ROBERT GLASPER RETURNS TO ACOUSTIC TRIO FOR NEW ALBUM OUT JUNE 16; GLASPER’S 2009 ALBUM “DOUBLE BOOKED” REISSUED ON VINYL

February 24, 2015

Ten years after making his Blue Note debut, and following two GRAMMY-winning volumes of his critically and commercially successful R&B-oriented Black Radio albums, Robert Glasper has announced a return to his acclaimed acoustic jazz trio for his new album, Covered (The Robert Glasper Trio recorded live at Capitol Studios), which will be released June 16 on Blue Note Records. The trio, featuring Vicente Archer on bass and Damion Reid on drums, begins a week-long run tonight at the famed Village Vanguard in New York City to preview the album. Glasper’s 2009 album Double Booked, which was divided between his Trio and Experiment bands, was also reissued on vinyl today as part of our on-going 75th Anniversary Vinyl Reissue series.

Glasper, Archer and Reid—who form the original trio featured on Glasper’s first two Blue Note albums: Canvas (2005) and In My Element (2007)—reconvened at the legendary Capitol Studios in Hollywood, California in December to record Covered in front of an intimate live audience. The material mainly consisted of covers, drawing from some of Glasper’s favorite songs by Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, Jhené Aiko, John Legend, Kendrick Lamar, and more, as well as several Glasper originals.

Earlier this month, Glasper won his 2^nd GRAMMY Award when Robert Glasper Experiment’s Stevie Wonder cover “Jesus Children Of America” from Black Radio 2 won the award for Best Traditional R&B Performance. The song, which features vocals by Lalah Hathaway and a spoken word poem by Malcolm-Jamal Warner, is dedicated to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The Experiment’s 2012 album Black Radio laid out a new paradigm for creative music, reaching beyond entrenched genre boundaries to create a singular vision that drew from all reaches of contemporary black music and beyond. The album won the 2013 GRAMMY Award for Best R&B Album.

Glasper has also been named an official Steinway Artist, joining a select group of world-class pianists who have chosen to perform exclusively on The Family of Steinway-Designed pianos.  As a Steinway Artist, Glasper joins a roster of some of the most dynamic names in piano, including Billy Joel, Lang Lang, Diana Krall, Jason Moran, and Harry Connick, Jr. Additionally, Glasper has been hard at work composing the original music for the Miles Davis film Miles Ahead, which is currently in production. The film is directed by and stars Don Cheadle.

The track listing for Covered (The Robert Glasper Trio recorded live at Capitol Studios) is as follows:

1. Introduction
2. I Don’t Even Care (Robert Glasper/Macy Gray/Jean Grae)
3. Reckoner (Radiohead)
4. Barangrill (Joni Mitchell)
5. In Case You Forgot (Robert Glasper)
6. So Beautiful (Musiq Soulchild)
7. The Worst (Jhené Aiko)
8. Good Morning (John Legend)
9. Stella By Starlight (Victor Young)
10. Levels (Bilal)
11. Got Over feat. Harry Belafonte (Robert Glasper/Harry Belafonte)
12. I’m Dying of Thirst (Kendrick Lamar)