Robert Glasper Defines Jazz and Why His Music Matters

iRock Jazz caught up with the Grammy award winning artist pianist and composer Robert Glasper. Glasper defines Jazz, why his music matters and more.

[@Joeskateapool]

Wayne Shorter and his quartet with John Patitucci, Danilo Perez and Brian Blade. Those guys are doing new things......While killing and playing and being amazing.

[@SungHatonnVulnerableOfMe]

Yes

[@MrTrollDoctor]

I'm really diggin' the 8-bit glasses!

[@Lemmiwinks07]

Those are some sick shades

[@jryuwah]

Go listen to his Trio albums...he loves jazz.you have to have this mindset to standout.Cats like Miles and Herbie, Duke had the exact same mindset as he does now. if you think he's overly commercializing his music. then Herbie his music back in the 70's and 80's. He's not saying that everyone has to thrown in hip hop in order to stand out but there's a reason why Jazz doesn't really have a voice now a days.The whole "F*ck that" attitude is what made Miles Davis so important. he's being truthful

[@jryuwah]

yup Wayne Shorter is like 80 years old and he's still doing Magical things in QUARTRET form. can you believe that?! his latest record is amazing. I've seen many Shorter interview and he and Robert share the same mindset regarding the progressive attitude one has to have in jazz, he just states it in a more heart warming way but they all have the same view.

[@thatomothothi8874]

There should be a documentary about himself and his music.

[@debbydebluckey-crenshaw7593]

Love your explainations!

[@craiggreen8617]

My main argument is merely that there is a lot going on in jazz right now, and some of it is extremely innovative. Glasper's talking big as if he's doing something groundbreaking, to get publicity. His music is accessible and easy to listen to like Herbie Hancock's Possibilities. That's not inherently bad, but he's talking like its controversial to play maj7 chords against a back beat with an occasional 7/8 laid on top. Its not. If that's whats in his heart, good for him. Jazz will keep moving.

[@craiggreen8617]

Michael Brecker, Marcus Miller, Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Brad Mehldau. That's not even the tip of the iceberg. And those are the old guys now! Jazz has plenty of voices. Yes, he's able to draw in hip hop listeners. At a cost to his art. He'd be able to draw in even more fans if he'd collaborate with Justin Bieber. He's right that genres can be stretched to a breaking point, but jazz is mostly a noun. "Hipness isn't a state of mind, its a fact of life, you see."

[@BrashYoungMedia]

That laugh at 4:22 tho..

[@jryuwah]

just look up the work he's done with Lionel Loueke. kinda opposite of what the experiment does on stage but hey he recorded like 4 tracks on his album, and he's and his band has joined him on stage on various occasions. the work he's done with Gretchen Parlato. if you think he's ignoring his jazz community then you haven't researched him enough.

[@Ejstar89]

I have to agree that Jazz has to move forward. It's cool to remember those that came before. But, there is nothing wrong with blazing new trails. I feel like cats like Robert Glasper, Roy Hargrove's RH Factor and Christian Scott and Derrick Hodge to name a few do that.

[@jryuwah]

maybe what he doing isn't "controversial" but one can't really name me a band, heavily rooted in jazz, that is taking their kind of approach to the genre. I have many friends come up to people and tell me that they have never seen a jazz artist take this kind of approach to the music so he's not just talking to talk. like I can't remember the last time I've seen a jazz show where you got 18 year old hip hop heads, sitting next to 50-60 year olds at the same show. (personal experience)

[@jryuwah]

His bluntness in this video might be clouding your judgement but go ask any new/old progressive jazz artist today (esperanza, gregory porter, roy ayers, heck thundercat,herbie, marcus, stanley) and they will tell you that Robert and his band are doing something that hasn't be done in a looong time. BUT this is just robert's. like you said, TONS of people are doing things today for the genre, but you can't deny that he's making a statement in the jazz world.

[@tiluriso]

Robert Glasper is a great musician.

[@craiggreen8617]

There' s plenty of young cats moving jazz forward if one just takes a minute and listens. Steve Lehman/Vijay Iyer both manage to make new music unlike what's come before, and the difference between them and Glasper is that they manage to do it without over-commercializing their music.Glasper's made some fun stuff, but his comments make me doubt that he's listening to his peers really. Also, his outline of jazz history at the end was sketchy, and makes me question how much "jazz" he really loves.

[@jryuwah]

The onlyband that I can recall that has succesfully transformedHip hop into a live form wasThe Roots.but the Experiment is the only band i can recall in recent history,that successfully blends the hip hop culture in LIVE form into their music while still being able to blend the sonic and mathematical levels of jazz.you can only see what i'm talking about if you watch him live. your whole view on him is misunderstanding.we can define jazz all we want but first "MUSIC is a product of YOU"

[@isaiahharris40]

Everything he said about the culture of jazz can be applied to hip hop. They are similar in so many ways.

[@MatthewValentine92]

i think pat metheny constantly pushes the boundaries mr glasper, as well as plenty of other musicians

[@MrVancephus]

I think Eldar Djazngirov and Gonzalo are very exciting

[@jryuwah]

It's not really to get publicity though. the whole "Robert Glasper experiment" has had this mindset since 2007 and it has never changed since then, they just put him on the camera and tell him to speak his voice and to say what he feels on the current state of jazz. he's not saying THAT NOBODY is moving the genre to new places but for the longest jazz had literally no major voice especially in the late 80s/90/s/and early 2000s.

[@bfleury1]

I definitely see what people mean. They're ARE jazz cats making noise. Example, Brad Mehldau, Jaleel Shaw, Marcus Strickland, etc. People have to remember, however that all these musicians are influenced by multiple genres. No offense to the Marsalis brothers, but they are only preserving the tradition, and not pushing it forward.

[@killer5678]

Robert Glasper is great and I love his music but like almost all Jazz musicians, he contradicts himself and puts his foot in his mouth. What he is doing is nothing new, its the same kind of music that I grew up on back in the 90s. Its a style that reached its peak and then went away. And no he is not listening to his peers because they are making great strides in the genre.

[@jryuwah]

@MS. ILBB "He should take a listen to Gregory Porter and Esperanza Spalding" He's shared the stage with both of them. and i'm sure he listens to them lol

[@craiggreen8617]

I'm not even out to comment on his music. I really don't care. If you love it, great. But he's intentionally ignoring his peer groups and talking trash to get publicity. And believe it or not, almost no group in jazz is swinging now. Almost all of them play music with a gospel-background backbeat. Its like the thing to do at this point. Everyone's talking about hip hop and jazz so much that its already old news. Steve Coleman had guys rapping over jazz in the 90s.

[@capeheartriz]

Well, where can jazz go?.....been everywhere...what could possibility be next?

[@jryuwah]

it's crazy cause the same artist you accuse of ignoring a community is doing music with Marcus Miller (they just annoucned a project they're working on) and has shared the stage with him on various occasions. just gotta research him. again he's very blunt in this video and it might be clouding your judgement of his as an artist. we're not even talking about skill or whether he's good or not. that's not the debate lol

[@SDIGGIE]

Yes but what makes Gumbo, Gumbo is the Rue if you don't have this it's not Gumbo. Just like if you sway away from the foundation of Jazz it's not Jazz.