Kamasi Washington hustled to downtown L.A. in August 2015 to lead his project for more than 1,000 fans at Grand Performances, an outdoor show titled "65-92: The Rhythm Changes but the Struggle Remains," that distilled 50 years of African-American music into a boiling ball of fuzzed-out bass, pummeling drums and wailing horns. The show looked back on L..A.'s divided past and pointed to the future. "Music only serves one purpose — to express the essence of a person's experience," Washington says. "Music is the deeper level of communication, communication that goes through your understanding of words and history."