Kamasi Washington and artist and director Jenn Nkiru debut the short film for “Get Lit” today, starring legendary musician Saul Williams, longtime bandmember Patrice Quinn and Washington himself, with appearances from funk icon George Clinton, Inglewood rapper D Smoke, Willow Smith, Raphael Saadiq, Robert Glasper and a number of others

The short film was shot in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Leimert Park where Washington developed his roots as a jazz musician. Washington and Nkiru previously collaborated on As Told To G/D Thyself, a short film companion to Washington’s 2018 album Heaven and Earth that debuted at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival to widespread acclaim and features parts of the Nkiru-directed videos for album tracks “Fists of Fury” and “Hub-Tones.”

“Get Lit,” featuring George Clinton and D Smoke, is taken from Washington’s new album Fearless Movement, out now via Young to critical acclaim—get it here. The album features singles “Prologue” and “Dream State” with André 3000, as well as “The Garden Path,” a song Washington performed for the first time ever for his late-night television debut on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” and other collaborations with Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Taj and Ras Austin of Coast Contra, Brandon Coleman, DJ Battlecat, Washington’s daughter Akili and more.

Kamasi recently joined Tom Power to talk about his life in music, his new album, and how being a father has limited his time but expanded his approach.

Fearless Movement continues to receive critical praise:

“Overall, it finds Washington, 43, adhering to his longstanding vision, presenting sprawling, eclectic tracks—12 in just shy of 90 minutes—that refute any notion of jazz as a cloistered musical zone and showcase the chemistry of his core musical crew, a decades-strong friend group that started taking shape in early childhood.”—The New York Times

“Kamasi Washington makes blockbusters…his albums are sprawling affairs with bravura storytelling, connoisseurial knowledge, and a disregard for divisions between genres. They’re the work of an auteur who operates on a grand scale yet manages to do so without letting his ego run riot.” – Financial Times

“Dizzy, dazzling and daring – an album powered by an insatiable sense of wonder” – The i Newspaper

“The amount of talent on display is terrifying, but the music is rich, catchy, hedonistic and joyful. What more do you want?” – Clash

“Fearless Movement is an unabashed, cross-country, transgenerational manifestation and celebration of Black American music, pushing it forward from a deep love of its past not just in the spirit of community but in its actual presence.” – MOJO

“Still a titan of the jazz scene The US saxophonist and bandleader’s sixth studio album stars André 3000, Herbie Hancock and more on this limitless journey” – NME

“These days, Washington is one of the most ambitious bandleaders out there, and his playing is as forceful as his vision.”—The New Yorker

“The saxophone colossus of our time”—NPR

Kamasi Washington is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader born and raised in Los Angeles. His three bodies of work to date—The Epic; Harmony of Difference, an EP originally commissioned for the 2017 Whitney Biennial; and Heaven and Earth—are among the most acclaimed of this century. In 2020, Washington scored the Michelle Obama documentary Becoming, earning Emmy and Grammy nominations for his work. Also in 2020, Washington co-founded the supergroup Dinner Party with longtime friends and collaborators Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper and 9th Wonder—their EP Dinner Party (Dessert) was subsequently nominated for a Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album. In 2021, he contributed a cover of Metallica’s “My Friend of Misery” to the band’s Metallica Blacklist covers project. Washington has toured the world over and collaborated and shared stages with Kendrick Lamar, Florence + the Machine, Herbie Hancock and many more.