The one artist you need to see live this year is a jazz saxophonist - not Kanye West

Take a look at this weekend's lineup for The Meadows, the inaugural fall festival from Founders Entertainment - the organizers behind New York's annual summer festival, Governors Ball - and you may spot a name that stands out from among the list of en-vogue indie, electro-pop, hip-hop, folk, and R&B acts: Kamasi Washington.

For the casual music listener, Washington has gained notoriety in recent years for being one of the musical virtuosos that shaped the sound on Kendrick Lamar's thunderous, unforgettable 2015 hip hop record, "To Pimp A Butterfly" and its 2016 successor "Untitled Unmastered."

But don't be mistaken, Washington may be associated with hip hop, but he's a jazz artist through and through.

Festivals don't usually feature jazz. For millennial audiences raised on indie rock and hip-hop, jazz reeks of the museum. And yet, this year, Washington and his ten-piece band The Next Step have made their way onto most of the big festival bills, including Bumbershoot, Pitchfork, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, and Coachella. This Saturday, Washington and company will be in Queens sandwiched between indietronica band Miami Horror and reggae artist Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley.

At a festival featuring Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, and The Weeknd - three of the hottest names in music right now - this may sound blasphemous: If there's one performance you hear the entire weekend, and I would venture to say this year, make it Washington's.

Here's why.