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Jun 19, 2024 By Mark Redfern

Modern jazz icon Kamasi Washington released a new album, Fearless Movement, in May via Young. Now he has shared an accompanying short film, Get Lit. Named after one of the singles from the album, Jenn Nkiru directed the 13-minute film, which features Washington, fellow musician Saul Williams, and Washington’s longtime bandmember Patrice Quinn. There are also appearances from George Clinton, D Smoke, Willow Smith, Raphael Saadiq, Robert Glasper, and more. Watch it below, followed by Washington’s upcoming tour dates.

Get Lit was filmed in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Leimert Park “where Washington developed his roots as a jazz musician,” points out a press release. Nkiru previously worked with Washington on As Told To G/D Thyself, which was another short film tied to one of his albums, 2018’s Heaven and Earth. That short debuted at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Fearless Movement features “The Garden Path,” a new song he 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 TV debut. “The Garden Path” was one of our Songs of the Week. When the album was announced, Washington shared its second single, “Prologue,” via a music video. “Prologue” was one of our Songs of the Week. Then he shared its third single, “Dream State,” which features André 3000, who plays flute, and was also one of our Songs of the Week. Then he shared its fourth single, “Get Lit,” which features George Clinton and Inglewood rapper D-Smoke.

Various other musicians contribute vocals to Fearless Movement, including BJ The Chicago Kid and Taj and Ras Austin of Coast Contra (who are the twin sons of California rapper Ras Kass). The album also features regular collaborators Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Patrice Quinn, Brandon Coleman, and DJ Battlecat.

Washington says Fearless Movement is his dance album, but that doesn’t mean he’s switched 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 this album is pushing.”

Another big influence on this album was the birth of Washington’s daughter a few years ago. She is even featured on the album in that she wrote the melody to the album’s “Asha the First” when she was first experimenting on the piano.

“Being a father means the horizon of your life all of a sudden shows up,” says Washington. “My mortality became more apparent to me, but also my immortality—realizing that my daughter is going to live on and see things that I’m never going to see. I had to become comfortable with this, and that affected the music that I was making.”

Washington’s last album was the acclaimed double album, Heaven and Earth, released in 2018. It was our #1 album of 2018. Read our 2018 cover story interview with Washington.

Washington was also one of the artists on the cover of our 20th Anniversary Issue (Issue 69).

He’s also in the supergroup Dinner Party, alongside Terrace Martin and Robert Glasper, and they released a new album, Enigmatic Society, in 2023.

Kamasi Washington Tour Dates:

July 31—Alexandria, VA—The Birchmere
August 2—Newport, RI—Newport Jazz Festival
October 1—Athens, GR—Acropolis of Athens
October 3—Rome, IT—Roma Jazz Festival / Parco Della Música
October 4—Milan, IT—JAZZMI / Alcatraz
October 6—Barcelona, ES—Barcelona Jazz Festival / Razzmatazz
October 7—Madrid, ES—La Riviera
October 9—Lisbon, PT—Coliseu
October 10—Porto, PT—Hard Club
October 12—Bordeaux, FR—Rocher de Palmer
October 13—Paris, FR—Salle Pleyel
October 15—Manchester, UK—Albert Hall
October 16—London, UK—O2 Academy Brixton
October 17—Cardiff, UK—The Great Hall
October 20—Gateshead, UK—The Glasshouse
October 21—Leeds, UK—Project House
October 22—Glasgow, UK—Barrowland Ballroom
October 23—Dublin, IE—3Olympia Theatre
October 28—Brussels, BE—Bozar
October 29—Zurich, CH—X-TRA
October 31—Lausanne, CH—Jazz Onze+ / Les Docks
November 1—Bologna, IT—Estragon Club
November 3—Warsaw, PL—Stodola
November 4—Krakow, PL—Klub Studio
November 5—Brno, CZ—JAZZFESTBRNO / Sono Centrum
November 6—Munich, DE—Theaterfabrik
November 7—Cologne, DE—Carlswerk Victoria
November 9—Groningen, NL—Rockit / De Oosterpoort
November 10—Amsterdam, NL—Paradiso
November 11—Utrect, NL—TivoliVredenburg
November 13—Berlin, DE—Theater des Westens
November 15—Stockholm, SE—Fållan
November 16—Malmo, SE—Moriska Paviljongen
November 17—Oslo, NO—Den Norske Opera

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