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

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

saxophonist. Archived July 9, 2015. He is a founding member of the jazz

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an e ...

West Coast Get Down.

Career

Washington was born in 1981 and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California. He is a graduate of the Academy of Music of Alexander Hamilton High School in Beverlywood, 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, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

's Department of

Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

, where he began playing with faculty members such as Kenny Burrell,

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. He arranged music for D ...

, and Billy Higgins, 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. Washington joined the

Orchestra for its 2005 album '' In My Time''.Blanco, Edward
"Gerald Wilson Orchestra: In My Time."
''Allaboutjazz.com'', January 4, 2006. In 2008 and 2009 "The Kamasi Washington Band" played the outdoor Labor Day Jazz Concert on the Main Green at Village Green, Los Angeles. Washington played saxophone on Kendrick Lamar's album '' To Pimp a Butterfly'', released on March 15, 2015. Washington's debut solo recording, '' The Epic'', was released in May 2015. Washington contributed saxophone on the Thundercat song " Them Changes", which was released on June 18, 2015, as a single from the EP '' The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam''; the track was later included on Thundercat's full-length album '' Drunk'' (2017). Washington released the mini-album/EP '' Harmony of Difference'' in September 2017. This was followed by his second full-length studio album, '' Heaven and Earth'', which 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,

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

, Horace Tapscott, Lauryn Hill, Nas,

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

George Duke George Martin 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 ...

, Chaka Khan, Flying Lotus, Mike Muir, Francisco Aguabella, St. Vincent, the Pan Afrikaan People's Orchestra, Run the Jewels and Raphael Saadiq. On June 25, 2020, Washington, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, and 9th Wonder announced the formation of the supergroup Dinner Party. They released a single, "Freeze Tag", and their debut extended play, '' 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''. On July 4, 2024, Kendrick Lamar released the music video for "

Not Like Us "Not Like Us" is a diss track by the American rapper Kendrick Lamar amidst Drake–Kendrick Lamar feud, his highly publicized feud with the Canadian rapper Drake (musician), Drake. Released on May 4, 2024, through Interscope Records, it broke ...

". In the video, there was a snippet that played in the beginning of the video (later revealed to be Squabble Up). In the song, Kendrick mentions Washington in the line "High key; keep a horn on me, that Kamasi". Washington, along with

Bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee (less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee), is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus ''Pan (genus), Pan'' (the other bei ...

and Floating Points, composed music for the 2025 Japanese anime television series '' Lazarus'', directed by Shinichirō Watanabe.

Awards and nominations

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Studio albums * ''Young Jazz Giants'' (with Cameron Graves, Stephen Bruner, & Ronald Bruner Jr.) ( 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, 2015) * '' Heaven and Earth'' ( Young, 2018) * '' Fearless Movement'' (Young, 2024) EPs * '' Harmony of Difference'' (Young, 2017) * '' The Choice'' (Young, 2018) * '' Becoming – Music from the Netflix Original Documentary'' (Young, 2020) * '' Dinner Party'' with Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, 9th Wonder (Sounds of Crenshaw/

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

, 2020) * '' Enigmatic Society'' with Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, 9th Wonder (Sounds of Crenshaw/Empire, 2023) 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; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

'' by Ryan Adams — on "New York, New York" and "Touch, Feel & Lose" (Lost Highway, 2001) * '' Blackberry Belle'' by The Twilight Singers ( One Little Indian, 2003) * '' R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece'' by

— on "No Thang On Me" ( Geffen/ Star Trak/ Doggy Style, 2004) * '' Searching for Jerry Garcia'' by Proof — on "Pimplikeness" ( Iron Fist Records, 2005) * '' Something Else'' * '' Ego Trippin''' by

— on "Press Play" ( Geffen/ Doggy Style, 2008) * '' The Golden Age of Apocalypse'' by Thundercat – on "Is It Love?" ( Brainfeeder, 2011) * ''Perseverance'' by Phil Ranelin ( Wide Hive, 2011) * '' DreamWeaver'' by

– on "Stones of Orion," "Trippin'," "Ashtray," "Ball & Chain" (with Teena Marie), and "Burnt Sausage Jam" ( Heads Up, 2013) * ''Chameleon'' by Harvey Mason – on "Black Frost" ( Concord, 2014) * ''Up'' by Stanley Clarke – on "I Have Something to Tell You Tonight" ( Mack Avenue, 2014) * '' You're Dead!'' by Flying Lotus ( Warp, 2014) * '' To Pimp a Butterfly'' by Kendrick Lamar – saxophone on "u", string arrangement for "Mortal Man" ( Aftermath/

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, 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 ...

, 2015) * '' The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam'' by Thundercat ( Brainfeeder, 2015) * '' Run the Jewels 3'' by Run the Jewels – on "Thursday in the Danger Room" ( Mass Appeal/ RED, 2016) * '' Drunk'' by Thundercat (Brainfeeder, 2017) * '' Damn'' by Kendrick Lamar – strings on " Lust" ( Top Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope, 2017) *'' Ash'' by Ibeyi – on "Deathless" ( XL, 2017) * '' Masseduction'' by St. Vincent – on "Pills" ( Loma Vista, 2017) * ''Alone'' by Cory Henry – on "Operation Funk" (Culture Collective, 2022) * ''No Excuses'' by Childish Gambino – on "Bando Stone and The New World" (Rolling Stone, 2024) * '' GNX'' by Kendrick Lamar With the

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

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

'' (Mack Avenue, 2009) * '' Legacy'' (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 musicians Spiritual jazz musicians West Coast Get Down members Young (record label) artists