Kamasi Washington @ Boulder Theater | 10/27/18

Article Contributed by Boulder Theater | Published on Monday, April 16, 2018

Groundbreaking artist Kamasi Washington’s highly anticipated sophomore album Heaven and Earth is set for release June 22 via Young Turks. Two songs from the double album debut today, listen to Earth’s “Fists of Fury” here and Heaven’s “The Space Travelers Lullaby” here.  

The long-awaited follow up to Washington’s debut The Epic, Heaven and Earth is comprised of two halves, which find Washington confronting quotidian realities with cosmic themes. A further investigation of Washington’s world building ideas, the new album explores his reckoning with current global chaos and his vision for the future.

“Fists of Fury” and “The Space Travelers Lullaby” debut today alongside a pair of accompanying scenes created by acclaimed British artist and director Jenn Nkiru. The visual pieces are inspired by a more expansive collaborative Heaven and Earth film project that is due for release later in the year.

Washington convened his band, The Next Step, as well as members of the long running collective The West Coast Get Down at Henson Studios in Los Angeles to record the 16 tracks on Heaven and Earth. The music was composed, written and arranged by Washington, with new arrangements of jazz and bebop legend Freddie Hubbard’s “Hubtones” and iconic kung fu film theme “Fists of Fury,” as well as one song by bandmate Ryan Porter. Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Ronald Bruner, Jr., Cameron Graves, Brandon Coleman, Miles Mosley, Patrice Quinn, Tony Austin and many more contribute to the album.

Heaven and Earth, over two and a half hours of music, will be available on double deluxe CD and a four piece vinyl housed in bespoke double gatefold sleeve, in addition to all digital services. The album is available to pre-order via http://y-t-r.co/heavenandearth

To celebrate the release of Heaven and Earth, Washington will tour globally with stops in London, Paris, Berlin, New York, Tokyo and beyond. American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets for select dates before the general public beginning April 18 at 10 A.M. local through Thursday April 19 at 10 P.M. local.

Kamasi Washington is a multi-instrumentalist and producer born and raised in Los Angeles. He grew up playing jazz in the city’s storied Leimert Park neighborhood under the tutelage of his father, Rickey Washington. Forming his first band, the Young Jazz Giants, with Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner, Ronald Bruner, Jr. and Cameron Graves in high school, Washington went on to study ethnomusicology at UCLA and play with Snoop Dogg, Raphael Saadiq and more. His debut album, The Epic, was released in 2015 to rapturous critical reception, universally embraced as one of the best of the year and awarded the inaugural American Music Prize. Heaven and Earth follows The Epic as well as Washington’s 2017 EP Harmony of Difference, an exploration of the musical concept of counterpoint that debuted as an original work for the 2017 Whitney Museum of Art Biennial.

KAMASI WASHINGTON—HEAVEN AND EARTH

I. EARTH

1. Fists of Fury

2. Can You Hear Him

3. Hubtones

4. Connections

5. Tiffakonkae

6. The Invincible Youth

7. Testify

8. One of One

II. HEAVEN

9. The Space Travelers Lullaby

10. Vi Lua Vi Sol

11. Street Fighter Mas

12. Song for the Fallen

13. Journey

14. The Psalmnist

15. Show Us the Way

16. Will You Sing

KAMASI WASHINGTON LIVE

April 15                             Indio, CA                                          Coachella Music and Arts Festival

April 22                             Indio, CA                                          Coachella Music and Arts Festival

April 27                          Morrison, CO                                                   Red Rocks Amphitheater*

May 2                             London, U.K.                                                                          Roundhouse

May 4                          Manchester, U.K.                                                                        Albert Hall

May 5                            Glasgow, U.K.                                                                                   QMU

May 6                          Cheltenham, U.K.                                                 Cheltenham Jazz Festival

May 8                             Lyon, France                                 Nuits Sonores @ Auditorium de Lyon

May 9                              Paris, France                                                                                 Bataclan

May 11                       Coutances, France                 Jazz Sous les Pommiers @ Salle Marcel Hélie

