “Hubtones” and iconic kung fu film theme “Fists of Fury,” as well as one song by bandmate Ryan Porter. Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Ronald Bruner, Jr., Cameron Graves, Brandon Coleman, Miles Mosley, Patrice Quinn, Tony Austin and many more contribute to the album.
“The world that my mind lives in, lives in my mind.” This idea inspired me to make this album Heaven & Earth. The reality we experience is a mere creation of our consciousness, but our consciousness creates this reality based on those very same experiences. We are simultaneously the creators of our personal universe and creations of our personal universe. The Earth side of this album represents the world as I see it outwardly, the world that I am a part of. The Heaven side of this album represents the world as I see it inwardly, the world that is a part of me. Who I am and the choices I make lie somewhere in between.”
