Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Critic Score
Based on 10 reviews
2015 Ratings: #13 / 1021
Year End Rank: #16
User Score
2015 Rank: #11All Time: #438
Liked by 184 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
AllMusic

Holistic in breadth and deep in vision, it provides a way into this music for many, and challenges the cultural conversation about jazz without compromising or pandering.

100
The Irish Times
Kamasi Washington’s new album certainly lives up to the billing. A 32-piece orchestra, 20-strong choir and 10-band members producing a 172-minute, three-volume, 17-track suite ensures you’ve earned the right to call your work epic.
90
The Needle Drop
Running just short of three hours in length, this new Kamasi Washington album lives up to its name.
86
Pitchfork

What The Epic does come to sound like, over the course of its significant running time, is a generational intervention—an educational tool that widens the definition of styles that fall under "jazz classicism."

80
Drowned in Sound

This is wonderful stuff ... Whether you absorb it song by song, disc by disc, or as one huge suite, Washington is reaching for the epic on every scale.

80
The Guardian

Dedicated to bringing jazz to the uninitiated, Epic features soul and gospel vocals, boiling drumming, swing, funk, and voicelike free-jazz blowing.

70
Rolling Stone
To be sure, it's a jazz album, as much about tradition as expanding it, informed by Coltranes (John and Alice), Miles Davis fusions, bebop and more; yet it's clearly shaped by crate-digger funk and film scores, hip-hop collage and gospel.
snarekickblues
91

You think it's too long? aahh, shaddup. Kamasi Washington just gave you 3 hours of pure magic. Be grateful, ya wieners

nah_
NR

As Kamasi Washington intends to speak to us through his compositions and surprising improvisations; he lacks what I was hoping when going through this, as to hopefully analyze it fairly.. It is no doubt an interesting album, but there's a lot to take in here; this being a, well, 3 hour long jazz album that prides itself on being "Epic" and what it tries to accomplish: being the savior of Jazz before its "inevitable obscurity" as some of you would PROBABLY put it. What he ... read more

UltimateLifeFrm
80

Well, it's the last day of summer (seriously, it's went by too fast), so I thought why not go out with a bang for this season with one of the most praised modern Jazz releases: The Epic. It just felt like the right time to hear it, and since it's been on my radar for at least 4 months now, I just had to get it out of the way.

Released in May 2015, this is regarded as the magnum opus of American jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington, being a high critical success. Now, I've been so eager to check ... read more

EricLovesTunes
NR

This was my first time listening to a Kamasi Washington record. Wanna get ready for the new release.
There is way too much to unpack after a first listen. All I know, is that I absolutely loved every moment. "The Message" is probably one of the best songs I've ever heard.

FunkyBlood9696
92

Good album? Yes. An easy album to get into? Maybe not so much lol
Kamasi Washington's debut on the Brainfeeder Label is a supremely long journey filled with a ton of multi-phased and stunning compositions, incredible and studied saxophone and trumpet playing within each of the 3 discs or "Volumes", as well as some soulful gospel influences to spice most of it up
Admittedly it's a bit of a bloated album, as some songs become pretty stale over the course of their runtime, especially ... read more

larkwashere
92

short review-
i think what's most impressive about this album is that it manages to maintain such a level of quality for almost 3 hours. really fun and creative through and through. the arrangements are consistently super cool, and while it may not be super unique, the sheer execution saves it in my opinion. the choral vocals add a lot as with the strings and every instrumentalist goes off, especially the pianist and the drummer

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Track List

Volume 1 - The Plan
1Change of the Guard
12:15
95
2Askim
12:34
95
3Isabelle
12:12
88
4Final Thought
6:31
91
5The Next Step
14:48
92
6The Rhythm Changes
7:43
95
Volume 2 - The Glorious Tale
1Miss Understanding
8:46
95
2Leroy and Lanisha
9:24
93
3Re Run
8:19
92
4Seven Prayers
7:35
91
5Henrietta Our Hero
7:13
92
6The Magnificent 7
12:45
96
Volume 3 - The Historic Repetition
1Re Run Home
14:05
91
2Cherokee
8:14
91
3Clair de Lune
11:07
91
4Malcolm’s Theme
8:40
92
5The Message
11:08
94
Total Length: 2 hours, 53 minutes
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Added on: May 1, 2015