Kamasi Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

saxophonist, usually playing

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

. Archived July 9, 2015.

Career

Washington was born in 1981 and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, California. He is a graduate of the Academy of Music of Alexander Hamilton High School in

Beverlywood Beverlywood is a neighborhood in the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California. History Beverlywood was developed in 1940 by Walter H. Leimert, who also developed Leimert Park. The neighborhood consists of 1,354 single family homes, and wa ...

, Los Angeles. Washington next enrolled in

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

's Department of

Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

, where he began playing with faculty members such as

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...

Gerald Wilson Gerald Stanley Wilson (September 4, 1918 – September 8, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. Born in Mississippi, he was based in Los Angeles from the early 1940s. In addition to being a ...

, and

Billy Higgins Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop. Biography Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, ...

, who mentored a quartet with Washington, pianist Cameron Graves, and the brothers Stephen ("Thundercat") and Ronald Bruner. They released their debut album ''Young Jazz Giants'' in 2004 on

Birdman Records Birdman Records is an independent record label based in South San Francisco, California, that was founded in 2000 by David Katznelson, former A&R vice president of Warner Bros. Records. History Birdman Records is the flagship label of the Birdman ...

. Washington joined the

Orchestra for its 2005 album '' In My Time''.Blanco, Edward
"Gerald Wilson Orchestra: In My Time."
''Allaboutjazz.com'', January 4, 2006. Washington played saxophone on

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

's '' To Pimp a Butterfly.'' His debut solo recording, '' The Epic'', was released in May 2015. The mini-album/EP ''

Harmony of Difference ''Harmony of Difference'' is a studio EP by American jazz saxophonist and bandleader Kamasi Washington. It was released on September 29, 2017, through the Young Turks record label. ''Harmony of Difference'' is a concept album, described as a "si ...

'' followed in September 2017. His second full-length studio album, '' Heaven and Earth'', was released in June 2018, with a companion EP titled '' The Choice'' released a week later. Kamasi Washington Coachella

Washington has played along with a diverse group of musicians including

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles D ...

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...

, Horace Tapscott,

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ...

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Q ...

, Flying Lotus, Mike Muir, Francisco Aguabella,

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

, the Pan Afrikaan People's Orchestra, Run the Jewels and Raphael Saadiq. On June 25, 2020, Washington, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, and

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a Dinner Party (EP), Dinner Party'', was released on July 10, 2020. On June 18, 2021, Washington released a new song "Sun Kissed Child" as part of The Undefeated's ''Music for the Movement'' series. Also in 2021, Washington and his band contributed a cover of the Metallica song "My Friend of Misery" to the charity tribute album '' The Metallica Blacklist''.

Awards and nominations

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Studio albums * ''Young Jazz Giants'' with Cameron Graves, Stephen Bruner,

Ronald Bruner Jr. Ronald Ray Bruner Jr. (born October 5, 1982) is an American jazz drummer, composer and producer. He has played with hardcore punk/crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies. Bruner was part of the band that received a Grammy Award for Best Contem ...

( Birdman, 2004) * '' Live at 5th Street Dick's'' (self-released, 2005) * '' The Proclamation'' (self-released, 2007) * '' Light of the World'' (self-released, 2008) * '' The Epic'' (

Brainfeeder Brainfeeder is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Flying Lotus in 2008, focusing on electronic music and instrumental hip hop. It has signed artists such as Ras G, Samiyam, The Gaslamp Killer, Thundercat, ...

, 2015) * '' Heaven and Earth'' ( Young, 2018) EPs * ''

'' (Young, 2017) * '' The Choice'' (Young, 2018) * '' Becoming – Music from the Netflix Original Documentary'' (Young, 2020) * '' Dinner Party'' with Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin,

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a Empire Distribution, Empire, 2020) With Throttle Elevator Music * ''Throttle Elevator Music'' (Wide Hive, 2012) * ''Area J'' (Wide Hive, 2014) * ''Jagged Rocks'' (Wide Hive, 2015) * ''Throttle Elevator Music IV'' (Wide Hive, 2016) * ''Retrorespective'' (Wide Hive, 2017) * ''Emergency Exit'' (Wide Hive, 2020) * ''Final Floor'' (Wide Hive, 2021)

As sideman

* ''

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

'' by

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams lef ...

(Lost Highway, 2001) * '' Blackberry Belle'' by The Twilight Singers (

One Little Indian One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In ...

, 2003) * '' The Golden Age of Apocalypse'' by Thundercat – on "Is It Love?" (

, 2011) * ''Perseverance'' by Phil Ranelin ( Wide Hive, 2011) * ''

DreamWeaver Adobe Dreamweaver is a proprietary web development tool from Adobe Inc. It was created by Macromedia in 1997 and developed by them until Macromedia was acquired by Adobe Systems in 2005. Adobe Dreamweaver is available for the macOS and Windo ...

'' by

– on "Ball & Chain" with

Teena Marie Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, arranger, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before taking the sta ...

, and 5 other tracks ( Heads Up, 2013) * ''Chameleon'' by

Harvey Mason Harvey William Mason (born February 22, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, record producer, and member of the band Fourplay. Mason, who attended Berklee in the 1960s, received an Honorary Doctorate at Berklee's 2015 Commencement Ceremony ...

– on "Black Frost" (

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

, 2014) * ''Up'' by

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first ja ...

– on "I Have Something to Tell You Tonight" ( Mack Avenue, 2014) * '' You're Dead!'' by Flying Lotus (

Warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a ...

, 2014) * '' To Pimp a Butterfly'' by

– saxophone on "u", string arrangement for "Mortal Man" ( Aftermath/

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mu ...

, 2015) * '' The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam'' by Thundercat (

, 2015) * '' Run the Jewels 3'' by Run the Jewels – on "Thursday in the Danger Room" ( Mass Appeal/ RED, 2016) * ''

Drunk Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main p ...

'' by Thundercat (Brainfeeder, 2017) * ''

Damn Damnation (from Latin '' damnatio'') is the concept of divine punishment and torment in an afterlife for actions that were committed, or in some cases, not committed on Earth. In Ancient Egyptian religious tradition, citizens would recite t ...

'' by Kendrick Lamar – strings on "Lust" (

Top Dawg Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label founded in 2004, by CEO Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Terrence "Punch" Henderson is president of the label. There are currently eleven artists signed to the label: the label's f ...

/Aftermath/Interscope, 2017) *''

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

'' by

Ibeyi Ibeyi is a French musical duo consisting of twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz. The duo sings in English, French, Spanish and Yoruba, In Yoruba, Ibeyi (''Ìbejì'') means "twins". Their music has elements of Yoruba, French and Af ...

– on "Deathless" ( XL, 2017) * '' Masseduction'' by

– on "Pills" ( Loma Vista, 2017) With the

Orchestra * '' In My Time'' (Mack Avenue, 2005) * '' Monterey Moods'' (Mack Avenue, 2007) * ''

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

'' (Mack Avenue, 2009) * ''

Legacy In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property. Legacy or legacies may refer ...

'' (Mack Avenue, 2011)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Kamasi 1981 births Living people Jazz musicians from California Musicians from Los Angeles 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American saxophonists African-American jazz musicians American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Brainfeeder artists American male jazz musicians XL Recordings artists 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people Spiritual jazz musicians