Bio | Robert Glasper

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Robert Glasper Experiment

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Black Radio

Double Booked

In My Element

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Canvas

Mood
Robert Glasper With Others
Bilal - A Love Surreal
(eOne 2013)
Jose James - No Beginning, No End
(Blue Note 2013)
Johnathan Blake - The Eleventh Hour
(Sunnyside Communications 2012)
Lionel Loueke - Heritage
(Blue Note 2012)
Bilal - Airtight's Revenge
(Plug Research 2011)
Gretchen Parlato - The Lost and Found
ObliqSound 2011)
Q-Tip - The Renaissance
(Universal Motown 2008)
MeShell Ndegeocello - The World Has Made Me
the Man of My Dreams
(Emarcy 2007)
Kanye West - Late Registration
(Roc-a-Fella 2005)
Kendrick Scott - The Source
(World Culture Music 2006)
Marcus Strickland - Twi-Life
(Strick Muzic 2006)
Walter Smith III - Casually Introducing
(Fresh Sound 2006)
Jaleel Shaw - Perspective

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(Fresh Sound 2005)

Jaleel Shaw - Optimism
(Changu 2008)
Charles Tolliver - With Love
(Blue Note/Mosaic 2007)
Carmen Lundy - Jazz and the New Songbook:
Live at the Madrid
(Afrasia Productions 2005)
Ali Shaheed Muhammad - Shaheedullah and
Stereotypes
(Garden Seeker 2004)
Bilal - 1st Born Second
(Interscope 2001)
Terence Blanchard - Bounce
(Blue Note 2003)
Mark Whitfield - Raw
(Transparent Music 2000)
Marcus Strickland - Brotherhood and At Last
(Fresh Sound/New Talent 2002)
Jeremy Pelt - Profile
(Fresh Sound/New Talent 2002)
Donald Edwards - The Ducktones
Robert Hurst - Unrehurst
(Bebob 2002)
Kim Yvette - Born Again
(2000)

Bio

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, Norah Jones, Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, Luke James, Emeli
Sand, Lalah Hathaway, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Black Radio 2 is certain to surprise and
delight critics and fans alike. With a unique fusion of R&B, jazz, and hip-hop that brazenly traverses
the boundaries of all three genres, Black Radio 2 finds Glasper and his musical cohorts creating in a

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vibrant new chasm, brilliantly contrasting its predecessor in the process.

This record was a little different, explains the Houston, Texas native. I didnt want to make the
same record twice. I wanted to make a conscious effort to keep the vibe and the spirit of the first one
without it sounding the same. Considering his own rich musical journey, this sonic shifting
approach to Black Radio 2 seems to be a long time coming. Reared in a household where Motown,
R&B, and gospel were constant companions, his mother sang and played piano in church while
indulging in her love for jazz and blues by performing at local clubs. By the age of twelve, hed
begun to fully follow his mothers lead by playing piano in church and accompanying her on club
dates on the Houston circuit.
Glasper went on to sharpen his prodigal chops at the Houston High School for the Performing Arts
and New School University, allowing his developing affinity for pop, hip-hop, and rock to inform his
musical sensibilities. By 2003, Glasper had already racked up spots in the bands of prominent jazz
artists such as Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett, Nicholas Payton, Terence Blanchard, and Roy
Hargrove. In addition, his deep appreciation of hip-hop and R&B allowed him to form lateral bonds
in those respective worlds. Guided by his mothers example, Glasper simultaneously performed jazz
while taking gigs as a touring musician and musical director for artists such as Maxwell, yasiin bey,
Q-Tip, and Bilal.
With an impressive wealth of experience and talent, it was only a matter of time before hed become
an artist in his own right. That same year, he released his debut album Mood on Fresh Sound
Records. Blue Note signed Glasper soon after and released his label debut Canvas (2005), followed
by In My Element (2007) and Double-Booked (2009) his first GRAMMY-nominated effort which
juxtaposed his acoustic Trio with the electric Experiment band. While those albums were primarily
rooted in jazz, he made certain to sprinkle his other musical influences into the stew. But in 2012, he
decided it was time to serve the full main course. Glaspers Black Radio was released that year to a
maelstrom of critical acclaim. Featuring the likes of Erykah Badu, Bilal, Lupe Fiasco, Lalah
Hathaway, Ledisi, Meshell Ndegeocello, and yasiin bey, the album was cultivated via a series of jam
sessions with artists from varying genres whom Glasper formed alliances with during his time in the
music industry. Everybody just came to the studio and we did stuff on the spot, he says. That was
the vibe. I wasnt thinking R&B.
Black Radio was heralded by media outlets such as Rolling Stone, who wrote Glasper heads down the fraught path of hip-hop jazz and gets it right,
adding with music this smart and inviting, the implied diss of mainstream doesnt feel like sour grapes; it feels like a blueprint forward. The lead
single Ah Yeah with Chrisette Michele and Musiq Soulchild landed on radio playlists nationwide, and TV appearances on Late Show With David
Letterman, Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon followed. But when Black Radio took home the award for Best R&B Album
at the 2013 GRAMMY Awards, there was no doubt that all eyes were on Glasper and his band of musical brothers.

