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| Robert Glasper to Make Blue Note Records and Village Vanguard Debuts This Fall, on-the-rise pianist Robert Glasper will make his debut with two of the jazz world’s most venerable institutions, Blue Note Records and the Village Vanguard. On October 4, Blue Note will release Glasper’s first major label recording, Canvas, and the 26-year-old pianist will celebrate with his first-ever engagement at the Vanguard from November 1 - 6. After having gained a standout reputation in both jazz & R&B circles (he’s worked with everyone from Terence Blanchard & Roy Hargrove to Q-Tip & Mos Def), Glasper is ready to step out on his own, and Canvas puts him forth as a new voice to be reckoned with threefold: as a pianist, as a composer, and as one third of a trio (with bassist Vicente Archer & drummer Damion Reid) that Ben Ratliff of The New York Times said “deserves comparison with the best of the newer piano trios, those led by Jason Moran, Bill Charlap and Brad Mehldau.” As a pianist, Glasper possesses a mesmerizing melodic sense and an awe-inspiring technique, but also has the innate sense to know exactly which is needed at a given moment. He’s absorbed all the standard influences (Tyner, Hancock, Corea, Jarrett) and yet he exhibits a sound that’s undeniably Glasper, his delicate touch and harmonic sense as recognizable as any of the aforementioned masters. As a composer, a facet of Glasper’s musicianship that there’s no avoiding on Canvas with nine of the ten compositions his own (the exception being Herbie Hancock’s “Riot”), he demonstrates a flair for the deceptively simplistic. On first listen, Canvas sounds like decidedly mainstream piano jazz. The second time around, though, the true hip-hop nature of the music reveals itself, not as much aurally as sensually. The bass is warmer, phatter, more sanguine, the drums throb, and the piano always manages to be both songful and propulsive. Robert Glasper was raised in Houston, Texas. His mother was his first and strongest musical influence. She not only played piano and sang gospel music in the family's church, she led a band that worked the city's jazz and blues club circuit as well, and by the age of twelve, he was playing piano in that church. He was accepted to Houston's famed High School for the Performing Arts after which he enrolled at New School University in Manhattan. As an undergrad, Glasper gigged with Christian McBride, Russell Malone and Kenny Garrett. Professional life after the New School was even sweeter: stints with major jazz artists (Nicholas Payton, Roy Hargrove, Terence Blanchard, Carmen Lundy), and artists from hip-hop and R&B as well (Q-Tip, Mos Def, Bilal). In 2003, Glasper's first album Mood was released on the innovative indie label Fresh Sound New Talent. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |