Legendary west coast jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington has announced a new album – Fearless Movement – along with a tour that kicks off on May 4 at the Beacon Theatre.
Along with the tour announcement, Washington has released the first track from Fearless Movement, “Prologue,” alongside a mesmerizing video directed by longtime collaborator AG Rojas and choreographed by Samantha Blake Goodman.
Kamasi Washington is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader born and raised in Los Angeles, who has released three albums, all acclaimed – The Epic; Harmony of Difference, and Heaven and Earth. In 2020, Washington scored the Michelle Obama documentary Becoming, earning Emmy and GRAMMY nominations for his work.
Washington views Fearless Movement his dance album: “It’s not literal. Dance is movement and expression, and in a way it’s the same thing as music—expressing your spirit through your body. That’s what this album is pushing.”
With his previous albums dealing with cosmic ideas and existential concepts, Fearless Movement focuses on the everyday, an exploration of life on earth. This change in scope is due in large part to the birth of Washington’s first child a few years ago. A dance album as an embodied form of expression signals a shift in focus for Washington.
“Being a father means the horizon of your life all of a sudden shows up. My mortality became more apparent to me, but also my immortality—realizing that my daughter is going to live on and see things that I’m never going to see. I had to become comfortable with this, and that affected the music that I was making.”
Kamasi Washington, on Fearless Movement
The album also features Washington’s daughter, who wrote the melody to “Asha The First” during some of her first experimentations on the piano, as well as a host of collaborators. Among them, André 3000 appears on flute, George Clinton lends his voice, as do BJ The Chicago Kid, Inglewood rapper D-Smoke and Taj and Ras Austin of Coast Contra, the twin sons of West Coast legend Ras Kass. Washington has also enlisted lifelong friends and collaborators Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Patrice Quinn, Brandon Coleman, DJ Battlecat and more.
Fearless Movement also features “The Garden Path,” a song Washington performed for the first time ever, making his late-night television debut, on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
Washington has announced an extensive North American tour kicking off May 4 at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre with dates in Chicago, Houston, San Francisco and the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival, which he will co-curate with Herbie Hancock for the second year in a row, on June 16.
Pre-order/Pre-save Fearless Movement here. Tickets for Kamasi Washington at the Beacon Theatre, and all shows, are on sale March 8 at 10am, here.
KAMASI WASHINGTON 2024 TOUR
May 4—New York, NY—Beacon Theatre
May 5—Philadelphia, PA—Union Transfer
May 7—Toronto, QC—History
May 8—Cincinnati, OH—Ludlow Garage
May 9—Detroit, MI—St. Andrews Hall
May 10—Chicago, IL—Thalia Hall
May 11—St. Paul, MN—Fitzgerald Theater
May 12—Omaha, NB—Slowdown
May 14—Houston, TX—House of Blues Houston
May 15—Dallas, TX—House of Blues Dallas
May 16—San Antonio, TX—Empire Theater
May 17—Austin, TX—Empire Garage
May 30—Vancouver, BC—The Vogue Theatre
May 31—Seattle, WA—The Showbox
June 1—Eugene, OR—McDonald Theatre
June 2—Portland, OR—Crystal Ballroom
June 5—Sacramento, CA—Crest Theatre
June 6—Monterey, CA—Golden State Theatre
June 7—San Francisco, CA—Warfield
June 8—Santa Cruz, CA—The Catalyst
June 9—Solana Beach, CA—Belly Up
June 11—Mesa, AZ—Mesa Arts Center
June 16—Los Angeles, CA—Hollywood Bowl Jazz Fest
July 31—Alexandria, VA—The Birchmere