Robert Glasper

Robert Glasper – Fuck Yo Feelings (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 2, 2023 · Comments off

Throwing open his studio doors, the pianist aims for a loose, mixtape-like vibe, but the stacked guest list yields a scattershot party that only ends up overstaying its own welcome. In the mini-documentary that accompanies Robert Glasper’s Fuck Yo Feelings, the Grammy-winning pianist and composer explains, “I want this whole thing to be mixtape vibe, so when we put it together it’s like a beat here, might be a song here, then we fuck around talking here.” To achieve this sort of free-form setup, Glasper welcomed a guest list of MCs, singers, and musicians—including Yasiin Bey, Herbie Hancock, YBN Cordae, Denzel Curry, and Audra Day—to pass through a studio in New York City and jam. The goal was to allow the artists to form organic bonds and strike up creative collaborations on the fly. But despite the accomplished cast, there’s little spark about the fruits of those sessions: Fuck Yo Feelings is a 71-minute melange of tepid sonic backdrops that lacks the vital momentum and progression inherent in any effective mixtape.

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Robert Glasper, Miles Davis – Everything’s Beautiful (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 30, 2023 · Comments off

Robert Glasper, Miles Davis - Everything's Beautiful (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz] Download

Everything’s Beautiful brings Miles Davis’ sound into the 21st century, blending a diverse group of master takes and outtakes from across Miles’ incredible tenure with Columbia Records (1955-1985) with original reinterpretations. Robert Glasper produced the collaboration. “I didn’t want to do just a remix record,” Glasper noted when discussing the 11-song set. “My idea was to show how Miles inspired people to make new art”. Knowing that “Miles didn’t have one audience,” Glasper recruited a legion of diverse guest artists to add to the magic of the project including familiar collaborators like R&B musicians Erykah Badu, Ledisi, Bilal and KING. They are joined by British soul singer-songwriter Laura Mvula; hip-hop producer Rashad Smith; Grammy-nominated Australian neo-soul quartet Hiatus Kaiyote, rapper/producer Illa J; jazz guitarist John Scofield, who collaborated with Davis; and the legendary Stevie Wonder.
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Robert Glasper – Covered (The Robert Glasper Trio Recorded Live At Capitol Studios) (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 30, 2023 · Comments off

Robert Glasper - Covered (The Robert Glasper Trio Recorded Live At Capitol Studios) (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

Four months after winning his second Grammy Award in the R&B category for Black Radio 2, pianist Robert Glasper re-assembles the acoustic jazz trio that played on his first two Blue Note recordings. Bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Damion Reid assist the pianist in a live audience recording from Capitol’s famed Studio A. Covered is far from a return to an acoustic piano trio for Glasper. Instead, it’s an acoustic approach to the directions he employed on his early Blue Note dates, and the R&B and hip-hop engagements on Black Radio. With the redo of “I Don’t Even Care,” Black Radio 2 commences with a nearly elliptical air, but Reid’s skittering snare creates a dance rhythm while Archer’s bassline plays the changes and tastefully fills Glasper’s ever widening melodic circle. With post-bop flourishes, he nonetheless remains close to the harmonic center, uncovering its richness in the process. The rhythm section’s intro to Radiohead’s “Reckoner” is lithe and almost funky before Glasper uses the melody’s limited palette as a circular, restrained, yet emotionally moving exploration of its possibilities. The album’s centerpiece is the 13-minute “In Case You Forgot.” It begins with a knotty, angular solo piano intro (check “Silly Rabbit” from 2007’s In My Element), with single-note syncopations and mid-register arpeggios cascading around a four-note bassline with classical embellishments. When the rhythm section enters, they weave jazz standards and modern pop songs together — from Freddie Hubbard’s “Up Jumped Spring” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” to Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” among others — with sharp, sudden cuts from Glasper before they all climb headlong into their own sprint. Scattered throughout the set is Glasper’s sincere but wry dialogue with his audience. A considerable strength from the trio is their ability to translate the appeal of neo-soul ballads such as Musiq (Soulchild)’s “So Beautiful,” Jhené Aiko’s “The Worst,” and Bilal’s “Levels” as jazz, even equating them with standards. An example is “Stella by Starlight,” whose canny arrangement simultaneously celebrates, decodes, and cracks open Bill Evans’ lyricism atop triple-timed brushed snare — think drum’n’bass — and a bumping bassline. Harry Belafonte delivers an earnest, grainy, proud and poignant spoken word appearance on “Got Over.” Set closer “I’m Dying of Thirst” offers a shadowy melody to a Latin-tinged tom-tom and bass groove as a children’s chorus recites the names of African-Americans shot by police; it results in a statement of dignity and self-determination. Glasper’s piano alternates between contemplative vamp and haunting elegy before it whispers to a finish. Covered may be a return to the acoustic piano trio, but cedes none of the ground gained by the Black Radio albums. This is Glasper refusing to be reined in by any format or artistic desire but his own. This set is welcoming, open, and warm: it invites fans of all of his musical pursuits along for the ride.
– Thom Jurek
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Robert Glasper – Black Radio III (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 30, 2023 · Comments off