In the wake of the GRAMMY win, offers to collaborate were abundant and bountiful. This
withstanding, Glasper chose to curate his next aural exhibit more keenly to achieve a specifically
desired effect. Black Radio got so much love from the R&B world, so I made a conscious decision
to concentrate a bit more on songs for this record, he says of the anomalous coup. With that,
Glasper set out to focus on R&B song structure that complimented his jazz pianist chops as well as
that of the rest of Robert Glasper Experiment Casey Benjamin (saxophone/vocoder), Derrick
Hodge (bass), and Mark Colenburg (drums).
With this concept firmly in hand, Glasper reached out to noted R&B songwriters to collaborate with.
Soon afterwards, he ensconced himself in the legendary Los Angeles recording studio Westlake
Studios with the members of the Experiment and a handful of guest vocalists to craft material for the
new album. The glowing results from this session and subsequent sessions in Los Angeles and New
York City are evidenced throughout the 12 dynamic tracks on Black Radio 2.
Featuring the scintillating vocals of multi-platinum superstar Brandy, GRAMMY-nominated

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songwriter Claude Kelly (Bruno Mars, R Kelly, Michael Jackson) paints a melodic portrait of a
languishing love affair on the head nodding cut What Are We Doing. GRAMMY-winning Roc
Nation songwriter Andrea Martin (Melanie Fiona, Angie Stone, Monica) contributes a tale of
longing on the intensely passionate Yet To Find as lauded recording artist Anthony Hamilton
infuses the track with his patented brand of grit n soul. Conversely, Detroit recording artist Dwele
brims with the confidence and assurance of a love supreme on the Rhodes embroidered Worries,
penned by Young Money recording artist and GRAMMY-winning songwriter PJ Morton
(India.Arie, Maroon 5, Stevie Wonder).
Yet even with the proven songwriting talent of his aforementioned company, Glasper exhibits the
wisdom to allow some of his featured guests the freedom to flex their skill behind the mic as well as
with the pen. The results are brilliantly exemplified in the albums soaring opening track I Stand
Alone that was crafted with collaborators Common and Patrick Stump, and the lead single, Calls
featuring Jill Scott, where Scott weaves a story of a metaphysical romantic connection partly
quantified in answered phone calls over a lush bed of Glaspers dreamy piano chords. The
mesmerizing mid tempo track Trust follows suite featuring the crystalline vocals of singer/
songwriter Marsha Ambrosius, who is a noted songwriter in her own right having penned the
Michael Jackson hit Butterflies. Black Radio 2 also features pensive spoken word interludes
interspersed amongst the musical mlange by esteemed African American academic/ author Michael
Eric Dyson and gospel singer/ preacher John P. Kee.
Poet/actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner made a spontaneous and meaningful contribution to the album
when he dropped by the studio and ended up penning and recording a thought-provoking slice of
spoken word poetry on the profoundly poignant and symbolic rendition of the Stevie Wonder gem
Jesus Children Of America, featuring the vocals of Black Radio alumnus Lalah Hathaway. The
song is fashioned as a tribute to the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook tragedy and has a deeply
personal meaning for Glasper. The very first time I performed that song live was during a Stevie
Wonder tribute on the day the Sandy Hook tragedy took place, he recalls. Id also found out that a
close friend lost his daughter in the tragedy. So when we did the Stevie song, I almost lost it. It hit
close to home, because I have a four-year-old son.
Amidst the immense star power, Black Radio 2 also manages to shine a light on buzz worthy
newcomers like BRIT Award winning U.K. artist Emeli Sand (Somebody Else) and Island Def
Jam recording artist Luke James (Persevere featuring Snoop Dogg and Lupe Fiasco). In addition
to the original 12 tracks, the deluxe edition of Black Radio 2 includes four bonus tracks: I Dont
Even Care featuring Jean Grae and Macy Gray, Big Girl Body featuring Eric Roberson, My
Everything featuring Bilal and Jazmine Sullivan, and an instrumental cover of the classic Bill
Withers tune Lovely Day featuring a spoken intro from Mr. Withers himself who made a surprise
visit to the studio in Los Angeles.
Black Radio 2 further exemplifies Glaspers remarkable skill as a producer and musician adept at
extracting a truly extraordinary side of his guests acclaimed talents, irrespective of differences in
genre. It is also a magnificent display of an undaunted jazz composer intent on allowing the full
range of his musical influences ebb and flow through his output in an astonishing fashion. Black
Radio 2 serves as a conceptually illustrious reminder of the multitude of possibilities for musical
collaboration and blurring the lines. But for Glasper, this is merely second nature.
Jazz musicians are becoming more comfortable with music that speaks to them personally, he
muses. I think its very important that musicians feed off the fruit of the music that actually is the
soundtrack of their lives. The only way to keep something relevant is to renew it from history and let
it grow and change. When that happens, you start getting stuff like Black Radio 2. Black music is the
house that has many rooms. Black people have invented so many dope genres that everyone loves:
Jazz, blues, gospel, R&B, rock, hip-hop, and the list goes on. Im just visiting all those rooms. Its

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my mansion; its our mansion. I dont have to exclude anything. With that said, who knows where
Ill go next.

Black Radio

Robert Glasper Experiment's ground breaking album.

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