Your Love Keeps Calling

Kamasi Washington “Cherokee”

I imagine a lot of people will check out Kasami Washington’s The Epic based on the hype around it and not fully grasp why people are freaking out over it and declaring it the start of this bold new era of jazz when to the layperson’s ear it just sounds like…well, three CDs worth of jazz. Washington’s music isn’t some bold, obvious break from the past – it’s drawing on a rich history of jazz and jazz fusion, and the musical vocabulary in use is pretty traditional. It stands out from the recent history of jazz in ways that are more about spirit and context. Washington and his large band comprised of astounding players from his Los Angeles scene don’t seem beaten down by the public’s indifference to jazz, or jazz culture’s tendency towards becoming a museum of itself, or striving for relevance by adapting sounds from hip-hop and electronic music. Washington’s not trying to reinvent anything – his boldness is in writing and conducting jazz music that insists that the music is as vital and exciting now as it was in the mid-20th century. Instead of being defensive about jazz, Washington spends about three hours showing you all the things he can do with it, and giving the listener the kind of thrills that can only be had in this genre.

Washington’s music is accessible too, mainly because he’s an excellent songwriter with a great ear for melody and rhythmic hooks. There’s nothing intimidating about compositions like “Leroy and Lanisha” or “The Next Step,” and the more ornate, epic tracks are more about dazzling you with a sense of near-cosmic scale rather than empty gestures of ambition. Best of all, Washington isn’t afraid to give us a few vocal tracks featuring Patrice Quinn that work as straight-up pop music, albeit with the extended structure of jazz. “Cherokee” is full-on 70s jazz-funk, a sunny ballad that seems like it was designed to be played at cocktail parties and lounges. “Cherokee” bears a strong resemblance to “Am I the Same Girl” a.k.a. “Soulful Strut,” and wears that on its sleeve with a horn chart that lightly paraphrases a hook from that song. Like the majority of tracks on The Epic, it just overwhelms you with pleasure and good vibes, and manages to evoke the best elements of the past without feeling like a soulless pastiche or a work of musical academia.

Buy it from Amazon.