Published
Tue, Apr 10, 2018, 19:40
- Thundercat appears on the the two-and-a-half hour LP for Young Turks.
US saxophonist and composer Kamasi Washington is putting out a double album through Young Turks in June.
Heaven And Earth is the second proper full-length from Washington, and the follow-up to his first, The Epic, which was a sprawling album issued in 2015 on Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder label. The upcoming LP catches the artist—who has a penchant for spaced-out, psychedelic funk and jazz fusion—in similarly ambitious form: it features two-and-a-half hours of music, which is split into two parts (two CDs or four LPs).
Both Kamasi's band The Next Step (whose players include Stephen 'Thundercat' Bruner) and members of The West Coast Get Down are involved. The 16-track LP features new arrangements of jazz legend Freddie Hubbard's 1962 tune "Hubtones" and the theme for the 1972 martial arts film Fist Of Fury, starring Bruce Lee.
Washington describes Heaven And Earth as addressing a certain sort of dualism. "'The world that my mind lives in, lives in my mind.' This idea inspired me to make this album," he says. "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."
Watch a short video, created by director Jenn Nkiru, for album opener "Fists Of Fury."
Tracklist
I. EARTH
01. Fists Of Fury
02. Can You Hear Him
03. Hubtones
04. Connections
05. Tiffakonkae
06. The Invincible Youth
07. Testify
08. One Of One
II. HEAVEN
09. The Space Travelers Lullaby
10. Vi Lua Vi Sol
11. Street Fighter Mas
12. Song For The Fallen
13. Journey
14. The Psalmnist
15. Show Us The Way
16. Will You Sing
Young Turks will release Heaven And Earth on June 22nd, 2018.
Photo credit: Durimel
