Kamasi Washington is about to light the acid jazz stage on fire with his upcoming album, “Heaven and Earth,” out June 22 via Young Turks. Washington released a video snippet and full song stream of “Street Figher Mas,” an ode to the beloved arcade game of the ’90s. Here’s what he had to say about the new single:
When I was younger, I was in between the end of the arcade generation and the beginning of the console generation. We used to go to this place called Rexall to play Street Fighter. At Rexall, there would be different people from different hoods there playing the game. It was the one place that was like an equalizer. It was just about how good you were at Street Fighter…for the most part. In other places, you were afraid of these dudes; there, you would just play the game and it was what it was, you know? I was really good at Street Fighter, so where the song really came from was me jokingly saying I was going to have my own theme song so that when I showed up to play Street Fighter they’d play my theme song before I came in, like a boxer. In the context of the album, it was the connection that we got with those guys in our neighborhood. We used to call them OGs, the older guys that we looked up to.
In a lot of ways, for me, video games was the way I connected with them because I was never affiliated with any gangs, but I knew them and I was cool with them and that was mainly through the video games. At an older age I thought how amazing would it be if the OGs could just play the game and solve their problems that way. The meaning within the scope of the record is a connection to the past and all of the many ways we can connect.
Don’t miss the talented west coast artist on his extensive tour that will see three Colorado dates this summer.
KAMASI WASHINGTON LIVE
May 30 Brussels, Belgium Salle De La Madeleine
June 1 Amsterdam, Holland Paradiso
June 2 Hamburg, Germany Elbjazz Festival
June 3 Copenhagen, Denmark Pumpehuset
June 15 New York, NY Forest Hills Stadium*
June 16 Minneapolis, MN Rock the Garden
June 23 Pasadena, CA Arroyo Seco
June 24 Vancouver, BC Queen Elizabeth Theatre
June 25 Saskatoon, SK Saskatchewan Jazz Festival
June 29 Waitsfield, VT Friendly Gathering
June 30 Montreal, Quebec Festival International de Jazz de Montreal
July 12 Berkeley, CA Greek Theater†
July 25 Detroit, MI Chene Park Amphitheater
August 4 Dublin, Ireland Beatyard Festival
August 5 Oxfordshire, U.K. Wilderness Festival
August 7 Mainz, Germany Frankfurter Hof Mainz @ Zitadelle Mainz
August 9 Antwerp, Belgium Jazz Middelheim
August 10 Copenhagen, Denmark HAVEN
August 11 Gothenburg, Sweden Way Out West
August 12 Helsinki, Finland FLOW
August 18 Tokyo, Japan Summer Sonic Festival
August 19-20 Tokyo, Japan Billboard Live
August 21 Osaka, Japan Big Cat
August 31 Willemstad, Curacao North Sea Jazz Curacao
September 23 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena‡
September 25 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl‡
September 29 Dallas, TX Pavilion at Toyota Factory‡
September 30 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion‡
October 17 Seattle, WA The Showbox
October 18 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
October 19 San Francisco, CA TBA
October 20 San Luis Obispo, CA Fremont Theater
October 22 Santa Fe, NM Meow Wolf
October 24 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex
October 25 Aspen, CO Belly Up
October 26 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
October 27 Boulder, CO Boulder Theater
October 29 Kansas City, MO The Truman
October 31 Iowa City, IA The Englert Theatre
November 1 Minneapolis, MN TBA
November 2 Madison, WI The Sylvee
November 3 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
November 5 Toronto, CA Sony Centre for The Performing Arts
November 7 Portland, ME State Theatre
November 8 Boston, MA Royale
November 9 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
November 10 Washington D.C. Lincoln Theatre
November 14 Richmond, VA The National
November 15 Raleigh, NC The Ritz
November 16 Nashville, TN Marathon Music Works
November 17 Atlanta, GA Buckhead Theatre
*with Alt-J
†with Sylvan Esso
‡with Florence + The Machine