#tony austin

[sinceileftyoublog]

Kamasi Washington Album Review: Fearless Movement

(Young)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Kamasi Washington believes in the limitless power of imagination. On Fearless Movement, the jazz saxophonist's fifth studio album, Washington doesn't expand his sound, making room for guest rappers, just for the sake of it. Instead, he presents Fearless Movement as a step in an infinite evolution. If it seems like he's trying things out, that's because he is, and Fearless Movement is a tribute to the buoyancy of music.

Indeed, Washington has contextualized Fearless Movement as a dance record--not literally, say, a Chicago house album, but a collection of songs you can dance to, and more importantly, that suggest transitory states. He developed the record during a time of collective stillness--the pandemic--but of personal change, as his daughter was born. He exposed her to the teachings of Coltrane and Coleman, and by age 2, she was toying around on piano and came up with the melody for what would become "Asha The First". Washington's daughter's explorations are a microcosm for the approach he and his band took on Fearless Movement. "Dream State" formed out of an invitation from Washington for Andre 3000 to bring his flute to jam alongside co-writer and keyboardist Brandon Coleman, drummer Tony Austin, and producer Mono/Poly. The song starts with woodwinds over drones, as if the players are getting used to their new surroundings, before Andre's flute chops over a pulsating synth bass beat, the woodwind instruments eventually fluttering in syncopation. Meanwhile, "Lesanu" and "Road to Self (KO)" are two of the most dynamic tunes Washington's ever put to tape. The former, a prayer in the Ge'ez language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible, sees Washington, the new father, thinking about his own mortality in the wake of a friend's passing. The transitions, from shimmery drums and vocals into free clattering and swirling horns, then into post-bop with handclaps, are more sudden, but no less natural. The latter, on the other hand, is a 13-and-a-half minute epic that gradually changes tempo many times, in each instance led by a breathtaking line: arpeggio keys, elongated horns, Woody Aplanalp's raw lead guitars, and drums.

While many of the verses on Fearless Movement are perhaps less sophisticated than their musical counterparts, especially as they read on paper, they work in conjunction with the instrumentation. Taj and Ras Austin go back-to-back on "Asha The First", Taj waxing on the future and the cycle of institutional problems plaguing our world, Ras much more optimistic and spritely about the exponential benefits of learning. "Teach 'em the Afrocentric lens of this life that's upon us / Not just vices and charmer, give advice from the prices of karma / Deeds and action, laws and righteous rights and honors," he raps, atop a steady instrumental highlighting Thundercat's unmistakable bass noodling. Saxophone and organ solos bookend their verses, as if to present their words as chapters in an ongoing conversation. On neo soul standout "Lines in the Sand", singer Dwight Trible both stands up to and recognizes the reverence of borders, both physical and metaphorical, in this day and age: "Lines in the sand won't take my soul from me / Lines in the sand keep us alone and weak," he sings. The chorus of voices that pop in and out, nestled within the saxophone, Cameron Graves' piano, and organ, serve to bolster but also warn him.

There are a couple tracks on Fearless Movement that do grapple with modern dance music, to varying degrees of commitment. The one with the most star power is "Get Lit", which pairs funk legend George Clinton with rapper D Smoke on a bouncing track about partying and community. (Hearing D Smoke attempt to find biblical precedent for his hedonistic and horny verses is especially amusing). But album closer "Prologue" stands out. It interpolates Astor Piazzolla's tango into a propulsive and breathtaking swath of horns, piano, and drums, Dontae Winslow's trumpet solo perhaps the best individual moment on the album. By the end of the song, Washington's saxophone screams. In conjunction with the keys, it sounds like it's glitching. After all, sometimes, when you're experimenting, you'll break something. The key, as suggested by the record title, is to not be afraid.

[thebowerypresents]

Kamasi Washington Electrifies Enthusiastic Beacon Theatre Crowd with New Album

Kamasi Washington – Beacon Theatre – May 4, 2024

“It’s good to be in New York,” exclaimed Kamasi Washington. One day after the release of his new record, Fearless Movement, the crossover jazz musician announced he’d be debuting most of the album’s material to the giddy Saturday night crowd at the Beacon Theatre. “We’re in this together,” he explained while leading his band through the first track, “Lesanu,” a tribute to a friend who had passed, but also, Washington described, a “celebration of gratitude.” 

The song evolved from a wash of cymbals from drummer Tony Austin, then percussion, bass, keys and horn joining in. Washington is as much a bandleader as he is a player, a visionary as much as a saxophonist, but his solos, starting from the opening number, were tours de force, avalanches of melody dragging along the bass of Miles Mosley and the keys of Brandon Coleman, unstoppable momentum and power, somewhere amidst jazz, rock, soul and hip-hop. 

Washington’s band has remained surprisingly consistent over the years and the comfort and the love he has for his guys was easy to feel. By the time they had completed the third song, 45 minutes had already transpired, and the rapt-but-rowdy audience had witnessed nearly every band member featured in an impressive solo. Ryan Porter on trombone and DJ Battlecat adding their thing to “Asha the First,” which went from larger-than-life to a quiet meditation, the band equally adept both ways. 

“Computer Love” featured soulful vocals from Patrice Quinn and a building synthesizer solo from Coleman as well as soprano sax from Rickey Washington, Kamasi’s father. Mosley went full funk with a scintillating bass solo on “Road to Self,” which also gave Austin the spotlight on his relentless drumming. While the solos were all impressive and gave the new material an organic freedom, it was when the full band was working together, like on “Interstellar Peace (The Last Stance),” that the full weight of the ensemble turned the music completely weightless. 

