It's tempting to hear
Kamasi Washington
's six-track
Harmony of Difference
suite as a follow-up to his sprawling, justifiably acclaimed three-hour debut
The Epic
. But this EP, at just over half-an-hour, is, in many ways, a standalone work. It was performed in New York at The Whitney Biennial as part of a show that included a film by director
A.G. Rojas
and paintings by
Washington
's sister
Amani
. According to the artist, it was composed to explore "the philosophical possibilities of the musical technique known as 'counterpoint.'"
defines it as "the art of balancing similarity and difference to create harmony between separate melodies." That description is, at least in this setting, akin to metaphor in the current socio-political-cultural era where flash point battles over issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, and cultural appropriation are being waged afresh.
These six tunes reveal
's compositional and arrangement mastery. Five relatively short themes are all standalone tunes but are all embodied in the 13-minute climax "Truth," which embodies tenets from all of the preceding tunes but is an entirely new holistic rainbow of sound.
draws heavily on numerous influences from '70s jazz here, as well as the modal influence of
John Coltrane
. "Desire" introduces a melodic theme that emerges from spiritual soul-jazz, but with
Matt Haze
's electric guitar and a wordless vocal chorus, it touches on everything from
Billy Harper
's
Capra Black
(second side) to
Santana
Caravanserai
and
Norman Connors
' first three albums -- in four-and-a-half minutes! It opens onto the progressive big band -- a la
Gerald Wilson
-- of "Humility," which sports a fleet, knotty piano solo from
Cameron Graves
, a soulful trumpet break from
Dontae Winslow
, and
's squalling solo above a B-3, and the interplay between two drummers (
Tony Austin
Ronald Bruner, Jr.
) and bassist
Miles Mosely
. "Knowledge" and "Perspective" make full use of
CTI
's illustrious palette for arrangement with an expansive horn chart.
Ryan Porter
's trombone solo comes right out of Los Angeles soul (the former) while
Kamasi
's honk and groove in the latter suggests the fleet funk of
Grover Washington, Jr.
and adds
Thundercat
on electric bass. The smooth switch gets flipped on in "Integrity," whose theme and rhythms actively engage Brazilian, Latin jazz, and West African jazz. The sprawling "Truth" adds a choir, vibes, and a full string section as it embraces the themes of its predecessors and stretches them to the breaking point, where they seamlessly meld into a wonder of color, tempo, improvisation, and lush exotic form.
reveals a gentler, more economical, but no less adventurous
. It's chock-full of refreshing, sophisticated ideas, all balanced by an empathic, emphatic inclusiveness that engages the listener at both musical and emotional levels. ~ Thom Jurek