Kamasi Washington: Fearless Movement (2CD)

Washington describes "Fearless Movement" as his dance album. "It's not to be taken literally," says Washington. "Dance is movement and expression, and in a way it's the same as music - you express your mind through your body. That's what drives this album." Dance as an embodied form of expression represents a shift in focus for Washington. While previous albums dealt with cosmic ideas and existential concepts, "Fearless Movement" focuses on the mundane, an exploration of life on earth. This shift is due in large part to the birth of Washington's first child a few years ago. "Being a father means that the horizon of your life suddenly appears," Washington says. "My mortality was made more clear to me, but also my immortality - I realized that my daughter will live on and experience things that I will never see. I had to come to terms with that, and it affected the music I was making." The album features Washington's daughter - who wrote the melody to "Asha The First" during some of her first experiments at the piano - as well as a number of new and old collaborators. André 3000 plays 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 such as Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Patrice Quinn, Brandon Coleman, DJ Battlecat and many others. The album also features "The Garden Path," a song that Washington debuted on late-night television for the first time ever on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."