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Robert Glasper

Robert Glasper was raised in Houston, Texas. His mother was his first and strongest musical influence. Mrs. Glasper not only played piano and sang gospel music in the family's church, she led a band that worked the city's jazz and blues club circuit as well. By the age of twelve, young Robert was playing piano in that church. "Gospel music is built on emotion and spirituality; you go to church and leave crying," he says. "It definitely just gave me that sensitivity and knowing how to reach people and knowing how to be in tune with your feelings and the emotion of the music. My thing is, it helps me relate to the audience 'cause they're gonna give you what you give them. When you bring the crowd into your world, you can do anything you want."

By the time he reached adolescence, Robert knew his destiny was to be a jazz musician. He was accepted to the Houston's famed High School for the Performing Arts ("Jason Moran went there before me."). Post-graduation, Glasper enrolled at New School University in Manhattan. Soon after arrival, he hooked up with future bandmember Reid and vocalist Bilal, an old schoolmate. As an undergrad, Glasper gigged with Christian McBride, Russell Malone and Kenny Garrett. Professional life after the New School was even sweeter: stints with Nicholas Payton, Roy Hargrove, Terence Blanchard, Carmen Lundy, and Carly Simon.

The Bilal connection brought the pianist back to hip-hop. Glasper's contributions to Bilal's debut and subsequent tour brought him to the attention of Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest). "Tip would come hang out at my shows, and one day he called me and said, ‘I'm doing this tour and I need you to play keys. Can you do it?’” He's also since played with Mos Def, and is featured prominently on Bilal's forthcoming sophomore release.

In 2003, Glasper's first album Mood was released on indie label Fresh Sound New Talent, and two years later, Blue Note came calling. At Blue Note, Glasper joins a jazz piano legacy that stretches back to 1939, beginning with Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis, and continuing through Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Andrew Hill, Cecil Taylor, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Jacky Terrasson, Jason Moran and Bill Charlap. Undaunted, Glasper reflects, “I’m just happy to be a part of the Blue Note family and its rich history.”

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Profile

Blue Note Tokyo: Still Holds Praise From Jazz Musicians & Fans Alike

Read "Blue Note Tokyo: Still Holds Praise From Jazz Musicians & Fans Alike" reviewed by Doug Hall


Opened in 1988, the Blue Note Tokyo nightclub has a long-established history of providing top-tier jazz performances and holds a special place in the veins of many renown jazz artists. Over several decades, the A-list of jazz performances include Sarah Vaughan, Oscar Peterson, Tony Bennett, Chick Corea, Stan Getz, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Pass, the Milt Jackson Quartet, the Jim Hall Quartet, Incognito, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, David Sanborn, John Scofield, Diana Krall, Joe Zawinul, Dr. John, ...

1
Album Review

R+R=NOW: R+R=NOW - Live (Blue Note Club New York/2018)

Read "R+R=NOW - Live (Blue Note Club New York/2018)" reviewed by Emmanuel Di Tommaso


"When you reflect what's going on in your time and respond to that, you can't not be relevant. So 'R' plus 'R' equals 'NOW.'" Con queste parole Robert Glasper spiegava nel 2017 la nascita del sestetto dei R+R=Now, riprendendo una risposta che Nina Simone dava a quanti la criticavano per le sue prese di posizione politiche e sociali ("an artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times"). Non è in effetti una coincidenza che ...

7
Album Review

Robert Glasper: Canvas

Read "Canvas" reviewed by Chris May


Of the three dozen albums released in Blue Note's 180gm vinyl Blue Note 80 reissue series, Robert Glasper's 2005 debut, Canvas, is the only one recorded in the twenty-first century. Almost all of the other releases were recorded during Blue Note's 1950s and 1960s belle epoque. It is a singular distinction and an appropriate one, for several reasons. Top of the list is Glasper's place in jazz's piano trio lineage. Since Bill Evans elevated piano trios to ...

