Kamasi Washington

This week we talk with saxophonist, composer, and jazz aficionado Kamasi Washington. His latest record The Epic is a 3 hour dreamscape through the mind of a master craftsman. LA's jazz scene seems to revolve around a group of friends who've been playing music together since childhood. For example Kamasi has known Thundercat “since he was in his mom's belly.”

The players–Kamasi, Terrace, Thundercat, Ronald, Miles, Ambrose, etc–have been getting a lot of shine lately. Many of them worked on Kendrick's To Pimp A Butterfly. But make no mistake, they've been honing their craft in a vibrant LA scene for years.

Hear Kamasi Washington talk about how he almost ended up as a physicist instead of a musician, how playing hip hop live changed his thoughts on how to play jazz, and how the saxophone chose him and not the other way around.

–Lee