Bleep

Proving his mighty chops as a film score writer as well as a composer, saxophonist and bandleader Kamasi Washington channels a wealth of cinematic energy with his work for the Emmy-nominated Netflix Original Becoming. Where Washington usually favours enormity and cosmic scale — see 2015’s The Epic — Becoming finds him on quietly emotional form, his sultry jazz odysseys bestowed with breezy funk and ballad harmonies. He channels distinctly Isaac Hayes-ian grit on ‘The Rhythm Changes’ and the disc’s title track, while the likes of ‘Song for Frasier’ and ‘Take in the Story’ feel almost like lost Gershwin numbers.