Kamasi Washington Kamasi Washington

Washington was born in Los Angeles, California, to musical parents and educators, and was raised in Inglewood, California. He is a graduate of the Academy of Music of Alexander Hamilton High School in the Beverlywood, Los Angeles. Washington next enrolled in UCLA's Department of Ethnomusicology, where he began playing with faculty members such as Kenny Burrell, Billy Higgins and band leader/trumpeter Gerald Wilson. Washington released the album Young Jazz Giants in 2004. He has since played along with a musically diverse group of musicians including Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Horace Tapscott, Gerald Wilson, Lauryn Hill, Nas, Snoop Dogg, George Duke, Chaka Khan, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Francisco Aguabella, the Pan Afrikaan People's Orchestra and Raphael Saadiq. Washington ventured into big band music when he joined the Gerald Wilson Orchestra for their 2006 album In Our Time.Washington played saxophone on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly and released a solo album, The Epic in 2015.