Robert Glasper

Hailing from Houston, Texas, Robert Glasper is a jazz pianist with a knack for mellow, harmonically complex compositions that also reveal a subtle hip-hop influence. Inspired to play piano by his mother, a gospel pianist and vocalist, Glasper attended Houston's High School for the Performing Arts. After graduation Glasper 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. Since graduating college, Glasper has 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 album 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 is his trio with drummer Chris Dave and upright bassist Vicente Archer, who 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 the Robert Glasper Experiment, which features Dave, electric bassist Derrick Hodge, and Casey Benjamin on saxes and vocoder. In 2012, the Robert Glasper Experiment (with a slew of all-star guest vocalists) issued its first standalone album entitled Black Radio, for Blue Note, which sought to blur boundaries between jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and rock & roll.