2013 Grammy award winners, Robert Glasper Experiment are without doubt the greatest jazz fusion band to emerge from the US in the last 20 years and are well on their way to becoming the hottest jazz artists in the world. After taking out the Grammy for Best R&B Album for his stunning 2012 album release ‘Black Radio’, Robert Glasper went on to storm the European Summer festival circuit, gracing the stage at a host of Europe’s biggest and best festival events.
On October 25th, Robert Glasper released his fifth studio album “Black Radio 2” which debuted at #4 on the iTunes Australian R&B/Soul Charts. Nothing short of a priceless musical artifact, the album features a jaw-dropping roll call of vocalists including Common, Snoop Dogg, Norah Jones, Lupe Fiasco, Jill Scott, Bill Withers, Patrick Stump from Fall Out boy, Brandy, Emeli Sande, Anthony Hamilton, Dwele, Marsha Ambrosius, Faith Evans, Jean Grae, Macy Gray, Jazmine Sullivan, Lalah Hathaway, Eric Roberson, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
The core remains the Experiment, as astoundingly versatile a band as has ever existed, featuring Robert Glasper on keyboards, Derrick Hodge on bass, Mark Colenburg on drums, and Casey Benjamin on vocoder and saxophone.
Joining Glasper on tour is soul-jazz fusion pioneers Roy Ayers and Lonnie Liston Smith in a unique collaborative performance. In this, his first Australian tour in over 4 years, Ayers presents a unique new live set quite unlike any other that he has delivered in the past. It harkens back to his earliest days, delving deep into the psychedelic jazz roots of his musical legacy, while also rising high on the energy and funky eclecticism of his latter-day aural identity.
Lonnie Liston Smith’s musical legacy is unsurpassed. He helped pioneer the spiritual jazz and jazz funk genres and exists as one of the most important keyboard masters alive on earth today having recorded and performed extensively with many of black music’s biggest names including Miles Davis. His work has been sampled by a long list of A list Artists including Jay Z and Mary J Blige.
Glasper and Ayers have a long history of delivering unique on stage collaborations and this tour promises to be no different. Expect a fusion of new an old, past and present, spirit and soul as Roy, Lonnie and Robert explore music in a free form fashion live on stage, together as one.
'It's a short list of jazz pianists who have the wherewithal to drop a J Dilla reference into a Thelonious Monk cover, but not many jazz pianists are Robert Glasper.' - Los Angeles Times
“Superb Herbie Hancockish solos of gracefully twisting long lines, borderline free-jazz, and creative spins” - The Guardian
Melbourne Show information:
Friday 7th March – MELBOURNE, 170 Russell (formerly Billboard The Venue) Tickets available from www.170russell.com
