[Brainfeeder; 2015]
Genres: Spiritual Jazz
Styles: Soul Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Post-Bop, Jazz, Avant-Garde Jazz, Bebop
Most great jazz musicians require the listener to think and be engaged in the compositions in which they’re producing. What separates artists like Miles Davis and John Coltrane from Kenny G and The Rippingtons is that greats such as the former chose style over substance, rather than providing simple background music like the latter two produced in their careers. Kamasi Washington unfortunately falls into the latter category. His debut full-length, The Epic, features some of the most lifeless saxophone playing and mundane compositions I’ve ever heard in contemporary jazz music. The former Young Jazz Giants member fails to keep the listener even remotely interested throughout the LP’s excruciating runtime of 173 minutes, which feels more like a try-hard showcase of one’s musical abilities rather than a so-called “epic” which the album’s title promises toward.
The Epic is an album which has no substantial support whatsoever, often relying on one dimensional background vocalists to keep the atmosphere of a track remotely physical. Rather than delivering a prime example of artistic showmanship, Washington’s playing and stylistic choices feel much more like an imitation of jazz greats of the past. Instead of opening up a door to a brand new realm of contemporary possibilities, The Epic feels like holding up a mirror to the spiritual-jazz of Sanders and Coltrane and the fusion of Davis and Hancock – delivering nothing new and instead serving as a demonstration of dull free improvisation which doesn’t feel all that free.
Though some moments are sonically pleasing, such as the noisy and abrasive climax on opener “Change of the Guard” and the wonderful bassline on “Miss Understanding,” nearly everything else pales in comparison. What few highlights this release does have are practically microscopic when paired next to the amount of noticeable flaws which are present throughout The Epic’s runtime. Many tracks throughout the album’s 3 discs are shockingly repetitive and almost never reward the listener to an interesting or exciting climax. Your typical track from The Epic will feature a progression that sounds staged and forced in its execution and over-produced stylistic mood, feeding off of previous melodies from a song that were never interesting or engaging to begin with. If the albums of Coltrane, Davis, or Dolphy were operas in their own right in the realm of jazz music, then Washington’s The Epic feels like a school play. Many of the qualities and/or interesting effects that would have potential from the record’s instrumentation are drowned out and completely wasted by the canned sound of the production and the lame, nonsensical orchestration of numerous titles. Throughout the entirety of this record, I was shocked by the amount of monotonous songs and their respected structures, featuring a peripheral view of shallow jazz playing and performance – something that you should never come across when listening to any jazz record.
Despite the sonic similarities between songs, a greatest hits compilation would naturally feel more cohesive than the tracklisting featured on The Epic. While Washington proves himself as a musician who avoids conventional songwriting, his execution and dry interpretations of his own structural foundation fails to impress. The Epic, despite its pompous title, is a record that is predictable by every song, every note, and every chord plucked. More-or-less, it feels like shameless revivalism of the strain of contemporary jazz that we’ve come to expect – never producing a single noteworthy composition throughout its entirety.
The Epic is an exhausting and incredibly underwhelming release that fails to impress as a whole. It lacks a stylistic choice of submission and artistic value, throwing the listener into a murky pond of dry and unremarkable compositions. Rather than feeling like a rewarding and pleasurable experience, Washington’s The Epic is so overwhelmingly dull that you’ll be praying for your 3 hours back.