Jazz Muse in Groove Land: The Robert Glasper Story

When Robert Glasper gets his jazz on, it’s usually wrapped in layers of seductive or slamming groove and text (sung, rapped, spoken). The five-time Grammy winner, a major figure in jazz for the past decade-and-change and a Blue Note recording artist, is both an heir apparent to the great tradition of soul and R&B-inflected jazz modes going back to the 1960s, and a kingpin of a hybridized new brand of soul-jazz. 

Hear what Glasper’s all about in real time when he steers his Black Radio III tour through and makes his Santa Barbara debut at the Lobero Theatre on Saturday, August 16, a make-up date for a booking originally slated for January. Mark this show as one — like Don Was at the Lobero last year — with appeal for jazz lovers, in the “real” sense, and fans of general musical values and virtues, soul and otherwise.

While this will be Glasper’s first official show in S.B., he showed up in the 805 as the highlight of the Rhodes Festival at Oxnard College, celebrating the iconic old-school sound of the Fender Rhodes piano. Glasper’s signature blend of keyboard taste, soul, and chops left an indelible impression, and something distinct from such other artists as smooth jazzer Jeff Lorber and more specifically R&B-steeped singer-keyboardist Kandace Springs.
That Glasper was onto a fresh new sound and concept, weaving together jazz elements with cinematic soundscapes and hip-hop/R&B notions, became apparent to a broader audience and critical base with the arrival of his 2012 album Black Radio. The Black Radio series of albums and self-invented attitudes continues, up through 2023’s double album Black Radio III(Supreme Edition), winner of the Best R&B Grammy for that year. Glasper’s guest list of cameos on the album cut across the jazz, rap and soul worlds — including Killer Mike, Esperanza Spalding,  Meshell Ndegeocello, Lalah Hathaway, Common, Gregory Porter, Ledisi,  Jennifer Hudson, and India Arie. Collaboration is part of his game, big-time.

But fast-forward to his recently released album Let Go, and we find an instrumental “chill” vehicle of a record, with very little soloing, lyrics (although there are ambient voices in the mix) and an overall laid-back, late-night soul-simmer of an album. The 47-year-old Glasper’s musical journey is still lined with surprises along the way.

Last September, Glasper commandeered the main arena stage of the Monterey Jazz Festival, as the official commissioned artist. The musical tapestry he laid out on that night was classic Glasper, interweaving instrumental jazz-soul impressionism with funky sections, vocal passages, and commentary of the social/racial/political and romantic kind. His work is both uniquely his own and rooted in multiple genres. 

The Houston-born artist has a musical foundation that rose out of the church, like many soul and jazz musicians, and he almost orchestrates his concerts and recording projects like multifaceted church services. Among his influences are jazz-flavored ‘70s R&B paradigms of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, and the free-spirited and exploratory career path of Miles Davis — whose legacy Glasper has intersected with his tribute album Everything Is Beautiful and as musical curator and composer for the unfortunately dubious Davis biopic Miles Ahead. 

As Glasper has asserted, “I’m obviously influenced by Miles Davis — even just the psyche of how he thinks about music … how he moves through, and always wanted to reflect the times he’s in. That’s what I’m doing now. He opened that door.”

See Robert Glasper Saturday, August 16, 7:30 p.m., at the Lobero Theatre (33 E. Canon Perdido St.). See lobero.org/events/robert-glasper.