Biography
Hailing from Houston, Texas, Robert Glasper is a jazz pianist with a knack for mellow, harmonically complex compositions that also reveal a subtle hip-hop influence. Inspired to play piano by his mother, a gospel pianist and vocalist, Glasper attended Houston’s High School for the Performing Arts. After graduation, he studied music at the New School University in Manhattan, where he found performance work with such luminaries as bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist Kenny Garrett, and others. After graduating college, Glasper worked with a variety of artists, including trumpeter Roy Hargrove, vocalist Carly Simon, and rapper Mos Def. The pianist released his debut album, Mood, on Fresh Sound New Talent in 2004. Canvas and In My Element followed in 2005 and 2007, respectively, on Blue Note Records.
In 2009, Glasper released the forward-thinking album Double Booked, which featured a mix of modal post-bop and funky, ’80s Herbie Hancock-inspired numbers with two separate bands. The first of these was his trio with drummer Chris Dave and upright bassist Vicente Archer; they recorded five originals and a cover of Thelonious Monk’s “Think of One.” These tracks were followed by five more originals by his electric band, dubbed the Robert Glasper Experiment, featuring Dave, electric bassist Derrick Hodge, and Casey Benjamin on saxes and vocoder.
Three years later, the Robert Glasper Experiment (with a slew of guest vocalists) issued their first stand-alone album, Black Radio, for Blue Note, which sought to blur the boundaries between jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and rock & roll. It entered the jazz chart at number one and went on to win a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. Later in the year, Glasper and Blue Note released Black Radio Recovered: The Remix EP. 9th Wonder, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Pete Rock were among those who participated. The following year, the Robert Glasper Experiment (then including Hodge and Benjamin with drummer Mark Colenburg) returned with their equally star-studded sophomore album, Black Radio 2. It also won a Grammy, this time for Best Traditional R&B Performance for a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Jesus Children of America.”
Glasper returned to his original acoustic piano trio format with bassist Archer and drummer Damion Reid. They cut 2015’s Covered live at Capitol Studios in front of an invited audience. The album’s pre-release single was a reading of Radiohead’s “Reckoner”; it was released in April, followed by the album in June. Glasper also played on Kendrick Lamar’s celebrated To Pimp a Butterfly and Maxwell’s blackSUMMERS’night. For Don Cheadle’s 2016 Miles Davis biopic, Miles Ahead, the pianist curated the soundtrack and wrote original music, which included contributions from Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Gary Clark, Jr. Glasper also recorded Everything’s Beautiful, a Davis tribute album in celebration of the trumpeter’s 90th birthday. Glasper reimagined classic tracks with an all-star list of collaborators who included Wonder, Muldrow, Erykah Badu, Hiatus Kaiyote, and John Scofield. Featuring the single “Ghetto Walkin'” fronted by Bilal, the album was issued that May. the Robert Glasper Experiment returned to the studio in early 2016 with a different m.o. Instead of working on the pianist’s music or covers, the quartet members wrote and arranged together in the studio for the first time. The resulting Artscience was issued in September after the pre-release singles “Day to Day” and “Thinkin’ About You.” ~ Matt Collar & Thom Jurek
Releases
R+R=NOW Live - R+R=NOW
Collagically Speaking - R+R=NOW
Robert Glasper x KAYTRANADA: The ArtScience Remixes - Robert Glasper
Our Point Of View - Blue Note All-Stars
ArtScience - Robert Glasper
Covered (The Robert Glasper Trio Recorded Live at Capitol Studios) - Robert Glasper
Black Radio 2 - Robert Glasper
Black Radio Recovered: The Remix EP - Robert Glasper
Black Radio - Robert Glasper
Double Booked - Robert Glasper
In My Element - Robert Glasper
Canvas - Robert Glasper
Videos
R+R=NOW “First Look” with Don Was
R+R=NOW “Collagically Speaking” (album trailer)
BLUE NOTE ALL-STARS “CYCLING THROUGH REALITY”
Studio Stories with Robert Glasper
ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT “ARTSCIENCE” (ALBUM TRAILER)
ROBERT GLASPER TRIO “LEVELS” (LIVE AT CAPITOL STUDIOS)
ROBERT GLASPER TRIO “BARANGRILL” (LIVE AT CAPITOL STUDIOS)
ROBERT GLASPER TRIO “STELLA BY STARLIGHT” (LIVE AT CAPITOL STUDIOS)
ROBERT GLASPER TRIO “I DON’T EVEN CARE” (LIVE AT CAPITOL STUDIOS)
ROBERT GLASPER TRIO “SO BEAUTIFUL” (LIVE AT CAPITOL STUDIOS)
SPOTLIGHT
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Beatrice: A Tale of a Tune
Saxophonist and composer Sam Rivers is remembered for his brilliant work as a leader and sideman, for the loft studio and performance space he operated in the 1970s, but above all, Rivers is remembered for “Beatrice,” a deeply felt ballad inspired by his wife. First recorded on his visionary debut as a leader, 1964’s Fuchsia Swing Song, “Beatrice” bridges the gap between hard bop and... read more
REFLECT+RESPOND=NOW
In an era when every headline carries some new horror or fresh worry, we need music that can clap back with immediacy, skill, and heart. We need a band so at home in its skin that it can play without ego and lead with love—artists whose very existence attests to resilience and hope. We need R+R=NOW, a supergroup assembled by Robert Glasper but functionally egalitarian, in no small part because... read more
BLUE NOTE ALL-STARS POINT FORWARD ON “OUR POINT OF VIEW”
Jazz as an art form is a lifelong work in progress. While in some camps the music of past masters represents the genre’s heralded Golden Age, others disagree, noting that there are artists in the present day with fresh original voices and their own point of view who are forging ahead with their imaginative visions for where the music is excitedly heading. Certainly steeped in the tradition,... read more
ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT GETS TO ITS ESSENCE ON “ARTSCIENCE”
After dominating the jazz charts, winning a couple R&B Grammys, and recording with everyone from Erykah Badu to Norah Jones to Snoop Dogg, what's next for a band like the Robert Glasper Experiment? When the group's leader scores a Miles Davis film, plays keys all over albums from Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly to Anderson .Paak’s Malibu to Maxwell’s blackSUMMERS’night, and is... read more
ROBERT GLASPER RETURNS TO THE TRIO
Following the breakthrough commercial and critical success of his two GRAMMY-winning R&B-oriented Black Radio albums, Robert Glasper returns to his acoustic jazz roots with Covered (The Robert Glasper Trio recorded live at Capitol Studios). The album reunites Glasper with bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Damion Reid, reforming the trio that created his first two Blue Notes releases, Canvas... read more
ROBERT GLASPER TAKES THE BLACK RADIO BLUEPRINT & BUILDS HIGHER
Breakthrough success can often be a tough act to follow. But with a little help from some notable friends, Robert Glasper Experiment is set to up the ante with the follow-up to his successful GRAMMY-winning album Black Radio. Flaunting a diverse array of featured guests including Common, Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, Brandy, Jill Scott, Dwele, Marsha Ambrosius, Anthony Hamilton, Faith Evans,... read more
News
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CLASSIC VINYL REISSUE SERIES 2023 TITLES ANNOUNCED
Blue Note Records has announced the next run of titles in the Classic Vinyl Reissue Series, which presents affordable 180g all-analog vinyl reissues in standard packaging that are mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes and manufactured at Optimal. Curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman, the series... read more
ROBERT GLASPER “BLACK RADIO” 10th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION OUT NOW
10 years ago in 2012, Robert Glasper changed the game. After several acclaimed Blue Note albums with his acoustic trio (Canvas, In My Element) that solidified his Jazz cred while hinting at his Hip-Hop leanings, the visionary pianist went all in with Black Radio, an album that laid out a new paradigm for creative... read more
BLUE NOTE AT SEA SAILS AGAIN IN 2023
The Blue Note at Sea cruise is back! Presented by Blue Note Jazz Clubs, Blue Note Records and Jazz Cruises, Blue Note at Sea '23 will sail the Caribbean from January 13-20, 2023 with the most exciting lineup, ship and itinerary in the cruise's amazing history, and your opportunity to reserve a stateroom starts right... read more
R+R=NOW TO RELEASE LIVE ALBUM FEB. 12; HEAR THEIR COVER OF KENDRICK LAMAR’S “HOW MUCH A DOLLAR COST”
In October 2018, Robert Glasper settled into the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City for a month-long residency several nights of which featured the new dream team collective R+R=NOW with Glasper on keys, Terrace Martin on synthesizer, vocoder, and alto saxophone, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah on trumpet, Derrick... read more
“BLUE NOTE RECORDS: BEYOND THE NOTES” GETS SEPT. 6 DVD/BLU-RAY RELEASE + MORE U.S. THEATRICAL OPENINGS
Following acclaimed theatrical runs in New York and Los Angeles, Mira Film and Eagle Vision have announced a September 6th DVD, Blu-ray, and digital release for the award-winning documentary Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes – directed by Sophie Huber. The feature documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival... read more
“BLUE NOTE RECORDS: BEYOND THE NOTES” SET FOR THEATRICAL OPENINGS IN NY (6/14) & LA (6/28)
Mira Film and Eagle Rock Entertainment have announced the start of the US theatrical rollout for the award-winning documentary Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes – directed by Sophie Huber. The feature documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018, has played at over 50 international film festivals,... read more
BLUE NOTE AT SEA 2020 LINE-UP ANNOUNCED
For the 4th consecutive season, Blue Note Records and Blue Note Jazz Clubs are collaborating with Entertainment Cruise Productions to bring many of the world’s most renowned contemporary jazz musicians together for Blue Note at Sea 2020, a weeklong luxury cruise that sails through the Caribbean from January 25... read more
PRESENTING THE BLUE NOTE 80 VINYL REISSUE SERIES
In honor of Blue Note Records’ 80th Anniversary, the legendary Jazz label is launching the Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series. Distinct from the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series, this 2nd series curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman features mid-priced 180g vinyl releases in standard packaging with albums... read more
R+R=NOW TO PLAY LA & SF SHOWS; FEATURED AS PART OF ROBERT GLASPER’S MONTH-LONG BLUE NOTE NYC RESIDENCY IN OCTOBER
Dream team band R+R=NOW—featuring Robert Glasper on keyboards, Terrace Martin on synthesizer and vocoder, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah on trumpet, Derrick Hodge on bass, Taylor McFerrin on synthesizer and beatbox, and Justin Tyson on drums—have been touring across the world since the June release their... read more
R+R=NOW DEBUT ALBUM “COLLAGICALLY SPEAKING” OUT 6/15 FEAT. ROBERT GLASPER, TERRACE MARTIN, CHRISTIAN SCOTT, DERRICK HODGE, TAYLOR McFERRIN, JUSTIN TYSON
Dream team band R+R=NOW—featuring Robert Glasper on keyboards, Terrace Martin on synthesizer and vocoder, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah on trumpet, Derrick Hodge on bass, Taylor McFerrin on synth and beatbox, and Justin Tyson on drums—will release their debut album Collagically Speaking (Blue Note) on June... read more
