Kamasi Washington Shares Video For New Song “Dream State” (Feat. André 3000)
Fearless Movement Out May 3 via Young
April 04, 2024
Photo by Vincent Haycock
Modern jazz icon Kamasi Washington releases a new album, Fearless Movement, out May 3 via Young. Now he's shared his third single, 'Dream State', featuring flute-playing André 3000. Check out the video for the song below, followed by Washington's upcoming tour dates.
Last year the André 3000 was released New Blue Sun, an instrumental album featuring his flute playing. He said of the partnership in a press release: “When you get a message from a friend of wind something beautiful usually happens. The day Kamasi invited me to a session for Fearless Movement I was such a dude and he honored me. Now, every time we get together something interesting happens. We first played during a recording for New Blue Sun and she has been fertile ever since.”
Washington had this to say: “Dream State is a celebration of life and the opportunity it gives us to explore new possibilities. We created this song together right away as we were improvising the music we were making at the time. It was such an honor to work on this song with one of my heroes, the great André 3000. And what an amazing experience André 3000, Brandon Coleman, Tony Austin, Mono/Poly and I were sliding freely into that world of sound without knowing where we would end up, but happy in the journey itself.”
Fearless Movement features “The Garden Path,” a new song she shared in 2022. The day after the song was shared, Washington performed it for the first time on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which was also his television debut. “The Garden Path” was one of the songs of the week. When the album was announced, Washington shared her second single, “Prologue,” via a music video. “Prologue” was one of the songs of the week.
Various musicians contribute vocals Fearless Movement, including George Clinton, BJ The Chicago Kid, Inglewood rapper D-Smoke and Coast Contra's Taj and Ras Austin (who are the twin sons of California rapper Ras Kass). The album also features regular Thundercat collaborators Terrace Martin, Patrice Quinn, Brandon Coleman and DJ Battlecat.
Washington says Fearless Movement is his dance album, but that doesn't mean he's turned to electronic music. “It's not literal,” Washington says in a press release. “Dance is movement and expression, and in a way it's the same thing as music—expressing your spirit through your body. That's what drives this album.”
Another big influence on this album was the birth of Washington's daughter a few years ago. He is even featured on the album as he wrote the melody to the album's “Asha the First” when he was first experimenting with the piano.
“Being a father means that the horizon of your life suddenly appears,” says Washington. “My mortality became more apparent to me, but so did my immortality – realizing that my daughter will live on and see things I will never see. I had to get comfortable with that and that affected the music I was making.”
Washington's last album was the acclaimed double album, HEAVEN and earthreleased in 2018. It was our #1 album of 2018. Read our 2018 cover interview with Washington.
Washington was also one of the cover artists for our 20th anniversary issue (Issue 69).
He is also in the supergroup Dinner Party, along with Terrace Martin and Robert Glasper, and has released a new album, Enigmatic Societyin 2023.
Kamasi Washington tour Dates:
May 4 — New York, NY — Beacon Theatre
May 5—Philadelphia, PA—Union Transportation
May 7 — Toronto, QC — History
May 8 — Cincinnati, Ohio — Ludlow Garage
May 9 — Detroit, MI — St. Andrews Hall
May 10 — Chicago, IL — Thalia Hall
May 11 — Minneapolis, MN — Fitzgerald Theatre
May 12 — Omaha, NB — Slowdown
May 14—Houston, TX—House of Blues Houston
May 15 — Dallas, TX — House of Blues Dallas
May 16 — San Antonio, Texas — Empire Theatre
May 17 — Austin, Texas — Empire Garage
May 30 — Vancouver, BC — Vogue
May 31 — Seattle, Washington — The Showbox
June 1 — Eugene, OR — McDonald Theater
June 2 — Portland, OR — Crystal Ballroom
June 5 — Sacramento, CA — Crest Theatre
June 6 — Monterey, CA — Golden State Theatre
June 7 — San Francisco, CA — Warfield
June 8 — Santa Cruz, CA — The Catalyst
June 9 — San Diego, CA — Belly Up
June 11—Mesa, AZ—Mesa Arts Center
June 16 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Jazz festival
from our partners at http://www.undertheradarmag.com/news/kamasi_washington_shares_video_for_new_song_dream_state_feat._andre_3000
