Robert Glasper is a jazz pianist with a knack for mellow, harmonically complex compositions that also reveal a subtle hip-hop influence. Crucial to the enduring relevance of Blue Note Records since his mid-2000s debut as a leader, the Houston native regularly topped Billboard's Jazz Albums chart with his highly collaborative recordings for the label, such as the Grammy-winning Black Radio (2011) and
Black Radio 2 (2013), as well as
ArtScience (2016), all three of which were credited to
Robert Glasper Experiment. In addition to guiding projects such as the soundtrack for
Miles Ahead (another Grammy winner) and
R+R=Now's Collagically Speaking,
Glasper has contributed to dozens of sessions across genres, most notably
Kendrick Lamar's
To Pimp a Butterfly. Since moving to Loma Vista Recordings,
Glasper has released
Fuck Yo Feelings (2019), a mixtape that exemplifies his resistance to expectations and devotion to spontaneity, and
Black Radio III (2022), a progression from his Blue Note sessions.
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
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
Robert Glasper Experiment, featuring
Dave, electric bassist
Derrick Hodge, and
Casey Benjamin on saxes and vocoder. Vocalist
Bilal was featured on "All Matter,"
Glasper's first Grammy-nominated recording (for Best Urban/Alternative Performance).
Three years later,
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 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,
Robert Glasper Experiment (then including
Hodge and
Benjamin with drummer
Mark Colenburg) returned with their equally star-studded sophomore album,
Black Radio 2. Grammy-nominated in the Best R&B Album category, it didn't win, but its cover of
Stevie Wonder's "Jesus Children of America" took the award for Best Traditional R&B Performance.
Glasper returned to his original acoustic piano trio format with bassist
Vicente 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 came out in April, followed two months later by the album, which was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Jazz Instrumental album.
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. The album eventually won that year's Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.
Glasper also recorded a
Davis tribute album, Everything's Beautiful, celebrating what would have been the trumpeter's 90th birthday.
Glasper reimagined classic tracks with an all-star list of collaborators who included
Stevie Wonder,
Georgia Anne Muldrow,
Erykah Badu,
Hiatus Kaiyote, and
John Scofield. Featuring the single "Ghetto Walkin'" fronted by
Bilal, the album was issued that May.
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 and became another number one entry on the Jazz Albums chart.
Glasper then worked with August Greene (with
Karriem Riggins and
Common) and
R+R=Now (with
Christian Scott,
Derrick Hodge,
Justin Tyson,
Terrace Martin, and
Taylor McFerrin), the latter of which he formed. During the first half of 2018, August Greene released their self-titled album, and
R+R=Now issued Collagically Speaking. These albums arrived as
Glasper expanded his oft-overlapping side discographies as an instrumentalist and producer with work on albums by
Royce da 5'9",
Shafiq Husayn,
Philip Bailey,
Flying Lotus, and
Brittany Howard.
Informal sessions with a broad mix of players, singers, and rappers were shaped into a mixtape,
Fuck Yo Feelings, released in October 2019 as
Glasper's Loma Vista debut.
Glasper then provided the soundtrack for Stella Meghie's 2020 romantic drama The Photograph, released that February. Also in 2020,
Glasper teamed with
Terrace Martin,
9th Wonder, and
Kamasi Washington for
Dinner Party, and released a preview of
Black Radio III, "Better Than I Imagined," featuring
Meshell Ndegeocello and
H.E.R. At the following Grammy ceremony,
Fuck Yo Feelings was up for Best Progressive R&B Album, while "Better Than I Imagined" won Best R&B Song.
Glasper appeared on releases from the likes of
Ledisi,
Common,
Martin, and
Flying Lotus before he completed
Black Radio III. Unlike the first two volumes, both of which were recorded in a week,
Black Radio III was put together over a year in remote fashion. It arrived in February 2022 with
Lalah Hathaway,
Q-Tip, and
Jennifer Hudson among the additional participants. ~ Matt Collar & Thom Jurek