The Neurology of Jazz: Kamasi Washington's The Epic and Movement Disorders

Kamasi Washington’s The Epic is masterpiece of sound that truly defines what modern

jazz sounds like. This album consists of 3 volumes and spans about 3 full hours. Even

though it was released in 2015, it still is one of my favorite pieces of music to date. While

recently listening to the album, I thought about how each of the tracks is so dynamic that they

could represent various movement disorders in neurology. Some tracks were much easier to

correlate to a neurologic movement disorder, but other tracks I had to give repeated listens to and

really struggle to pick out features that could match a disorder. 

https://youtu.be/NtQRBzSN9Vw

The title track “Change of Guard” can only be described as organized chaos. The track starts with what will be a recurring motif and the main theme of the track. To me, this represents

the aura that can precede complex partial seizures. These seizures tend to have automatisms

associated with them. There are several parts of the song that you could consider automatisms

but right around the 5:25 mark is what I consider a good example of one.  The 12 and half

minute track peaks somewhere between the 7 and 8 minute mark. The uniting rhythm of the

track appears again around 9 minutes. Around 10:45 the track almost burns out. I thought of this

as the post itcal period after a series of series that was most of the song. There are some

mesmerizing piano notes and some synth sounds that can represent confusion and slowing of the

thought. Also although the activity of the track dies down, this post itcal period does not

necessarily end with a  return to baseline. The sounds at the end represent the end of the seizure

but not necessarily a return to consciousness.  It is a spacey end to sonically dense track. You get

left with a reverberation that almost feels like your ears or head were ringing after going through

the journey of the first track.

https://youtu.be/mYdDFZLGx7U

The second track “Askim” starts off very slow. It is almost as if we are still stunned from

the first track “Change of Guard”. This track is filled with these slow, drawn out notes from

Washington’s saxophone. These powerful riffs sound almost as if Washington is squeezing every

last ounce of air from his lungs. The repeating motif of this track begins around 38 seconds in. It lasts about 1 minute before it repeats again. The sonic aspects of this track reminded me of the

writhing, twisting yet rhythmic migrating motions of choreoathetosis. A good example of one of

the more rhythmic parts of the track is around 6:20. From then through 8 minutes is what really related this track to choreoathetosis for me. 

https://youtu.be/bCIAMO3Al1A

The third track “Isabelle” is a mellow track that sort of languidly moves along. Full of

deep tones from all the instruments involved, this track reminded me of Parkinson’s disease. The

saxophone notes are slow and quite melancholy. The opening organ and saxophone notes kind of

shake and continue like that throughout the song. I instantly compared this to the pill rolling

tremor often seen in Parkinson patients. The beat sort of just shuffles around slowly like that of a

patient with Parkinson’s disease. Also compared to the range that we’ve heard in the last 2 tracks

“Isabelle” has a blunted sound which mirrors the blunted facies seen in Parkinson’s disease.

Overall all the notes in this track are relatively low and soft. This correlates to the microphonia seen in Parkinson’s patients as well. 

 
https://youtu.be/YuQdtFb_Z2k

The fourth track “Final Thought” starts off with some soulful chords from an organ. After

a pretty slow 40 second intro, you get one of the most satisfying songs of the album.  The intro to

me also gave off this fidgety vibe followed by the actual motif of the track that just forces its will

to continue on. This track reminds me of Huntington’s disease. Right around 2:45 you get a total

inhibition of control that just builds, but the whole time the track maintains its rhythm and

choreiform progression. The repeating rhythm in this track represents the CAG repeats that you

see in this disease. This is also the shortest track in the first volume and I took that to represent

the fact that Huntington’s is associated with anticipation in which children have more CAG

repeats than their parents and may present with symptoms much earlier than their parents. 

https://youtu.be/rQ2bkIfHDl4

Track 5 is titled “The Next Step”. It starts off with a series of long, held saxophone notes.

Initially I thought this represented the sustained muscle contractions seen in dystonia or a

dystonic reaction. The track is also rather sluggish compared to the track before. I had the idea of

someone treating a patient with Huntington’s (represented by the last track) with an

antipsychotic like haloperidol to help to control their chorea, and causing a dystonic reaction

(this track) as a result. From 3:45 on the effects of the dystonia slowly start to wear off.

Overall it was enjoyable to think critically about this album that I already really

like. Listening for specific motifs and the unique aspects of each song and then trying to

correlate it to a neurological disorder was fun. I had to get a bit creative, but it’s not too hard to

do so when listening to this album. It just so densely packed with emotion, disparate sounds, and

energy that you can find whatever you need in these tracks.