Article Contributed by Boulder Theater
Published on 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
