Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth (Young Turks 5xLP Vinyl)

Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth | 5 x Vinyl LP, 2018 Young Turks (YT176LP, Optimal)

• Over two and a half hours of music across five LPs, divided into “Earth” (eight tracks), “Heaven” (eight tracks) and “The Choice” (five tracks on a hidden fifth disc concealed inside the packaging)
• The West Coast Get Down collective at full scale: Cameron Graves on piano, Brandon Coleman on keyboards, Miles Mosley and Thundercat on bass, Ryan Porter on trombone, Dontae Winslow on trumpet, dual drummers Ronald Bruner Jr. and Tony Austin, vocalist Patrice Quinn, a thirteen-member choir and a full string and woodwind orchestra
• Pressed at Optimal Media in Germany, lacquer cut at Masterdisk, mixed by Russell Elevado, mastered by Kevin “Daddy Kev” Moo

Kamasi Washington’s The Epic (2015) was a triple album that put a tenor saxophonist on festival stages usually reserved for rock bands. Heaven and Earth is what came next: bigger in scope, more focused in composition, and built around a concept that splits the music into two halves and a hidden third. “Earth” represents the world as Washington encounters it. “Fists of Fury” opens with the full ensemble, choir and orchestra over a Latin polyrhythmic groove, with Dwight Trible and Patrice Quinn on vocals. “Hub-Tones” (named after Freddie Hubbard’s 1962 Blue Note album) and “Connections” are more concise, hard-swinging pieces. “Heaven” represents the world as he imagines it. “The Space Travelers Lullaby” and “Vi Lua Vi Sol” are more expansive, with Coleman’s vocoder and the string section creating textures that push further from conventional jazz. “The Choice”, the hidden disc, sits between the two: five tracks including a reading of the Goffin and King standard “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and a version of the Five Stairsteps’ “Ooh Child” that takes the 1970 soul classic into an eight-minute jazz meditation.

The personnel list is extensive because the music demands it. The core group (Washington, Graves, Coleman, Mosley, Porter, Winslow, Bruner, Austin) are the West Coast Get Down, a collective of Los Angeles musicians who have been playing together since they were teenagers. Thundercat (Stephen Bruner, Ronald’s brother) plays electric bass on two tracks. Terrace Martin plays alto saxophone on one. Chris “Daddy” Dave and Robert “Sput” Searight (of Snarky Puppy) contribute drums on several tracks. Rickey Washington, Kamasi’s father, plays flute in the orchestra and tenor saxophone on “My Family.” The choir includes Kamasi’s sister Amaya. Russell Elevado, who mixed D’Angelo’s Voodoo and Black Messiah, mixed the album. This pressing is on Young Turks (YT176LP), pressed at Optimal Media in Germany with lacquers cut at Masterdisk.