Kamasi Washington

Saxophonist, bandleader and composer Kamasi Washington, who exploded out of the Los Angeles music scene to become one of the most celebrated and visible faces of jazz today, returns for his first SFJAZZ appearance in nearly a decade to bring his latest movement-inspired 2024 release Fearless Movement to his performance at the Golden Gate Theatre.

Born to saxophonist Rickey Washington, Kamasi was steeped in the jazz of John Coltrane from infancy and mentored by prominent jazz educator Reggie Andrews as well as drumming luminary Billy Higgins at the World Stage – the Leimert Park music mecca he created. Through this iconic creative hub Washington met many of the musicians he now performs with in the loose conglomeration called the West Coast Get-Down, including bassist Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner and saxophonist Terrace Martin.

Washington’s work on hip-hop megastar Kendrick Lamar’s GRAMMY-winning landmark To Pimp a Butterfly exposed a generation to his nascent genius, and his epochal 2015 debut The Epic made a sprawling statement of purpose that catapulted his profile to that of the biggest crossover jazz artist on the scene, earning Album of the Year in the DownBeat Critics Poll and selling out concert halls over the world.

Washington earned a GRAMMY nomination for his 2020 soundtrack to the Michelle Obama documentary Becoming, and his newest album, Fearless Movement, is a small group session inspired by his recent fatherhood.