May 12                       St Gaudens, France       Festival Jazz a Comminges @ Parc des Expositions

May 13                           Madrid, Spain                                                                                  Riviera

May 14                         Barcelona, Spain                                                                        Razzmatazz

May 16                            Milan, Italy                                                                Santeria Social Club

May 17                      Zurich, Switzerland                                                            Kaufleuten Zurich

May 18                       Munich, Germany                                                                    Theaterfabrik

May 19                          Vienna, Austria                                                           Wiener Konzerthaus

 May 20                      Diersbach, Austria                                                       INNtone JazzFestival

May 22                         Krakow, Poland                                                                                  Studio

May 23                   Prague, Czech Republic                                                               Arhca Theatre

May 24                         Warsaw, Poland                                                                                Stodola

May 25                         Berlin, Germany                                                                                   Astra

May 27                      Cologne, Germany                                                                Live Music Hall

May 28                       Nijmegen, Holland                                                                      Doornroosje

May 29                      The Hague, Holland                                                                                Paard

May 30                        Brussels, Belgium                                                       Salle De La Madeleine

June 1                        Amsterdam, Holland                                                                           Paradiso

June 2                         Hamburg, Germany                                                               Elbjazz Festival

June 3                       Copenhagen, Denmark                                                                   Pumpehuset

June 15                           New York, NY                                                          Forest Hills Stadium†

June 16                        Minneapolis, MN                                                               Rock the Garden

June 23                            Pasadena, CA                                                                         Arroyo Seco

June 24                          Vancouver, BC                                                     Queen Elizabeth Theatre

June 25                           Saskatoon, SK                                                 Saskatchewan Jazz Festival

June 29                           Waitsfield, VT                                                               Friendly Gathering

June 30                        Montreal, Quebec                       Festival International de Jazz de Montreal

July 12                            Berkeley, CA                                                                     Greek Theater‡

July 25                              Detroit, MI                                                      Chene Park Amphitheater

August 4                        Dublin, Ireland                                                                 Beatyard Festival

August 5                      Oxfordshire, U.K.                                                           Wilderness Festival

August 7                       Mainz, Germany                      Frankfurter Hof Mainz @ Zitadelle Mainz

August 9                      Antwerp, Belgium                                                              Jazz Middelheim

August 10                Copenhagen, Denmark                                                                         HAVEN

August 11                  Gothenburg, Sweden                                                                Way Out West

August 12                     Helsinki, Finland                                                                                FLOW

August 17-19                  Tokyo, Japan                                                         Summer Sonic Festival

October 17                       Seattle, WA                                                                         The Showbox

October 18                      Portland, OR                                                                   Crystal Ballroom

October 19                  San Francisco, CA                                                                                  TBA

October 20                San Luis Obispo, CA                                                             Fremont Theater

October 22                      Santa Fe, NM                                                                          Meow Wolf

October 24                  Salt Lake City, UT                                                                    The Complex

October 25                        Aspen, CO                                                                                 Belly Up

October 26                       Denver, CO                                                                        Ogden Theatre

October 27                     Boulder, CO                                                                 Boulder Theater

October 29                   Kansas City, MO                                                                      The Truman

October 31                      Iowa City, IA                                                              The Englert Theatre

November 1                 Minneapolis, MN                                                                                  TBA

November 2                     Madison, WI                                                                                      TBA

November 3                      Chicago, IL                                                                       Riviera Theatre

November 5                     Toronto, CA                                  Sony Centre for The Performing Arts

November 7                    Portland, ME                                                                         State Theatre

November 8                     Boston, MA                                                                                   Royale

November 9                  Philadelphia, PA                                                                  Electric Factory

November 10                Washington D.C.                                                                  Lincoln Theatre

November 14                 Richmond, VA                                                                        The National

November 15                    Raleigh, NC                                                                                 The Ritz

November 16                  Nashville, TN                                                       Marathon Music Works

November 17                   Atlanta, GA                                                                  Buckhead Theatre

*with Vulfpeck

†with Alt-J

‡with Sylvan Esso

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