Jazz Master Kamasi Washington Will Bring His Talents to the Arsht Center

Kamasi Washington, a master of contemporary jazz music, will take his talents to downtown Miami this winter. The Los Angeles-born composer and multi-instrumentalist will perform at the Adrienne Arsht Center's Knight Concert Hall on Thursday, February 13. The show, part of the Arsht's Live at Knight concert series, will be Washington's debut performance in Miami.

Few jazz musicians have emerged in the last two decades that rival Washington in terms of ambition and creative audacity. First breaking out with his 2013 album The Epic, a three-disc monstrosity that reintroduced Coltrane-influenced spiritual jazz style to music fans, the tenor saxophone specialist has been instrumental in bringing the genre back into the public consciousness. His West Coast Get Down collective, founded in 2006, includes the likes of bassist Thundercat and Terrance Martin. Most of its members rose to fame when they played as session musicians on Kendrick Lamar's instant-classic 2015 record To Pimp A Butterfly, which blended jazz and hip-hop in new and unprecedented ways.

Since then, Washington has released two more multivolume albums, the conceptual Heaven and Earth in 2018 and the dance music-influenced Fearless Movement last year. Thundercat and Martin return for the most recent record, which also includes collabs with George Clinton and André 3000. Washington has also worked on high-profile projects outside his own career. In 2020, he scored the Netflix documentary Becoming, which focuses on former First Lady Michelle Obama, earning Emmy and Grammy nominations. The following year, his group Dinner Party, featuring Martin, Robert Glasper, and 9th Wonder, also earned a Grammy nomination for "Best Progressive R&B Album." Washington co-curates the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Fest alongside the legendary Herbie Hancock, and he's also collaborated with Snoop Dogg, Flying Lotus, Childish Gambino, and others.

Consider this an addendum to the best winter concerts list. For jazz heads, as well as anyone who appreciates great music, Washington is unmissable, especially in a venue like the Arsht.

Kamasi Washington. 8 p.m. Thursday, February 13, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 786-468-2000; arshtcenter.org. Tickets cost $45 to $120.