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Baker's Dozen

Thirteen Prayers: Kamasi Washington's Favourite Albums
Paul Smith , May 18th, 2016 11:43

Before he embarks on a summer of touring following his excellent 2015 album The Epic, the saxophonist and bandleader makes some difficult decisions to give Paul Smith 13 albums that affected his musical approach

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Radiohead – Kid A
A lots of the music I'm into is because someone turned me on to it. I was really into jazz, hip-hop and a lot of music from around the world, but I was pretty ignorant to rock & roll if I'm being absolutely honest. I had a room-mate who took it upon himself to show me all the cool rock he was into. He turned me onto a bunch of Beatles records, Rage Against The Machine, Nirvana. And I was already into Jimi Hendrix. Then he gave me Kid A.

I just dug the texture. It was so meditative. There was a freedom to it. Almost like free jazz. But it was rock & roll. It got me like: "Oh man, I've got to go and study this music now."