カマシ・ワシントン初となる映画音楽スコア 『Becoming』CD盤が発売決定!

ジャズ・シーンを代表するサックス奏者、作曲家カマシ・ワシントンが初めて手掛けた映画音楽作品『Becoming』が待望のCD盤でリリース。
本作は2020年5月にNETFLIXで公開されたナディア・ハルグレン監督による元ファーストレディ、ミシェル・オバマに密着したドキュメンタリー映画のために書き下ろされた新曲と再録された過去の楽曲を含む全15曲を収録。

カマシが全楽曲の作曲とプロデュースを手がけ、ライアン・ポーター、マイルス・モズレー、キャメロン・グレイヴス、トニー・オースティンらネクスト・ステップの面々と父リッキー・ワシントンといった馴染みのメンバーに加え、ディアンジェロ、ジル・スコット、ローリン・ヒルらのバックを務めるトランペッターのドンテイ・ウィンスロー、NYコンテンポラリー注目の即興演奏家ショーン・サンダレガー、LAの手練ケネス・クラウチがレコーディングに参加。

清々しい高揚感を纏ったライトメロウな表題曲「Becoming」、あまりにも耽美なピアノを背に優しいサックス・ブロウが染み渡るバラード「Song For Fraser」、バンド・アンサンブルとストリングスがゆっくりと溶け合う中でカマシの祝砲が上がる「I Am Becoming」などあくまで画面に寄り添いながらも、シンプルなテーマや旋律が美しく煌めくウェストコースト・ジャズが爽やかに駆け抜ける名演をおさめた一枚となっている。

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2020/09/11）

In scoring Becoming, director Nadia Hallgrens Michelle Obama documentary, saxophonist, composer, and arranger Kamasi Washington reveals a side of his musical universe weve not encountered on his own sprawling, spiritually inspired albums. He drew inspiration from Hallgrens counsel, her narrative frames, and Obamas life and musical tastes -- he listened to her playlists in preparation. These 15 cues clock in at just over 30 minutes, offering an enforced brevity that presented a challenge: His recordings can reach three hours. To help fulfill his vision, Washington enlisted longtime compatriots the West Coast Get Down collective. Washington, like Hallgren, zeroes in on essences in emotion and meaning. He gets straight to the heart, using cues based on circular riffs, not chord or mode changes. The lithe, bossa groove in opener Shot Out of a Cannon slips and slithers. Guided by a trap kit, its lilting horns, hovering piano and organ, and acoustic guitar offer a breezy welcome. The title theme weds the graceful soul of Curtis Mayfield to Philadelphia Internationals elegant charts. In Take in the Story, Washington re-creates the feel of sunshine breaking through immense cloud cover; his soprano whispers a love theme before quoting America the Beautiful as part of it. Southside V.1 weds storefront church gospel to gritty soul-jazz as a simmering B-3 highlights the rich, warm vibrato from his tenor sax. The Rhythm Changes joins slippery, cinematic funk to pillowy horn harmonies, bumping bass line, and psychedelic souls wah-wah guitar like a groove from the early days of the Love Unlimited Orchestra. Detail, with its rumbling upright bass line pushing a fluid piano (played throughout the album by Cameron Graves), offers a harmonic structure that reveals the influence of Vince Guaraldis Charlie Brown scores and Washingtons love of Gerald Wilsons arrangements. Provocation is dark; its a processional framed by entwined contrapuntal statements and textures from reeds, brass, winds, and strings, guided by rippling piano. Looking Forward is a meditative spiritual weave of strings, organ, and gently swelling brass. I Am Becoming frames a resonant Hi Records-inspired soul melody with wordless backing vocals adding a gospel feel atop an emergent B-3, piano, keys, and strings. Washington leads the solos with a meaty, reedy tenor break followed by electric guitar and muted trombone. Closer Southside V.2 updates and expands its predecessor by evoking the gutbucket soul-jazz of Von and George Freeman while grafting on rousing, sophisticated horn arrangements inspired by the Jazz Crusaders. While the restraint here is a surprise, Washington is directly locked in and committed to the complex emotions and history that Hallgren evokes in framing Obamas story. On Becoming, he offers succinct, gently powerful themes that reflect the source material for music hes absorbed and played throughout his life. While its impossible to say how much Becoming will influence what Washington does next, dont bet against it playing a significant role. ~ Thom Jurek

Rovi