Robert Glasper - Black Radio III (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

Black Radio III works both as a flowing, cohesive statement—the emotional and narrative flow is well-sequenced—and (like a good radio station) as a sampler of excellence. Eliding over any and all genre differences, Glasper once again treats all modern Black music as points on a spectrum, rather than cloistered corners of exclusion, resulting in an album that feels electrically modern, definitively rooted in soul, but also infinitely mutable. He skillfully deploys the best performers where they’re most effective, whether it’s India.Arie or Big K.R.I.T. or Q-Tip or Esperanza Spalding (singing in French), mixing and matching with gleeful—but respectful—abandon.
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Dinner Party, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington – Enigmatic Society (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · June 14, 2023 · Comments off

Only three months after the release of their 2020 Dinner Party LP, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder, and Kamasi Washington certified that the project of the same name would not be a one-time deal. They presented Dinner Party: Dessert with Herbie Hancock, Snoop Dogg, Bilal, Tarriona “Tank” Ball (sans Bangas), and many other associates in on fairly radical alternate versions of each Dinner Party cut. At the end of the year, Dinner Party were behind the title track of Martin’s solo Village Days EP, and at some later point reconvened to make this follow-up. Enigmatic Society was synchronized with the unique quartet’s appearance at Coachella 2023. It’s another inviting exercise in concision that vaporizes genre distinctions between jazz, soul, and funk in a way that is ultimately hip-hop despite a total lack of MCs. Main Dinner Party vocalist Phoelix shares his role this time with Arin Ray and Ant Clemons. The three are on the same page with warmhearted expressions and intimate vocals that waft as peacefully as Martin and Washington’s saxophones. The tone is set by Phoelix in “Answered Prayer,” an atmospheric ballad built on Glasper’s serene piano; he sounds like he’s transmitting from the beyond as he sings of contentment and gratitude. “Secure,” also without drums, takes to the sky with help from the elder Tank. Phoelix signs off with “Can’t Go,” his noncompliance echoed by the sampled voice of Daryl Hall stretched to a drawl. Further evidence that this is a crew of ’80s babies is in the Sounwave co-production “Insane,” a showcase for a resigned Ant Clemons that blows bubbles with Mtume’s “Juicy Fruit.” Ray takes the mike for the album’s three most amiable songs, supporting an overwhelmed loved one on “Breathe,” and on both the softly bobbing “For Granted” and misty “Love Love” testifying in simple terms without being trite. As on the self-titled session, there is some instrumental material. The calmly driving “Watts Renaissance” evokes persistence and communal support. “The Lower East Side,” co-helmed by Trevor Lawrence, Jr., is dubbed-out funk with a grimace-inducing change at the two-minute mark. Enigmatic Society is neither as powerful nor as weighty as the debut, and certainly doesn’t seem intended to match it in those regards. It’s altogether a calmer, more romantic work. – Andy Kellman

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Robert Glasper – Black Radio III (Supreme Edition) (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 18, 2022 · Comments off

Grammy-winning keyboardist/composer Robert Glasper has been alluring audiences with his hybrid style, which incorporates jazz, neo-soul, R&B and hip-hop elements. One of his top outings was Black Radio, released 10 years ago on the Blue Note Records, and the timing to celebrate it couldn’t have been better than now, with the third installment of the series. However, despite being thematically strong, this glossily produced music aims for a more commercial path that often doesn’t impress me.

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