NPR Top 50 Albums of 2015: The Epic

[Hot Ptah]

Here is one of the jazz albums mentioned in NPR's Top 50 albums of 2015. Has anyone heard it, and what are your reactions?

 

KAMASI WASHINGTON
The Epic

What happens when one of the linchpins of a quietly humming, tight-knit L.A. jazz scene buckles down for a month in the studio with his usual working band, plus a 32-member orchestra and 20 vocalists? You get a sprawling three-disc, three-hour feat that's heroic in scale and skill alike. Kamasi Washington's The Epic is vertically expansive music that attains both rich depth and soaring height. Washington's arrangements build up those voices and strings in grand layers, while his own tenor sax tone is aggressive and huge. Bassists Thundercat and Miles Mosley and drummers Tony Austin and Ronald Bruner Jr. (Two of each? You bet.) keep everything grounded in the groove even as the tunes get sweepingly spacey. —Rachel Horn

[Scott Dolan]

Do you have it, HP? 

I've considered picking it up, but have yet to pull the trigger. 

[uli]

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?/topic/77573-kamasi-washington-the-epic/

[jlhoots]

I looked at the list. I have 3 of the 50. The Kamasi Washington is NOT one of the three.

[Eric]

I am 0 for 50 and I am generally interested in non-jazz stuff.  Apparently not that interested 

Not to hijack the thread, but does any of this stuff really rock, particularly in a non-mopey (i.e. fun) kind of way?  Serious question.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Eric

[Scott Dolan]

Hahaha... Eric, I'm right there with you. The prevalence of the genre known as Sadcore really irritates the hell out of me. Doom and gloom singer-song writers seem to be quite the fad these days. 

I've got no time for all the whining and crying...

[Hot Ptah]

3 hours ago, uli said:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?/topic/77573-kamasi-washington-the-epic/

This is odd. I used the search function and searched for Epic and Kamasi. Both times nothing came up. So I did not find this prior thread.

3 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

Do you have it, HP? 

I've considered picking it up, but have yet to pull the trigger. 

I just bought it and have listened to it once. I find it to be a pleasant mainstream jazz album, with some    good solos, especially by pianist Cameron Graves and trumpeter Igmar Thomas.

After listening to the album I read the prior thread about the album. I do not know what most of you are talking about. You must have heard a different album than I did.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Hot Ptah

[Shawn]

I just took my 20 or so contenders for 2015 and compared it to the NPR top 50 list.  Unsurprisingly there isn't a single shared album among them.  

 

Not to hijack the thread, but does any of this stuff really rock, particularly in a non-mopey (i.e. fun) kind of way?  Serious question.

Let me know what your definition of fun rock is and I'll see if I can help you out.  The NPR list is abysmal in that area.  

[Buddha the Magnificent]

I bought The Epic when it came out and have really enjoyed it.  Very high energy with a whiff of Star Trek soundtrack to it.  Obviously, it's different from what most jazz acts are putting out and from what most jazz fans are used to listening to.  Bend and stretch; that's a good thing.