Last Saturday night (2/26/11) The Robert Glasper Experiment (Chris “Daddy” Dave- Drums, Derrick Hodge-Bass, Casey Benjamin – Alto Sax/Vocoder, Robert Glasper - Keys) took to the stage at famed jazz club Blue Note with guest Lupe Fiasco in a monumental collaboration that joined the current legends of jazz and hip-hop on one very small stage. Unlike the other nights of Glasper’s Blue Note residency though, this show was joined by the ringleaders of hip-hop, Kanye West and Mos Def, to make a rap supergroup backed by jazz wunderkinds. This is the stuff of legend.
The Revivalist, the new jazz inspired channel on Okayplayer, was there to capture the highlights of the night including Kanye, Lupe & Mos collaborating on “Umi Says,” a classic ranting Kanye freestyle, a silly conversation with Robert Glasper and Lupe on their collabs and the dynamic musicianship of the Robert Glasper Experiment backing up the whole event.
Seriously amazing sounds!! Peep the whole series here with several more videos
José James has masterfully combined jazz, hip hop, soul and freestyle elements into his music, has propelled some of the most epic musical projects of the past few years and is poised to elevate genre-blending consciousness for many years to come. From covering Coltrane’s “Equinox”- which got the attention of worldwide musical tastemaker Gilles Peterson who later put out his first album, to re-inventing Freestyle Fellowship’s “Park Bench People”José James has carved a very special and much needed niche into musical culture worldwide.
Prior to José’s recent Los Angeles show, we had the distinct pleasure of speaking with him to touch base and get a more in-depth look at how he’s gotten to where he is, what this next steps will be and who he’s collaborating with musically, spiritually and wholeheartedly to get there. We rapped about his Panamanian percussive influence from his father, tried to pinpoint why experimental music is more abundant overseas as well as where he’s had some of his most memorable shows.
Watch out for José James + Taylor McFerrin in Jan 2012 with a Japan tour slated and then up next, José’s new album - set to drop in early 2012.
It was a pleasure and honor to chat with José and we are deeply grateful for his music and many infinite blessings he’s shared with us.
Preview Minty posts on José here, here, here and here. Yeah, we ♥ him.
KCRW: Aaron Byrd, Anthony Valadez, Jeremy Sole @ Zanzibar
We’ve been sifting through 2012’s stand-out music, events, mixes and much more and wanted to call out some amazing contributions we’ve seen both on and offline.
It’s been an epic year of infinite blessings shared worldwide and it’s most definitely our pleasure [and mission] to share with you some of the things we find. We appreciate the support from all of you wholeheartedly and wish you health, happiness and creative energy in 2012.
Musical genius Robert Glasper curates some of the most influencial artists in their genre to create new jazz-based project, Black Radio to be released February 28, 2012 on legendary imprint Blue Note Records. Black Radio will include Erykah Badu, yasiin bey (Mos Def), Lupe Fiasco, Ledisi, KING, Chrisette Michele, Lalah Hathaway, Mshell N’Degeocello, Stokley, Shafiq Husayn, Musiq Soulchild, Bilal and then some.
