Live Review: Kamasi Washington, Micah Heathwood @ The Palais, Melbourne

Melbourne’s jazz heads were out in force last night and huddled inside the Palais. Even the icy cold weather couldn’t put a damper on their spirits. 

Micah Heathwood, presenting as a trio, got the evening started with a short set of tunes that confidently connected the dots between experimental jazz and electronic music. An exciting new talent, it feels as though Heathwood is embarking on a musical journey that will attract plenty of attention.

Soon afterwards, Kamasi Washington and his band, an octet of minstrels, literally warmed the crowd with a wild blast of red-hot jazz.

The show kicked off with a version of Lesanu which featured Washington dealing a stonking sax solo that, seemingly endless, just grew in intensity as it rolled over waves of wild crescendo to breathtaking effect. The tune is all about celebrating music as something that should be an intrinsic part of our lives. As Washington talks about Lesanu, he reveals an undeniable passion for creating music. 

Washington is also a gentle giant of a man whose family values shine when he talks about his daughter and her practice of playing her piano at the tender age of four. Asha The First takes a simple melody she came up with and turns it into a delicious slice of funked-up jazz goodness that has a certain streetwise urban attitude that is just fun.

That sense of fun underscored his last album, Fearless Movement, which saw a shift away from the more spiritual meditations delivered on albums like Heaven And Earth and even The Epic. This doesn’t mean that Washington has adopted a standard three-minute pop format.

His tunes remain epic explorations of a vibe that build, grow and evolve to their logical conclusion. They played for almost two hours but gave us a setlist comprised of just eight tunes. Each track was intended to take us on an emotional voyage of discovery through the musical landscapes they conjured. This approach meant that tunes we had hoped to hear from Fearless Movement were not included in tonight’s set. 

The pace slackened with the love song Together written by the outfit’s trombone player, Ryan Porter. “I had a baby after hearing this song,” said Washington. “I’m sure there will be plenty more of us in the morning,” he joked.

Prolific as all hell, Washington started to showcase soundtrack music he had produced for the series Lazarus, which was created by the legendary anime director Shinichirō Watanabe. In producing this music, Washington made it clear that he was in absolute awe of working with a personal hero. He led the band through an explosive version of the frenetic Vortex ahead of the tender Sageness. These tunes find the band aggressively showcasing their mastery over their instruments in extravagant displays of virtuosity.

There was enough time and space for Washington to give each of his band members time to solo and explore or expand upon the musical motifs of these cuts. Washington’s father, Rickey Washington, added so much to the mix playing flute and soprano sax across all of these songs. Vocalist Patrice Quinn’s lyrical meditations, delivered with heart and soul, added a very human dimension to these tracks. DJ Battlecat’s scratch mixing delivered a contemporaneous flourish that integrated with everything the band played. Meanwhile, Miles Mosley drops one of the most amazing double bass solos you could wrap your ears around on Prologue. 

Washington has clearly surrounded himself with a team of crack musicians who each play an important part in delivering the electrifying sound that has become his signature. He at once conforms to traditional ideas of the jazz idiom but also moves it forward in the most exciting way possible.

In an astounding display of musicianship, Washington’s wild sax solo on Re Run saw him tooting that horn like a maniac, suggesting that his lung capacity was seemingly limitless. A more sedate Vi Lua Vi Sol rounded the night out on a resolute high.