Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
In Memoriam: John Hammond Jr., 1942–2026
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
Saxophonist Kamasi Washington worked with director Nadia Hallgren to score the film Becoming, a Netflix documentary chronicling the life of former First Lady Michelle Obama.
(Photo: Russell Hamilton)Becoming—the Netflix documentary chronicling the recent book tour of former First Lady Michelle Obama—is out today with a score by saxophonist Kamasi Washington.
“It was such a pleasure and honor to work on Becoming,” Washington said in a press release about the film that takes its name from Obama’s 2018 memoir. “Michelle Obama is such an amazing person and this film gives a very unique insight [into] who she is, how she thinks and the way she navigates the world. It’s truly inspiring to see! Working with the film’s incredible director Nadia Hallgren to create a musical palette to support this amazing piece was truly a blessing.”
Washington, who most recently released the double album Heaven And Earth in 2018, is set to issue Becoming (Music From The Netflix Original Documentary) through the Young Turks imprint on May 15. DB
Full tracklist for Washington’s Becoming
1. Shot Out Of A Cannon
2. Becoming
3. Take In The Story
4. Southside V.1
5. Dandy
6. The Rhythm Changes
7. Song For Frasier
8. Announcement
9. Detail
10. Fashion Then and Now
11. Provocation
12. Connections
13. Looking Forward
14. I Am Becoming
15. Southside V.2
Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.
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