At points during the night, dancers appeared onstage, as if out of a dream, one of them appearing to float above the floor adding a surreal dreamlike depth to the music that was already plenty deep. The set closed after two hours with “Prologue,” the ending but a beginning as Washington explained, his band of close friends and family both heavy and light, powerful individually, even more so together. —A. Stein | @Neddyo

Photos courtesy of Ellen Qbertplaya | @Qbertplaya

[milesworld96]

I’m losing it, I’m at wits end rn

[incorrectquotesmcu]

Tony, sarcastically: Way to go, genius.

Scott, to Steve: You know, he keeps calling me a genius, but something in his tone leads me to believe he doesn’t think I’m a genius.

[cosmoweirdkid]

[darkfatherihavesinnedd]

bands <3

[xoceansx]

i love you dostoevsky i love you virginia woolf i love you ocean vuong i love you franz kafka i love you george eilot i love you toni morrision i love you jane austen i love you richard siken i

[theunhingedcowboy]

A List of things that happened at Collision and ROH taping from this weekend.

First of all getting to be in the environment that has been created at the e-sports from this residency is phenomenal and I hope that it will happen again in the future.

Getting seats four rows back from the ring and we were still so close (that will change I'll explain) and getting to go with both my dad and cousin was so much fun

FINALLY getting to see Darby wrestle in person was amazing

The bull rope match was fucking brutal and the TV broadcast did not do it justice the crowd was so fucking over for Rosa it was awesome

So right in front of us about 30 minutes into the show there was a row of 8 seats that were empty right at the barricade and no one had shown up. So my cousin may have taken initiative and got up to the seats and by the Rush and Vance match we were all up front and no one said anything

My cousin saying to Turbo of the Outrunners that "he was like Hogan without the racism and an actual 10 incher" which Turbo totally popped for

Rush and Vance match was so much fun. Getting on tv for most of that match and me cackling like a psychopath made it loud and clear on the broadcast

Me screaming like a lunatic during swerves's match and afterward the cameraman came over to film me (thank God that didn't make the broadcast)

Swerve v Ishii was so fucking awesome

Heart eyes at Stat

Me handing my dad $10 when Christian walked out in the turtleneck ref sweater

Getting to see HoB so close was so fucking awesome

Juice being the chaos junkie that he is

Shayna talking shit to my cousin and then blowing him a kiss after beating up BBG and HOB

Flipping off the patriarchy

RoH Taping

Having beef with the premier athletes

Abadon, my beloved

Getting to see Sammy wrestle was also a lot of fun

Mina, my beloved

ROCKY

Toa mean mugging me when I did the claw for the von erichs

My cousin cheered on Cage of Agony only to accidentally drop his phone over the barricade and Cage to look at him and call him an idiot even though he wanted Cage to win

My cousin continues his years long beef with Matt Taven and Taven shouting at him "you don't have a wiener"

The Von Erichs and Sammy came over to sign my little autograph book, Sammy was so nice and it was so nice to see the Von Erichs again since I met them last year

This was the next day continuing ROH tapings

Tony coming out to say that someone wanted to say hi to the kids and me fully believing that it was gonna be Mortos until Hologram came out

I love Lance Archer. The guy in front of us had a bunch of signs and one of them saying "The murderhawk just needs a hug" and Lance coming over like he was going to give a hug only to rip up the sign

Watching Ari get beat up by Ishii made my day

Cheering so loud for Rocky Romero and him noticing me and giving me a wink (can confirm I am dead)

8 man tag match between Sammy, Dustin, and the Von Erichs v Dark Order and Undisputed Kingdom, once again keeping up the beef and telling the dark order they can do so much better than undisputed kingdom

When Harley Cameron came out and I told my dad to "get his girl"

Queen Aminata is one of the best female wrestlers right now I genuinely love her so much she is so cool

The Righteous reminding me in person that Vincent looks almost exactly like a friend of mine but with dreads

Taya v Mina was fun

Watching the Premiere Athletes at least 8 times over the course of 48 hours and continuing to make sure that we have beef

Also after the match my cousin and I were booing Tony Neese and he tried to get security to kick us out and my cousin blew Tony a kiss

ATHENA

Getting to see Briscoe wrestle this close was so cool and Mortos is so fucking over I love it.

And that concludes my weekend I will make another post like this next week cause I am going back to collision for the final show. This was the most fun I have had all year and something that I really hope AEW does again in the future

[icanbeyuoronewingedangle]

timeless toni storm is too good to drop. but trashy toni with bang bang gang would hit like crack

[definitelyincorrect]

Steve: I’m not jealous. I just get a weird burning feeling in my chest when I think about Bucky being with someone else.

Tony: Yes, that’s jealousy.

[chronophotographic-gun]

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

[evileyekabuki]

BULLET CLUB GOLD

💀🗡️🥃🗡️💀

BANG BANG GANG

[p-c-ba-dcforever]

July brings us five decades of the most mysterious heroine of the Bronze Age, Black Orchid!

[martyrgraph]

austin butler, callum turner, tony goldwyn & nikolaj coster waldau (400x640).

credit; martyr.

[incorrectquotesmcu]

Y/N: I’m not jealous. I just get this weird burning feeling in my chest when I think about Natasha with someone else.

Tony: That’s jealousy.

[dsannito]