Apollo Theater And AFROPUNK Present Kamasi Washington February 23rd

Apollo Theater in partnership with AFROPUNK present Race Music, a powerful weekend that will explore the intersection of music, film and politics. The series will be anchored by a special performance by the incomparable Kamasi Washington on Saturday, February 23 at 8:00 p.m. Considered a torchbearer for progressive, improvisational music and critically acclaimed for his afro-futuristic vision of spirituality and music, Washington and his band, The Next Step, will take the audience on an odyssey that will cross musical genres from jazz, to hip-hop, classical and R&B music. For this special evening, Washington will perform music from his latest double album, Heaven and Earth. The New Yorker praised the album, saying "In another life, the saxophonist Washington might have been a film director specializing in grandiose productions...Drawing on the inclusive spirit of seventies soul jazz and utilizing massed strings, vocals, and a contingent of eclectic improvisers, Washington creates his effect by painting with sweeping brushstrokes."

Beyond Heaven and Earth and his rapturously received 2015 debut The Epic, Washington's recent projects include Harmony of Difference, an EP and standalone multimedia installation during the prestigious 2017 Whitney Museum Biennial as well as collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Florence + the Machine, John Legend, Run the Jewels, Ibeyi and many more.

Apollo Theater Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes noted, "As the Apollo continues its season long, SAY IT LOUD theme, it is important for the Theater to partner with other organizations like AFROPUNK and artists like Kamasi Washington who value and celebrate the contributions Black artists have made to every facet of culture."

Matthew Morgan, co-Founder of AFROPUNK said "The term 'race music' or 'race records' was originally coined by Okeh Records executive, Ralph Peer in the late 1920s/early '30s. It was meant to segregate the then-new-but-exploding recorded music market. Race music was any music thought to be consumed mostly by black audiences, be it blues, jazz, ragtime, or gospel. as is often our habit, we at AFROPUNK approach this thought, conceived to separate people, as a call-to-arms that brings us together. We are very excited to once again partner with the Apollo Theater on this series that celebrates the 'race' artists who were out front in the fight for civil rights and leading cultural conversations then and now."

For more information please visit https://www.apollotheater.org/event/kamasi-washington/

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