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He called it “experimentation for meditation.” On the sixth project for jazz pianist Robert Glasper and the first full-length debut project for his electric jazz band, the Robert Glasper Experiment, on Blue Note, the soothing music is consistently zen enough to allow for spiritual elevation and introspection, if not simply a cozy night’s sleep. Glasper on keys, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Chris Dave, and sax and vocoder man, Casey Benjamin, are mood men who create a formalwear atmosphere while maintaining their chic boho street cred for the East Coast backpack set. On an amalgamation of genres and sounds—from astral jazz to hip hop to electronica to soul—these musical men imagine what the future of Black Radio could be once free from genre boundaries and formatting constraints. The results are soothing, moving (if emotionally understated), and undeniably accomplished.
He called it “experimentation for meditation.” On the sixth project for jazz pianist Robert Glasper and the first full-length debut project for his electric jazz band, the Robert Glasper Experiment, on Blue Note, the soothing music is consistently zen enough to allow for spiritual elevation and introspection, if not simply a cozy night’s sleep. Glasper on keys, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Chris Dave, and sax and vocoder man, Casey Benjamin, are mood men who create a formalwear atmosphere while maintaining their chic boho street cred for the East Coast backpack set. On an amalgamation of genres and sounds—from astral jazz to hip hop to electronica to soul—these musical men imagine what the future of Black Radio could be once free from genre boundaries and formatting constraints. The results are soothing, moving (if emotionally understated), and undeniably accomplished. Yet, with smooth radio jams like “Ah Yeah (featuring Musiq and Chrisette Michelle),” it is also considerably more accessible and creatively safe than the band’s “experimental” moniker might lead newcomers to believe, following a path that while different is not without its precedents.
Black Radio will surely be hailed as the Sweetback and Jazzamatazz for this age. Though given its neo-soul overlays and emphasis on mood, those less musically informed might liken it to the Love Jones Soundtrack (if only there were a film for Glasper’s cinematic sounds to score). These are not disses, as each of these albums proved cultural markers and standard bearers that later musicians would seek to emulate with varying results for decades since. Each of the before-mentioned albums blurred genre lines, utilized the commercial appeal of esteemed soul singers, highlighted the musicality of conscious hip hop vocalists, and boasted strong jazz soundscapes while still incorporating the urbane sounds of their times. Black Radio, like Sweetback, privileges atmosphere and mood over traditional song structure and formulaic arrangement. Like Guru’s Jazzmatazz series, there are performance art and hip hop elements that gives originals like “Black Radio (feat. Mos Def)” and covers like the Cuban classic “Afro Blue (feat. Erykah Badu)” an edge and attitude that illuminates what was more subdued in the original. Unlike a rash of similar, more DJ produced releases from jazz labels like Blue Note, Impulse and Verve in the mid-to-late 90s, each intended to capitalize on the then new urban cool of Black Bohemia and its attendants, the Robert Glasper Experiment is more far melodically and harmonically musical, inclusive of some neo-astral jazz that liberally borrows from the revivalist fascination with spacey, intergalactic electronica.
Houston-born, New School-trained Robert Glasper and his band of merry jazz men have also never been this accessible, not even on the more radio-ready tracks of Double Booked. Like the Love Jones soundtrack, Glasper’s team invites many of today’s pedigree voices of the underground's esteemed to their elegant table, those considered commercially recognizable musicians’ musicians or new indie darlings, like the suddenly much in-demand girl trio, KING. Though there is a whiff of record label gamesmanship in following the proven, two-decade long trend of hedging your financial bets by hiring soul stars to guest on contemporary jazz projects, Glasper actually uses his vocalists to their benefit rather than his own. There are no exclusively background “ohhs” and “ahhs” over jazz play or hired hook singers just to slap these artists’ names on the CD; instead each is given full songs and arrangement prominence. And, while the call makes for an exceedingly enjoyable listening experience, one cannot help but wonder if Glasper and the gang shorted themselves and modern jazz fans in the process by overly privileging the singers over the music.
