Kamasi Washington – Harmony of Difference

Kamasi Washington – HARMONY OF DIFFERENCE is one of the more significant jazz releases of recent years, arriving as a limited 2000-copy 12″ EP on Young Turks and marking the Los Angeles saxophonist’s first new recorded music since his sprawling, universally acclaimed 2015 debut The Epic.

The Weight Behind Kamasi Washington – HARMONY OF DIFFERENCE

Washington came out of the Los Angeles jazz underground with serious credentials before most listeners even knew his name. He spent years as a first-call session and touring musician, appearing on records across hip-hop, R&B and jazz before stepping to the front with The Epic, a three-LP statement that put contemporary jazz back into mainstream conversation in a way few records had managed in a long time. The follow-up, then, carried real anticipation. Rather than rush another full-length, Washington debuted this work in one of the most considered settings possible: the Whitney Biennial, New York’s flagship contemporary art exhibition. That context matters. This is music composed and presented as art installation first, record second.

A Six-Movement Suite Built for the Concert Hall and the Turntable

The EP presents an original six-movement suite, each movement functioning as its own piece while contributing to a larger compositional arc. Washington has always worked in extended forms, and this project pushes that tendency further into structured, classical territory without abandoning the energy and spiritual weight that defined his earlier work. Premiering at the Whitney Biennial gave the suite a public unveiling that few jazz releases ever receive, framing it explicitly within a visual and cultural art context. The music stands on its own terms, but that backstory gives the physical record an added layer of meaning for collectors who care about where and how music enters the world.

Pressing Details: Young Turks, Catalog YT 171, Limited to 2000 Copies

This is a 12″ EP released on Young Turks, the London-based independent home to artists like FKA twigs, The xx and Sampha. It carries catalog number YT 171. The pressing is explicitly limited to 2000 copies worldwide, with no pressing notes indicating a repress has followed. For a release of this profile, tied to a major art world event and representing the return of one of jazz’s most-discussed artists, 2000 copies is a genuinely small number. Young Turks releases from this era have not been repressed liberally, and the combination of limited quantity, institutional premiere, and Washington’s profile makes this a record that serious jazz collectors and broader vinyl enthusiasts alike have been chasing since it dropped. If you came up short the first time around, this is the copy you were looking for.