Kamasi Washington – The Epic (2015)

April 1, 2022

I’ve approached The Epic multiple times since release and have struggled to find the words to do it justice. Therefore, I’ve decided after another recent listen through at the beginning of the year, to throw all pretense of “doing it justice” to the wolves and just commit this monster of an album to the site.

Is it too overblown for me to state that The Epic is the Bitches Brew of our generation? Possibly. Bitches Brew is a record that defined an era of new heights in jazz experimentation (or at least represents it). The Epic has many callbacks to that kind of meandering madness; obtuse time signatures, lengthy songs and outstanding soloing from various members of the group. The Epic also however has roots in many genres outside of jazz – or at least, from outside of fusion and the avant garde. There’s a lot here that reminds me of big band music, soul and funk, and even show tunes.

Regardless of what I say, The Epic is one of the most ambitious albums to be released in the last decade and its something I cannot recommend enough to any music fans.