2024 · Album
Fearless Movement
Young · Released: May 3, 2024 · Studio Album Number: Fifth
Thundercat's Electric Pull Through the Collective
Nearly ninety minutes of West Coast jazz that moves on Thundercat's bass lines like water finds its level.
The first thing that catches you on Fearless Movement (2024) is how Thundercat anchors everything. His electric bass guitar doesn't just keep time — it moves through the music like a separate voice, melodic and restless, pulling the ensemble in unexpected directions. Washington had assembled players from his West Coast Get Down collective, but Thundercat's presence here transforms what could have been a traditional large-ensemble session into something more fluid and modern.
This is Washington's fifth studio album, and by this point his sound is confident enough to sprawl. Nearly ninety minutes of music means there's room for real development, for solos to breathe, for rhythmic textures to shift. Cameron Graves on piano and Terrace Martin on alto saxophone provide melodic weight, while Miles Mosley on double bass and Woody Aplanalp and Joel Whitley on guitars add harmonic color. But it's Thundercat who keeps the listener leaning forward. His lines have a jazz musician's harmonic sense and a funkier player's swagger — he moves between walking support and active countermelody without ever sounding like he's showing off.
The album benefits from guest appearances and a production that feels both spacious and deliberate. For listeners already familiar with Washington, this lands as a natural extension of his approach to collective improvisation. It's not his debut, and it's not quite a departure — it's a working band of skilled musicians with room to move, and Thundercat's electric bass is what gives that movement its particular shape.
Who's playing
Miles Mosleydouble bass
Thundercatelectric bass guitar
Cameron Gravespiano
Woody Aplanalpguitar
Joel Whitleyguitar
Kamasi Washingtontenor saxophone
Terrace Martinalto saxophone
Dontae Winslowtrumpet
Where next?
More by Kamasi Washington
All 12 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
