Jazz maestro Kamasi Washington has released “The Garden Path,” a turbulent new single taking a sobering look at the reality of the dark times in which we live.
Washington shows off his prowess on the saxophone throughout the track, which also features bright flourishes of brass contrasted with dark lyrics. “Bright minds with dark eyes/ Speak loud words, tell sweet lies,” the accompanying vocalists sing. “Lost without a trace of a way/ To get out of this misery.”
“The world feels turned upside down,” Washington said about the song in a press release. “There’s so much push and pull in every direction, from everyone you meet — no one knows what to think, who to believe, or how to approach life right now. No matter how smart you are, it’s hard not to feel blind.”
Tonight, Washington will perform “The Garden Path” during his late night television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In the meantime, stream the track below.
“The Garden Path” marks Washington’s first new material in nearly a year. In 2021, he shared “Sun Kissed Child” as part of the Music for the Movement series curated by ESPN’s The Undefeated and also covered “My Friend of Misery” for the Metallica Blacklist charity compilation. His most recent album, Heaven and Earth, was released in 2018.
