Robert Glasper Black Radio III

Description

Between his 2004 debut album Mood and his fourth album, 2009s Double Booked, Glaspers work hinted at a vision of music where the refined airs of traditional jazz could fuse seamlessly with the street sensibility of hip-hop. Double Booked, in fact, opens with jazz trumpeter and frequent Spike Lee film composer Terence Blanchard name-checking Roots drummer Questlove. Of course, Glasper was by no means the first to bring those worlds togetherhip-hop figures like Q-Tip, Gang Starrs Guru and Questlove had long laid the foundation, all of them instrumental in bringing an awareness of jazz to a whole new generation of listeners. But if Glasper wasnt in on the ground floor of that sea change, his involvement predates his own crossover success, having played with the likes of Bilal, Erykah Badu, The Roots, J Dilla and Common in the late 90s.

Practically every note on this album shines with the splendor of the African-American contribution to music, and thats the triumph here. When Everybody Love segues into It Dont Matter, for example, the mood glides seamlessly between early-2000s neo soul and classic 70s soul. As a pretend radio DJ, Glasper has quite the supple touch, and his nostalgia for the glory days of both periods shines through. But as a real-life composer, he writes piano progressions that take your breath away, and Black Radio III is filled with them. Ultimately, its Glaspers ability to write for, lead and listen to other musicians in equal measure that makes Black Radio III as vital and promising a statement as its predecessors. Paste Magazine