Kamasi Washington returns to "The Tonight Show" to perform "Lesanu"

KAMASI WASHINGTON RETURNS TO
“THE TONIGHT SHOW” TO PERFORM “LESANU”

FEARLESS MOVEMENT OUT NOW

Photo credit: Todd Owyoung/NBC

December 13, 2024—Last night, multi-instrumentalist, composer bandleader Kamasi Washington returned to “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” to perform “Lesanu” from his much-lauded 2024 album Fearless Movement. Watch it here.

Washington and his band—featuring his father Rickey Washington on flute, Ryan Porter on trombone, Brandon Coleman and Cameron Graves on keys and piano, Tony Austin and Mike Mitchell on drums, Miles Mosley on bass, Patrice Quinn on vocals and DJ Battlecat—were joined by a group of Ethiopian dancers performing traditional movements from around the country choreographed by Dereje Bekele and Bethlehem Bekele.

The performance caps off a monumental year for Washington, who unveiled Fearless Movement in May to universal critical acclaim, played a completely sold-out tour of North America, co-curated the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Fest with Herbie Hancock for the second year and made his NPR Tiny Desk Concert debut this fall.

Fearless Movement features collaborations with André 3000, Thundercat, George Clinton, Terrace Martin and a number of others.

Critical praise for Fearless Movement…

“The saxophone colossus of our time”—NPR Music

“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

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

“Fearless Movement, the Los Angeles artist's third full-length project, takes his existential talents to new heights with exuberant configurations of his four-dimensional sound.”—The FADER

“Fearless Movement is the sound of Washington digging deeper into his signature style while broadening his horizons; his tone is tight as ever, but he remains loose as he listens and levitates along with his closest collaborators. Clocking in at almost ninety minutes, it’s a true journey and no onslaught of adjectives can hope to truly conjure its scope and strength.”—WXPN

Kamasi Washington is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader born and raised in Los Angeles. His four bodies of work to date—The Epic, Harmony of Difference, an EP originally commissioned for the 2017 Whitney Biennial, Heaven and Earth and Fearless Movement—are among the most acclaimed of this century. As Told To G/D Thyself, his short film companion to Heaven and Earth, debuted at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival to widespread acclaim. 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.