Change of the Guard

Change of the Guard is not just a song: it is a journey that spans over twelve minutes, where Kamasi Washington's saxophone paints soundscapes that breathe between the epic and the intimate. There is no rush in its structure, yet it never loses its way. The piece unfolds with a cadence that recalls those moments when a band lets itself be carried by improvisation without losing cohesion, as if each note were another step in a conversation that has lasted for decades. What is most striking is not its length, but how it manages to sustain that creative tension without falling into empty repetitions. The lead saxophone —which dominates the first half— weaves with rhythmic sections that seem to move in layers, as if time itself were stretching and contracting to the rhythm of the music.

The recording of The Epic, the album where Change of the Guard appears, was an organic process that brought together seven engineers —Tony Austin, Chris Constable, Julie Everson, Carson Lehman, Conrad Leon, Brian Rosemeyer, and Tyler Shields— under the direction of Kamasi Washington as arranger and producer. The mix, handled by Benjamin Tierney, reinforces that sense of space: the instruments do not compete with one another, but instead complement each other, as if each had its own place on the stage. The result was an album that, upon its release on May 5, 2015, received an average score of 83 on Metacritic based on seven critical reviews, a recognition that reflected its immediate impact on the contemporary jazz scene. They weren’t trying to sound like anyone else: they wanted the music to breathe, and that’s exactly what they achieved.