Kamasi Washington & Bartees Strange in Portland

Kamasi Washington is an American tenor saxophonist, composer and bandleader born in Los Angeles in 1981. He is known for expansive contemporary and spiritual jazz on albums including The Epic, Heaven and Earth and Fearless Movement, as well as his work on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. Kamasi Washington brought his band to Coachella and Glastonbury in 2016 after the release of The Epic. In 2019, he joined Herbie Hancock for a co-headlining North American tour that included the Hollywood Bowl. He performs as a bandleader on tenor saxophone, presenting extended compositions through a large ensemble. His touring bands have included trombonist Ryan Porter and drummer Tony Austin, fellow members of the West Coast Get Down collective.

Bartees Strange is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who was born in Ipswich, England, and raised in Mustang, Oklahoma. His music draws on indie rock, punk, rap and R&B; albums including Live Forever, Farm to Table and Horror feature songs such as “Boomer,” “Heavy Heart” and “Wretched.” He performed at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago in 2021, then opened selected North American dates for The National in 2022. In 2023, Bartees Strange performed at Coachella with his touring band.