In scoring Becoming, director Nadia Hallgren's Michelle Obama documentary, saxophonist, composer, and arranger Kamasi Washington reveals a side of his musical universe we've not encountered on his own sprawling, spiritually inspired albums. He drew inspiration from Hallgren's counsel, her narrative frames, and Obama's life and musical tastes -- he listened to her playlists in preparation. These 15 cues clock in at just over 30 minutes, offering an enforced brevity that presented a challenge: His recordings can reach three ...
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In scoring Becoming, director Nadia Hallgren's Michelle Obama documentary, saxophonist, composer, and arranger Kamasi Washington reveals a side of his musical universe we've not encountered on his own sprawling, spiritually inspired albums. He drew inspiration from Hallgren's counsel, her narrative frames, and Obama's life and musical tastes -- he listened to her playlists in preparation. These 15 cues clock in at just over 30 minutes, offering an enforced brevity that presented a challenge: His recordings can reach three hours. To help fulfill his vision, Washington enlisted longtime compatriots the West Coast Get Down collective. Washington, like Hallgren, zeroes in on essences in emotion and meaning. He gets straight to the heart, using cues based on circular riffs, not chord or mode changes. The lithe, bossa groove in opener "Shot Out of a Cannon" slips and slithers. Guided by a trap kit, its lilting horns, hovering piano and organ, and acoustic guitar offer a breezy welcome. The title theme weds the graceful soul of Curtis Mayfield to Philadelphia International's elegant charts. In "Take in the Story," Washington re-creates the feel of sunshine breaking through immense cloud cover; his soprano whispers a love theme before quoting "America the Beautiful" as part of it. "Southside V.1" weds storefront church gospel to gritty soul-jazz as a simmering B-3 highlights the rich, warm vibrato from his tenor sax. "The Rhythm Changes" joins slippery, cinematic funk to pillowy horn harmonies, bumping bass line, and psychedelic soul's wah-wah guitar like a groove from the early days of the Love Unlimited Orchestra. "Detail," with its rumbling upright bass line pushing a fluid piano (played throughout the album by Cameron Graves), offers a harmonic structure that reveals the influence of Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown scores and Washington's love of Gerald Wilson's arrangements. "Provocation" is dark; it's a processional framed by entwined contrapuntal statements and textures from reeds, brass, winds, and strings, guided by rippling piano. "Looking Forward" is a meditative spiritual weave of strings, organ, and gently swelling brass. "I Am Becoming" frames a resonant Hi Records-inspired soul melody with wordless backing vocals adding a gospel feel atop an emergent B-3, piano, keys, and strings. Washington leads the solos with a meaty, reedy tenor break followed by electric guitar and muted trombone. Closer "Southside V.2" updates and expands its predecessor by evoking the gutbucket soul-jazz of Von and George Freeman while grafting on rousing, sophisticated horn arrangements inspired by the Jazz Crusaders. While the restraint here is a surprise, Washington is directly locked in and committed to the complex emotions and history that Hallgren evokes in framing Obama's story. On Becoming, he offers succinct, gently powerful themes that reflect the source material for music he's absorbed and played throughout his life. While it's impossible to say how much Becoming will influence what Washington does next, don't bet against it playing a significant role. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi
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