Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
About Kamasi Washington: In short, he is a well regarded jazz musician who is mostly known for his tenor sax play. He has performed with or appeared on songs with many well known artists ranging from Snoop Dogg to Quincy Jones. He's well studied and a dedicated student of his craft. He's played in bands before, but this is his first "break". He has recently done work with Kendrick Lamar on To Pimp a Butterfly. He's found himself in the Thundercat, Flying Lotus, Kendrick loop and was able to put out his debut album in May of last year. If you actually read these things, here is a detailed bio from his official 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.
Here is a relevant testimony from Flying Lotus:
“He just plays the craziest shit, man. I mean, everything — the past, present, the future. It’s hard to find unique voices in this music. Especially in jazz, more so lately, everybody is trying to do the same shit. I don’t want to hear ‘My Favorite Things’ anymore… What I am hearing is a leader among artists.”
The Next Step
Kamasi plays with a 7 piece band known as The Next Step. This band is derivative of an older band that Kamasi was in called West Coast Get Down. That collective put an album out in the mid 2000s. All of the musicians I am about to list are known for being absolute experts at what they do. Rollcall:
Miles Mosley: Upright Bass Tony Austin: Drums Ryan Porter: Trombone/Trumpet Ronald Bruner: Drums Jamel Deen: Piano Patrice Quinn: Vocals Brandon Coleman: Keyboard Major Discography:
The Epic
Damn right... That big because its all that matters for the purposes of this thread. In your face with that fucking saxophone. This is basically three albums in one. So you if you are scared by the length of it, just split it into three while doing your Roo research.
I post the Anthony Fantano review mainly for the time range of :20 to :45 in the video. Its exactly how I feel about this album. As a side note I do agree with his score of the album, but who cares.
Sounds Like:
The saxophone is one of my favorite instruments. This Bonnaroo artist sounds like a master of said instrument putting his entire career into 3 hours of beauty. I'm not going to disparage Kamasi by comparing him to other 2016 Roo artists. My best comparison to recent Roo artists off the top of my head is Trombone Shorty if he played the saxophone and steered clear of any poppy aspirations.
Suggested Listening:
I suggest you listen to The Epic in full, but I understand if that can be taxing when you are wading through tons of albums trying to find all of the diamonds in the rough this year. And you know what? You probably don't need to do much research on Kamasi to enjoy his show. If you're a person who loves horns and jazz music, you could go to this thing knowing it will be a great experience. Many shows require a thorough understanding of every song by the artist to be able to enjoy it. Not here. I'll let you know that the first two songs off of the epic are considered the "best"... or maybe people got tired after 20 minutes... idk. Listen to "Changing of the Guard" and "Askim" if you aren't willing to put in the time to listen to the full album. Also, here is a perfect live video:
Live Show:
If you viewed the video above or read anything I've written, you may have put together that this will be a collection of expert musicians performing. These are people who are godly with their instruments who finally get to be at festivals. Sometimes I worry about how a band will sound live. Not here. This band was built to give you a stellar performance at Bonnaroo. Proceed to this show without a worry of them not being as good live as they are on record. Jazz music in general though... pretty obvious this would be the case. That said, this will be my first time seeing Kamasi. So maybe it sucks in person. Judging by the video above, I doubt it.
Personal Notes:
Lets all take a moment to appreciate that the Epic was not qualified to be a part of Inforoo's year end album of the year tournament of 2015. My Morning Jacket's new album makes this tournament. Not The Epic though.
This is one of those shows that is a guarantee to be great. Somewhat of a rare thing. I have questions about most of my favorite artists before going to their shows. Take Tame Impala for example: Does his voice hold up live? Will it be at all rowdy like it was in 2013? Will they throw us any surprises? Here is a show that you don't have to worry about. All of the musicians are top notch improvisers drawing from a fantastic source of songs off of one of the best albums from last year.
Final note: This will be Friday or Saturday according to his tour dates.
Does he tour with the same group of cats that he recorded with? I'm pretty sure they all have a lot going on with their own material, but I'd be absolutely thrilled to see Ronald Bruner live. Its so cool having talented jazz musicians (that are getting recognition) from our generation.
Also, side note, I like that there is a decent amount of appreciation for kamasi here on inforoo. Curious if there are any jazz musicians on here (I'm a jazz drummer) ??
Bonnaroo '15/'16/'17/'18/'19 - ACL '13/'14/'15/'17/'18 - Fun Fun Fun '14 - SXSW '13/'14/'15 - FPSF '16
2019 Shows: 4/30 - Vampire Weekend 6/28 - Father John Misty & Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit 9/6 - Cardi B w/ Teyana Taylor 9/28 - Vulfpeck w/ The Fearless Flyers
Does he tour with the same group of cats that he recorded with? I'm pretty sure they all have a lot going on with their own material, but I'd be absolutely thrilled to see Ronald Bruner live. Its so cool having talented jazz musicians (that are getting recognition) from our generation.
Also, side note, I like that there is a decent amount of appreciation for kamasi here on inforoo. Curious if there are any jazz musicians on here (I'm a jazz drummer) ??
My instinct is that most of The Next Step will be with him. Many of the live reviews I've read call out specific members, and its always from the list of guys I've put in the post.
Someone who saw him at Coachella or Okee might be able to answer better.
