The story begins with a man on high. He is an old man, a warrior, and theguardian to the gates of a city. Two miles below his mountainous perch, heobserves a dojo, where a group of young men train night and day. Eventually, theold man expects a challenger to emerge. He hopes for the day of his destruction,for this is the cycle of life. Finally the doors fly open and three young men burst forth to challenge theold master. The first man is quick, but not strong enough. The second is quick,and strong, but not wise enough. The third stands tall, and overtakes themaster. The Changing of the Guard has at long last been achieved. But then the old man wakes up. He looks down at the dojo and realizeshe’s been daydreaming. The dojo below exists, but everyone in training is yet achild. By the time they grow old enough to challenge the old man, he hasdisappeared. This is, in essence, both a true story and a carefully constructed musicaldaydream, one that will further unfold in a brazen release from young LosAngeles jazz giant, composer, and bandleader Kamasi Washington. ‘The Epic’is unlike anything jazz has seen, and not just because it emanates from theboundary-defying Brainfeeder, which isn’t so much a label in the traditionalsense as it is an unfurling experiment conducted by the underground producerFlying Lotus. The Epic is a 172-minute, three-volume set that includes a 32-pieceorchestra, a 20-person choir, and 17 songs overlaid with a compositional scorewritten by Washington. Pulsing underneath is an otherworldly ten-piece band,each member of which is individually regarded as among the best young musicianson the planet – including bassist Thundercat and his brother, drummer RonaldBruner Jr., bassist (yes, there are two) Miles Mosley, drummer Tony Austin (ofcourse there are two), keyboard player Brandon Coleman, pianist Cameron Graves,and trombonist Ryan Porter. Patrice Quinn’s ethereal vocals round out theensemble.