BBC Prom 61 Late Night review: Kamasi Washington performs at the Royal Albert Hall with conductor Jules Buckley
Washington clearly wants the members of his band to have some time in the spotlight as well
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Your support makes all the difference.Kamasi Washington strolls onto the stage at the Royal Albert Hall with his band, murmurs a "hello" and gets straight down to it. "Let's have some fun. Here we go."
Performing his appropriately titled debut The Epic to a UK audience for the first time, Washington is backed by the 33 strings of the City of Birmingham's Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jules Buckley, which adds another touch of drama to the night.
Washington clearly wants the members of his band to have some time in the spotlight as well: he stands to one side during a spine-tingling keys solo from the legend that is Brandon Cole; invites his father Rickey Washington onstage - “the man who taught me everything I know” - with the notes from his soprano sax flying nimbly up into the eaves, and beams as Patrice Quinn slays the vocals on "The Rhythm Changes".
Much has been said about how Washington’s collaborations with some of the modern greats of American hip hop is helping to bring jazz to a new audience; so fans of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly could easily delve into the works of Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock.
“I’m a recovering daydreamer, and I dream a lot about being in space,” he tells the audience, introducing a brand new track, ‘The Space Traveller’s Lullaby’, which is strongly reminiscent of Disney's Fantasia with its swooping, magical themes.
Despite a slightly muffled sound at the RAH (Washington seems to get drowned out by the backing instrumentation at times), the performance is a lively one - it draws to a soaring, elegant close - and it's the perfect setting to showcase a fascinating artist who is clearly going to go onto break more new ground.
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