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West Coast Get Down's Ryan Porter will launch the 2CD / 3LP set The Optimist on World Galaxy, ushering in an instrumental body of work that encompasses the respite of Los Angeles jazz music. The Optimist pulls together veterans of the LA music scene, including West Coast Get Down alumni Kamasi Washington (tenor saxophone), Miles Mosley (upright bass), Cameron Graves (piano, fender rhodes), Tony Austin (drums), Jumaane Smith (trumpet), Edward Livingston (upright bass), Aaron Haggerty (drums), Brandon Coleman (fender rhodes), Dominic Therioux (electric bass), Robert Miller (drums), and Lyndon Rochelle (drums).
The Optimist was recorded at Kamasi's parents house between 2008 and 2009, captured inside a small tiny basement area their crew called "The Shack." This was before The Epic catapulted the group into the highest stratospheres of jazz music and feature associations started to populate through the world of Kendrick Lamar. Ryan Porter and The West Coast Get were just as active through this era, carving out weekly shows through local jazz clubs and touring with some of the biggest names on the circuit.
Every person featured on The Optimist were fully committed to the execution of decade defining jazz music, charging through the 21st century with the hopes of finding the platform that would elevate their music to the masses. This would unfold in ways nobody could have predicted, ushering in a transition of optimism and hope, to that of success and proven longevity. This is a mirror of the inspiration and energetic reprise President Obama provided Ryan and millions of others at the time, adding a sonic memory point to one of the most important transitions the United States has taken politically.
Ryan Porter has spread his craft to the masses for decades, included on critically acclaimed albums such as the Original Netflix Series soundtrack The Get Down, Push The Sky Away from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Epic LP and Truth EP from Kamasi Washington, To Pimp A Butterfly from Kendrick Lamar, and many more. The Optimist represents these albums and the incubation period that's continually reverberated through his career, seasoned with the brilliance these individuals build on as a unified musical cell. The Optimist was executed with the same fire, passion, and technicality the group carries with them on stage and through every album since, serving as an important foundation piece to the legacy and story of LA's most revered jazz collective, the West Coast Get Down. |
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