“Real music is crash protected,” state the liner notes of “Black Radio”, the newest album by the Robert Glasper Experiment that boldly stakes out new musical territory and transcends any notion of genre, drawing from jazz, hip-hop, R&B and rock, but refusing to be pinned down by any one tag. And pushing further the experiment, “Move Love” featuring the soul trio KING, drummer Chris Dave, bassist Derrick Hodge, multi-instrumentalist Casey Benjamin, was set for remix at Indaba Music.
I bring up my noisy, dubstep flavored synths, some tensioned jazz bass and severe cellos, asked a favor to a brilliant drummer, Thomas O’Brien, and delivered a quite different version of this song working exclusively with Robert Glasper piano track and the vocal track. I’m quite pleased by the result, this is definitively a genre-defying remix.
“Most people, if they have different bands, they do separate albums,” says Glasper. “But I felt I’d be making more of a statement if I put it all on one joint.” The result, in essence, is a snapshot of Glasper’s life. “This is what I’m dealing with,” he continues. “It’s not like I play jazz but I also play hip-hop now and then. I’m in it, for real, both sides of the spectrum. That’s my life. A lot of people go in stages—they might focus on trio for a long time, then they change or whatever. My thing is both, all the time.”
Robert Glasper has long kept one foot planted firmly in jazz and the other in hip-hop and R&B. He’s worked extensively with Q-Tip, playing keyboards on the rapper’s 2008 album The Renaissance and co-writing the album single “Life Is Better” which featured his label mate Norah Jones. Glasper also serves as the music director in yasiin bey’s touring band, and has toured with the multi-platinum R&B singer Maxwell.
With Black Radio, the Experiment band has fully arrived. Featuring Glasper on piano and Fender Rhodes, Casey Benjamin on vocoder and saxophone, Derrick Hodge on electric bass, and Chris Dave on drums, the band is plugged in and open source. Each of the band members is prodigiously talented and lives naturally in multiple musical worlds, distilling countless influences into a singular voice. “That’s what makes this band unique,” says Glasper. “We can go anywhere, literally anywhere, we want to go. We all have musical ADD and we love it.”
Black Radio also features many of Glasper’s famous friends from across the spectrum of urban music, seamlessly incorporating appearances from a jaw-dropping roll call of special guests including Erykah Badu, Bilal, Lupe Fiasco, Lalah Hathaway, Shafiq Husayn (Sa-Ra), KING, Ledisi, Chrisette Michele, Musiq Soulchild, Meshell Ndegeocello, Stokley Williams (Mint Condition), and Yasiin Bey.
Tracklist:
01 – Lift Off Mic Check (Feat. Shafiq Husayn)
02 – Afro Blue (Feat. Eryka Badu)
03 – Cherish The Day (Feat. Lalah Hathaway)
04 – Always Shine (Feat. Lupe Fiasco And Bilal)
05 – Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.) (Feat. Ledisi)
06 – Move Love (Feat. KING)
07 – Ah Yeah (Feat. Musiq Soulchild And Chrisette Michele)
08 – Consequence Of Jealousy (Feat. Meshell Ndegeocello)
09 – Why Do We Try (Feat. Stokley Williams)
10 – Black Radio (Feat. Mos Def)
11 – Letter To Hermoine (Feat. Bilal)
12 – Smells Like Teen Spirit
Robert Glasper – Official Site
Robert Glasper @ Facebook
But let’s have some jazz!!!
Regarding the Indaba Remix contest, Submissions Due: Feb 20, 2012 at 5:00 PM EST.
Voting Period: from February 20, 2012 to March 5, 2012.
For the names of Winning Entries check the contest page after March 26, 2012.
1 Grand Prize Winner
The Grand Prize Winner, as chosen by the Judges from all of the submissions, will:
Receive $500.
Receive a recorded piano sample by Robert Glasper to use royalty-free in an original composition.
Receive an autographed copy of “Black Radio.”
10 Honorable Mentions
The 10 Honorable Mentions, as chosen by the Judges from the 20 most popular submissions, will each:
Receive an autographed copy of “Black Radio.”
The Robert Glasper Experemint remix contest at Indaba Music
Thomas O’Brien
Thomas O’Brien @ Indaba Music
Thomas O’Brien @ Facebook
Thomas O’Brien @ MySpace
Thomas O’Brien – Official YouTube Channel
Brushvox (aka. Mr. Pan[k]sament)
Brushvox/Mr. Pan[k]sament @ Indaba Music
Brushvox/Mr. Pan[k]sament @ Bandcamp
Brushvox @ Soundcloud