1
Live Review

Robert Glasper Trio at Freespace Jazz Festival

Read "Robert Glasper Trio at Freespace Jazz Festival" reviewed by Rob Garratt


Robert Glasper Trio with DJ Sundance The Box, Freespace Freespace Jazz Festival Hong Kong November 10, 2019 What can a visiting artist hope to offer a city in turmoil, torn apart and bleeding from months of violent unrest? Distraction, escape, respite-- sure, but just maybe reflection, too. Robert Glasper couldn't have known that almost exactly 12 hours after he left the stage in Hong Kong, an unarmed 21-year-old protestor would be shot in the ...

2
Lyrics

Save The Date - Novembre 2014

Read "Save The Date - Novembre 2014" reviewed by Luca Canini


È un novembre ricco quello che attende appassionati e girovaghi del jazz. Tra festival, eventi, strani incontri e rassegne, c'è di che cavarsi la voglia. Ma prima dei consigli qualche notizia. La più interessante arriva da Siena, città che pochi giorni fa ha ospitato la prima assemblea nazionale dell'associazione italiana musicisti di jazz (MIDJ). Alla quale hanno partecipato improvvisatori di tutte le età e delle più diverse estrazioni: da Silvia Bolognesi a Fabrizio Bosso, da Francesco Cusa a Franco D'Andrea, ...

15
What is Jazz?

A Look Back At Robert Glasper's Enoch's "Inaugural" Meditation

Read "A Look Back At Robert Glasper's Enoch's "Inaugural" Meditation" reviewed by K. Shackelford


One of the most powerful jazz documentation of a Presidential Inauguration was a YouTube presentation of Robert Glasper's “Enoch's Meditation," a piece from his 2005 album entitled Canvas. Glasper, a Blue Note artist and Grammy Award winning jazz piano star, has received critical acclaim for his trio style that weaves together a tapestry of diverse musical genres from rock, hip hop, gospel to even country, staying within the jazz aesthetic in a way that is mind-blowing. Through the ...

7
Album Review

Robert Glasper Experiment: Black Radio 2

Read "Black Radio 2" reviewed by Mark F. Turner


The conditions have to be just right for lightning to strike twice in the same location which holds true for studio recordings where the variables of performers, music, and other factors can affect the outcome. While Robert Glasper's 2012 critically acclaimed Black Radio (Blue Note) deftly combined jazz, hip hop, and “Neo Soul" to win Best R&B Album at the 55th Grammy Awards, its follow up, Black Radio 2, is worthy but won't garner the attention of its predecessor. With ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Robert Glasper Experiment with Keyon Harrold; Black Host; and more

Jazz this week: Robert Glasper Experiment with Keyon Harrold; Black Host; and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

View more events at stlouis.jazznearyou.com. As Jazz Appreciation Month swings on, it's a big week for jazz and creative music in jny: St. Louis, with the local debuts of two significant contemporary ensembles offering two different takes on the jazz diaspora, and more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, April 22 First up is the much-talked-about Robert Glasper Experiment, with St. Louis native Mark Colenburg on drums and featuring fellow St. Louisan, trumpeter Keyon Herrold, as special guest. Although Glasper ...

Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Tuning in to Robert Glasper

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Tuning in to Robert Glasper

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week, let's take a look at some video clips featuring keyboardist Robert Glasper, who's bringing his group the Experiment back to St. Louis to perform Wednesday, April 22 and Thursday, April 23 at Jazz at the Bistro. Glasper, a native of Houston who turned 37 just last week, will be returning here for the first time since making his local debut in February 2012 at the Bistro. (That first gig was a long time in the making. Jazz St. ...

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Event

“the Thelonious Sphere Monk Jazz Series At Yale” Robert Glasper Trio: Saturday, April 4, 2015

“the Thelonious Sphere Monk Jazz Series At Yale” Robert Glasper Trio: Saturday, April 4, 2015

Source: Carolyn McClair Public Relations

“The Thelonious Sphere Monk Jazz Series at Yale” Robert Glasper Trio: Saturday, April 4, 2015 T.S. Monk : Thursday, April 9, Friday April 10, 2015 The Robert Glasper Trio in Concert: Yale University Woolsey Hall: Saturday, April 4, 2015, 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $25.00 Robert Glasper is a two-time Grammy Award winning pianist, singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and arranger. Mr. Glasper was awarded a 2013 Grammy for Best R&B Album for Black Radio, with guest artists including Common, Brandy, Jill ...

