The best word to describe The Epic is "revelation." I will freely admit I don't pay terribly close attention to new jazz releases; it's not that I believe the genre has peaked and there's really no reason to keep up with it, but I guess it's more like I really don't know where to start and most albums I have listened to didn't necessarily feel terribly important in the grand scheme. Then, along came this record. Give it all the superlatives you possibly can. Greatest jazz album in decades, sure. Among the all-time greats, probably. I feel like Kamasi really showed me that it's still worth digging. Even in a genre where seemingly all the greatest works are 60 years behind us, there's always going to be the chance that something will stand the test of time, and boy oh boy does this ever. I will never get over the sheer hubris to release a triple album, where literally any combination of these tracks of normal album length could be the greatest album of any year this generation. Rather than spreading out the music over time and milking the creative explosion as long as he could, Kamasi was just like "here ya go." Legend.

Reviewed on Tuesday, January 31st, 2023, 12:04pm.

If the three other tracks were as good as "The River," we might be talking about an all-time favorite album here. I feel they accomplished basically that with Ice, Death... in 2022, but this lays some major fundamental groundwork for that album to occur. It cements my opinion that this band is at their best when they are loose, feeling each other out, like a jam band, but doing things in their own style unlike any jam band out there. It's almost rhythmic jamming over taking turns soloing, which I think works incredibly well. Each song feels like an organism, shifting and pulsing as it moves along. Seeing them play "The River" back in October was a highlight for me for sure, and really showcased what I'm talking about above. Cavs wholly led the jam and the band followed his lead, all working together to build a big soundscape rather than something flashy.

Reviewed on Friday, January 6th, 2023, 12:52pm.

This is probably the most definitive embodiment of my least favorite lane of Gizz, which is still just awesome music when the mood strikes. It even has a few really classic tracks like "Trapdoor" and "Sense." Just always gonna prefer a little bit more fuzz in my Gizzard.

Reviewed on Tuesday, January 10th, 2023, 3:20pm.