“Black Radio”, the title of the Robert Glasper Experiment's proper Blue Note debut, is a double signifier. There's the dictionary's definition: "the device in an aircraft that records technical data during a flight, used in case of accident to discover its cause." And there's Angelika Beener's in her liner essay. She defines Black Radio as "representative of the veracity of Black music" which has been "...emulated, envied and countlessly re-imagined by the rest of the world...." With jazz as its backbone, Glasper, drummer Chris Dave, bassist Derrick Hodge, and Casey Benjamin on reeds, winds, and vocoder, cued by the inspiration of black music's illustrious cultural past, try to carve out a creative place for its future. The album is a seamless, deeply focused meld of jazz, hip-hop, adult contemporary R&B, neo-soul, even rock, with an expansive use of rhythmic and melodic invention; all of it surrounded by spacious, natural-sounding production that's smooth, never slick. The various elements yield the desired result: making the whole greater than its parts. Sa-Ra's Shafiq Husayn introduces it with "Lift Off." Erykah Badu takes the Cuban jazz classic "Afro Blue" and extends it using hip-hop rhythms and neo-soul groove wedded to her signature, jazz-tinged croon. Benjamin's airy flute and Glasper's Rhodes and piano converge in the center; Hodge's bass adds slip for the drum kit. Lalah Hathaway's gorgeous vocal on Sade's "Cherish the Day" finds the rhythm section bumping around the fringes and creating a new pocket, which she embraces while finding spaces inside the song that weren't there before. On "Always Shine," Lupe Fiasco's flow meets Bilal's emotive modern soul. The band stretches conventional 4/4 time, and the piano and synth shapeshift through the melody, adding depth and musical drama. "Gonna Be Alright" is a re-imagining of Glasper's "F.T.B." with new lyrics and a rousing, elegant vocal by Ledisi. King dreamily croons through "Move Love," as the Experiment pushes the time accents to a near breaking point. "Ah Yeah," with Musiq (Soulchild) and Chrisette Michele, is a sensual babymaker that expands the reach of contemporary jazz. The subtle yet fragmented breaks in "The Consequences of Jealousy," combined with Glasper's right-handed, upper-register chord creations, give Me'Shell Ndégeocello's vocal room to step outside the frame to fully inhabit the brooding musical simmer as an improviser. On "Why Do We Try," Stokley's (Mint Condition) breezy vocal is the bridge between Glasper's counterpoint melodies (one on each hand, with plenty of block chord improvisation), and the organ-esque timbres, popping breakbeats, and rumbling bass harmonics. The title track, with Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) commences with hip-hop in the tune's head; the rhythm section charges full press to meet his rapid-fire delivery, but Glasper and Benjamin offer gentler modal grooves on the margins without blunting the impact. Bilal uses his elastic phrasing to offer an iconic reading of David Bowie's "Letter to Hermione," as the band follows and builds upon his twists and turns. A drum machine and slurred speaking voice introduce Glasper's modally strident reading of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to close. As Benjamin sings through his vocoder, loops, blips, and sample fragments haunt the middle like ghosts. Glasper approaches the melody elliptically; but grounds the entire tune, even as the rhythm section and effects gather steam. Before long, everything converges to propel it into the stratosphere. Black Radio creates an entirely new context for popular music in its near erasure of boundaries. It is the sound of the future -- even if no one knows it yet.
The album won Best R&B Album at the 55th Grammy Awards and also received a nomination for Best R&B Performance from the album cut "Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.)" featuring R&B singer Ledisi, in February 2013.
Track listing
01. "Lift Off / Mic Check" (featuring Shafiq Husayn) (S. Husayn R. Glasper) - 3:57
02. "Afro Blue" (featuring Erykah Badu) (Mongo Santamaria) - 5:13
03. "Cherish the Day" (featuring Lalah Hathaway) (Sade Adu, Andrew Hale, Stuart Matthewman) - 5:53
04. "Always Shine" (featuring Lupe Fiasco and Bilal) (R. Glasper, W. Jaco) - 5:22
05. "Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.)" (featuring Ledisi) (R. Glasper, L. Young) - 6:13
06. "Move Love" (featuring KING) (Paris Strother R. Glasper) - 3:22
07. "Ah Yeah" (featuring Musiq Soulchild and Chrisette Michele) (Derrick Hodge, T. Johnson, C. M. Payne) - 5:13
08. "The Consequences of Jealousy" (featuring Meshell Ndegeocello) (M. Ndegeocello R. Glasper) - 6:12
09. "Why Do We Try" (featuring Stokley) (Jeffrey Allen) - 6:32
10. "Black Radio" (featuring Yasiin Bey) (R. Glasper, D. Hodge, Chris E. Dave, D. Smith) - 5:26
11. "Letter to Hermione" (featuring Bilal) (David Bowie) - 4:52
12. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic) - 7:24
iTunes bonus track
13. "A Love Supreme" (John Coltrane) - 5:20
European bonus track
13. "Fever" (featuring Hindi Zahra) (R. Glasper, H. Zahra) - 6:48
Japanese bonus track
13. "Twice" (Little Dragon) - 5:26
Credits
The Robert Glasper Experiment:
Robert Glasper - Piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer
Casey Benjamin - Vocoder, flute, saxophone, synthesizer)
Derrick Hodge - Bass
Chris Dave - Drums, percussion
Jahi Sundance - Turntables
Stokley Williams - Percussion
Featured Artists
Shafiq Husayn - Vocals
Erykah Badu - Vocals
Lalah Hathaway - Vocals
Bilal - Vocals
Lupe Fiasco - Vocals
Ledisi - Vocals
KING: Anita Bias - Vocals, Amber Strother - Vocals, Paris Strother — Keyboards
Chrisette Michele - Vocals
Musiq Soulchild - Vocals, snapping
MeShell Ndegeocello - Vocals
Stokley Williams - Vocals, percussion
Yasiin Bey - Vocals
Hindi Zahra - Vocals (European bonus tracks)
Phonte - Vocals
Solange Knowles - Vocals
Production
Recorded at Treshhold, Los Angeles, CA, by Keith Lewis, assisted by Todd Bergman.
Vocals and piano for "Afro Blue" recorded by Max Ross at Systems Two, Brooklyn, NY.
Mixed by Qmillion at Flying Dread STudios, Venice, CA.
Mastering by Chris Athens at Sterling Sound, New York, NY.
Produced by Robert Glasper, except track 7 co-produced by Bryan-Michael Cox
Nicole Hegeman - Executive producer, production coordination, management
Eli Wolf - Executive producer, A&R
Vincent Bennett - Management
Gordon H. Jee - Art direction
Giuliyani - Original artwork on cover
Michael Schreiber - Photography
Jewell Green - Photography
Cognito - Photography
Angelika Beener - Liner notes
Notes
"Afro Blue" cover as performed by Mongo Santamaria.
"Cherish the Day" cover as performed by Sade.
"Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.)" additional vocals of "F.T.B." from album In My Element as performed by Robert Glasper.
"Letter to Hermione" cover as performed by David Bowie.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" cover as performed by Nirvana.
"A Love Supreme" cover as performed by John Coltrane.
"Twice" cover as performed by Little Dragon.
Released: February 28, 2012
Genre: Jazz, R&B, Soul
Length: 82:52
Label: Blue Note Records
Producer: Robert Glasper
© 2012
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