1

Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spring 2015 jazz preview, bonus edition

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spring 2015 jazz preview, bonus edition

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

With both New Music Circle and Jazz at the Bistro recently announcing some additions to their respective spring schedules, today let's check out some some video samples of those bands and musicians coming here in those just-announced performances. First up are pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist Michael Bisio, who will be playing a concert presented by NMC on Saturday, March 28 at The Stage at KDHX. The video at the top of this post shows them performing a full set ...

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Career

How to Grow Your Band's Fanbase Creatively

How to Grow Your Band's Fanbase Creatively

Source: HypeBot

By Yannick Ilunga from The Jazz Spotlight. This is probably old news to you: social media is a great way to build and grow a fan base. When looking for a platform to promote their music, many artists turn to the various Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. When it comes to social media promotion, it is important to have a strategy and goals in mind. There are many different ways social media can be used for promotion. The following four are ...

Recording

Robert Glasper: Black Radio 2

Robert Glasper: Black Radio 2

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

On Tuesday night I went to see Robert Glasper perform with the Robert Glasper Experiment at New York's Best Buy Theater. I feel as though I saw the contemporary equivalent of Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. If jazz-R&B winds up having a defining moment, it was last night. The theater, which holds 2,000, was filled to capacity and the audience—African-Americans, whites, Asians, men, women, older folks, kids, you name it—were enthralled. Which makes me think that a fascinating thing ...

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Opinion

The Future of Music

The Future of Music

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal/Europe ran my interviews with John Cale, Robert Glasper, Joan as Police Woman and Ari Picker on the future of music. Since the Europe edition is unavailable in North America and my interviews needed to be shortened to fit, I thought I'd make them available here in their entirety... Robert Glasper, 35, won a Grammy this year for his album Black Radio. The jazz pianist's follow-up, Black Radio 2, will be released in the ...

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Opinion

Willard Jenkins Ponders the Audience-Friendly Factor...

Willard Jenkins Ponders the Audience-Friendly Factor...

Source: The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins

Robert Glasper backstage at Oberlin College the other night greeting one of his fans, the writer's daughter Iyesha Jenkins. One element of our dialogue on the black audience for creative music, as well as our conversation with Nicholas Payton (scroll down for that dialogue) and his ongoing promotion of the omnibus term “BAM" relates to the need for artists to be more audience-friendly. And by that I am certainly not advocating for outright pandering to the lowest common denominator. Several ...

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Interview

Interview: Robert Glasper (PT. 2)

Interview: Robert Glasper (PT. 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Jazz fans tend to be highly partial. We insist that one trumpeter is better than all others or that one drummer is faster, stronger or more rhythmic than everyone else. We take music personally and like to fight for our particular tastes and choices. This king-of-the-hill view also tends to spill over into the kinds of music we listen to—and what we write off. I would argue this way of thinking isn't a good thing, since it prevents a wealth ...

Laila Biali
piano and vocals
Tyrone Birkett
saxophone, alto
Brandon Robertson
bass, acoustic
AmooMazz
bass, electric
ctraltu
trumpet
Velocity
band / ensemble / orchestra
Julian Hartwell
keyboards
Karolis Šarkus
saxophone, alto
Pere Bujosa
bass, acoustic
Seba Molnar
saxophone, tenor
Q3
band / ensemble / orchestra
Anton Chekurov
saxophone, alto
Ikechi Onyenaka
saxophone, alto
Jatayu
band / ensemble / orchestra
Magro
drums
Eric Zabala
vibraphone
Minus2
keyboards
Sahib Singh
guitar, electric
Ryan Marquez
piano and vocals
City of Four
band / ensemble / orchestra
Zach Rich
trombone

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Contact

Music Factory Records
2022

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R+R=NOW - Live (Blue...

Blue Note Records
2021

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Canvas

Blue Note Records
2019

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Black Radio 2

Blue Note Records
2013

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Black Radio

Blue Note Records
2012

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Videos

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