Kamasi Washington — “Harmony of Difference”, EP Review
by Nikita Chistov.
One of the hottest names in modern jazz, Kamasi Washington does not need much of an introduction. Yet for the purposes of this review, it wouldn’t hurt to remember the artists he has worked with in the past and the projects he has helped bring to life in order to get a better sense of his role, reach, and significance on the contemporary scene.
Over the past several years, the L.A. native has appeared on the records of fellow Californian artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus, and Thundercat; the XL Recordings “Everything Is Recorded” collaboration album together with Sampha and Ibeyi; the records of jazz-funk maestros George Duke, Stanley Clarke, and Harvey Mason… The list goes on and on.
Given the artist’s hallmark raspy sax sound and his African-style garb, it seems that his appearance on another artist’s song (and oftentimes in a music video, as well) now serves as a bridge between the past and present. As he dives into an expressive solo — clad in a bright dashiki, leaning on a humongous cane, his hands bejeweled — I can’t help but think of Sun Ra and whether K.W. is actually one of his interstellar grandchildren. A torchbearer of spiritual jazz, Washington exudes venerable wisdom and consecrates the music of now by the power vested in him by the ancestors.
Looking at Washington’s own catalogue (the latest record “Heaven and Earth” included), it becomes apparent that the artist likes it big — his concepts larger than life; his sound either composite and dense, or light but grandiose; his creativity almost always stretching beyond the 1, 2, and 3 hour mark. This way, “Harmony of Difference” makes a bit of an exception in that it is an EP, clocking in at only 31 minutes 54 seconds. A very limited amount of time by Kamasi’s standards. Such a change for a more succinct way of expression is what drew me to the record in the first place, as I was curious to see what kind of approach the artist would take this time around. That and the intriguing cover art depicting a mighty tree elegantly adorned by a handful of paintings.
“Desire” serves as a fantastic opener to the EP. Starting off with a lone double-bass figure, the composition gradually unfolds to accommodate soft percussion, lush horns, and jingly piano. Together the ensemble creates a stunning sound that is big but not necessarily imposing, thick but definitely not impenetrable. Keeping the parts relatively sparse and locked around the same fundamental groove, the musicians achieve a beautiful sense of clarity. Long, focused horn notes make the triplet ostinato shine in all its majestic simplicity against the drums’ exercises in syncopation. Meanwhile, Kamasi offers a well-rounded solo with a thunderous, typically “Kamasian” climax that eventually erupts into the keyboard drizzle of Brandon Coleman. All hues and permutations of summer weather are here on display in one organic musical swatch. An image of a seashore with the sun going down and the folk milling around enveloped in the tropical breeze. The insouciance of July evenings. Just bees and things and flowers.
As the first track comes to a marvelous finish, I desperately hope that the band will continue going the same path of mellow intensity and delve deeper into the “sound-frame” conjured up on “Desire”. To their credit, they do adhere to and develop the established sound on the following tracks, but whereas the melodic simplicity of “Desire” is supported by a strikingly articulate, punctuated delivery, the melodies on the subsequent tracks are simply lacking in this regard and fall flat.
Granted, the second tune, “Humility”, includes some impressive performances, but it is nowhere as nuanced and tasteful as track 1. With no proper introduction to speak of, it strikes me as too hasty and hot-headed. This time around, the ostinato gets on your nerves almost immediately, while the on-top-of-the-lungs sax toots, which are becoming Washington’s calling card, ruin it for me completely. This is not to say that a busy sound is necessarily a bad thing, of course, but in this case, it doesn’t amount to much. At least for me personally.
Things get even sourer on tracks 3–5. Mostly bland and directionless, they make for a tedious listen and sound more like a bunch of ideas taken out of some lost 15-minute Kamasi epic. They fall prey to extreme repetitiveness, despite the diversity of style that the artist tries to incorporate. Once “Integrity” (Track 5/6) comes to a close, one might rightfully feel that Kamasi’s intention on this record is to feed the listener separate puzzle pieces of different styles and moods without showing the whole picture. This presumption, however, is proven wrong by the album’s 13-minute finale “Truth” which turns out to be a kind of musical collage, an amalgamation of the five preceding tunes.
As I realize that the disparate ideas I have heard before are about to re-emerge and merge together, I genuinely get excited, hoping that the sum will outvalue the subpar-to-alright parts. At first, this seems to be exactly the case. The melodies from “Truth” and “Humility” come one after another in an entirely different arrangement. The two are brought back by a guitarist and a vibraphonist in a playful riffing duel, bolstered by a solid rhythmic bed. With a pinch of swing and extra accentuation thrown into the mix, the atmosphere is elevated to incredible emotional heights. This, for me, is the moment of true Harmony of Difference. Full of elegance and beautiful interlocking of licks, phrases, and grooves. 4 minutes in, however, the music starts to lose its nonchalant feel once again and plummets into refrain oblivion, seemingly stuck in its own paradigm. The very clumsy transition heralds the epic final section — a disastrous, semi-structureless jumble of everything I’ve already heard before.
While certainly not the highest point in Washington’s discography, “Harmony of Difference” is still a curious experiment that allows one to look at the artist’s work both holistically and in a more reductionist manner, where each constituent theme is presented on its own. The main problem is that “Desire” (also partially “Humility” and its return on “Truth”) is the only mini-section that has a truly unique character and that is developed enough to grab my attention. Quite unfortunate given the EP’s great potential and the killer line-up.
Rating: 5/10.
Highlights: “Desire”.