Far too often the presence of Glasper’s men is only overtly heard in the margins and around the edges of these singers’ cuts. Consistently opening and closing songs with dazzling instrumentations that recede to the background whenever the vocalists takes center stage, the musicians break serious sweats underneath and around each song’s melody lines for those who care enough to lean in to hear. Granted the singers are operating in an environment that is all the Robert Glasper Experiment, and it is a very elegant if not always compelling environment Glasper and his folks have painted. But, as is wont to happen whenever singers are near, without intentional listener effort, the human voice steals the focus, distracting from the instrumental geniuses toiling on the background, making the whole composition work on the singer’s and listener’s behalf. Black Radio is no different. Blessedly, there is not a bum lead in the mix, each more than meeting their demanding tasks while also humbling themselves to the fact that they should ideally be serving the whole rather than themselves.
Setting the Black Radio stage is electrosoul artist Shafiq Husayn’s rich, streetwise baritone nicely MCing the band’s introduction against a backdrop of vocoder, electronic elements, Glasper’s contemplative keys, and Chris Dave’s playfully evolving drums before yielding to an artist menagerie of candidly humorous mic checks. The intro’s strutting rhythms and bumping hip hop drums are joined by whistling woodwinds and by a straight-ahead Erykah Badu (who revives the witty tone she applied to Jazzamatazz’s “Plenty” a decade before) until Glasper’s flashy keys enters on the bridge and never lets go of “Afro Blue.” Coming off of the thumping conclusion of “Afro Blue,” the sequencing of a spaced-out version of “Cherish the Day (feat. Lalah Hathaway)” should have jarred but instead it eases us into its orbit, bar by bar, filling the space with fresh sounds until only the drum and melody line of the original Sade classic are recognizable. With its inspired brass work¸ Eastern flavors, and Lalah’s lush tones, “Cherish…” is easily one of the highlights on an album of astoundingly disciplined evenness.
A positively shimmering Glasper takes the opening minute of “Always Shine” (feat. Lupe Fiasco and Bilal) to remind us why he’s the pianist to watch, before the oversized talents of Fiasco and Bilal (and even drummer Chris Dave) capably overshadow Glasper’s supporting key work. With the inspirational neo-soul of “Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.),” Ledisi’s pristine alto sublimely performs a song readymade for both her and urban adult contemporary radio; even dialing down from her full power, Ledisi proves the track’s star. Equally embodying the “experimentation meditation” tone is the highly viral buzzcut, “Move Love” (feat. King), boasts this generation’s answer to the Perri sisters; it and the trippy “Consequences of Jealousy” (feat. Meshell Ndegeocello) breaks trend by better spotlighting the band’s adroit instrumentations.
On “Why Do We Try,” a supernatural Stokely Williams of Mint Condition proves he’s the instrument on one of the few tracks that picks up the pace and ends up pushing the musicians much harder to meet the composition’s demands, ultimately competing with Williams for listener attention and often winning with evident solos, bold percussion work, and an avant garde arrangement worthy of resounding cheers. Frequent Glasper collaborator, Bilal, delivers a sensitive reading of David Bowie’s “Letter to Hermoine,” bringing a minimalist approach to a trustworthy story and melody, and one of the singer’s best performances. Like Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington before him, Glasper knows how to extract excellence from his performers, encouraging their unique personalities while restraining some of their trademark excesses.
It’s only on Glasper’s seven minute and twenty-three second deconstruction of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that the full breadth and depth of what the Robert Glasper Experiment can accomplish unencumbered is breathlessly illustrated. The marriage of Casey Benjamin’s pitch perfect vocoder and the band operating without limits is as exciting as any latter-day Coltrane composition. In its daring the cut stands shoulders above all that came before it and makes one long for more instrumental material from Glasper and the boys throughout Black Radio. Still, even on conservative fare like Musiq and Chrisette Michelle’s “Ah Yes,” elements of the band’s signature approach shine on Black Radio: deceptively intricate harmonic compositions and arrangements far more challengingly realized than the project’s easy flow and hypnotizing surfaces suggests, providing listeners’ a true “experience.” Here’s hoping for a sequel without commercial considerations or compromises -- for a “Black Radio” as oceanic and elastic as the limitless talents only heretofore hinted at by these brilliant musicians, leaving fans begging for that encore. Highly Recommended.
By L. Michael Gipson