Robert Glasper facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Robert Glasper
Glasper in 2013
Background information
Birth name	Robert Andre Glasper
Born	(1978-04-05) April 5, 1978 (age 47)
Origin	Houston, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Jazz hip hop R&B neo soul fusion jazz
Occupation(s)	Record producer songwriter arranger keyboardist
Instruments	Piano Fender Rhodes keyboards
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Sounds of Crenshaw Loma Vista Columbia Legacy Blue Note Fresh Sounds

Robert Glasper (born April 5, 1978) is an American pianist, music producer, songwriter, and arranger. His music blends many styles, mainly focusing on jazz. Robert Glasper has won five Grammy Awards and has been nominated 11 times.

His breakthrough album, Black Radio (released in 2012), was very popular. It reached number 15 on the Billboard 200 chart and won a Grammy for Best R&B Album. He released a follow-up album, Black Radio 2, the next year. ..... He also worked on the soundtrack for the 2015 movie Miles Ahead.

Besides his own music, Robert Glasper has helped create albums for many other artists. These include Mac Miller, Anderson .Paak, The Kid Laroi, and Herbie Hancock. He won an Emmy Award in 2017 for his song "A Letter to the Free." This song was featured in Ava DuVernay's documentary 13th. He also wrote music for the documentary The Apollo and the movie The Photograph.

He has also been a special "Artist in Residence" at famous places. These include the London Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, The Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall.

Robert Glasper's Life and Music Journey

Robert Glasper performing live in Germany in 2016

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Robert Glasper's first musical inspiration was his mother, Kim Yvette Glasper. She was a professional jazz and blues singer. She often took him to her club performances instead of leaving him with a babysitter. His mother was also the music director at the East Wind Baptist Church. This is where Robert first performed in public. He played music during services at three different churches: Baptist, Catholic, and Seventh-day Adventist.

Glasper has shared that he first developed his unique sound in church. There, he learned to hear harmony in his own way. This inspired him to mix church and gospel harmonies with jazz harmonies.

He went to Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas. He also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In tenth grade, he played with the jazz band at Texas Southern University. He later went to the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. At the New School, Glasper met singer Bilal. They started performing and recording together. This led to Robert working with many hip hop and R&B artists, alongside his growing jazz career.

Robert Glasper became interested in hip-hop after listening to the group A Tribe Called Quest.

Building a Music Career

Robert Glasper's career really took off while he was still studying in New York. He started touring with famous musicians like bassist Christian McBride and trumpeters Terence Blanchard and Roy Hargrove. At the same time, he became good friends with his New School classmate Bilal. They formed a strong musical bond and became part of a new hip hop and neo soul music movement. This movement included artists like Jill Scott, The Roots, and J Dilla. During this time, Glasper also became the music director for Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def).

Glasper released his first album, Mood, in 2002. This album featured six of his own songs and some jazz standards. It was mostly a piano trio recording.

In 2005, Glasper released his first album with Blue Note Records, called Canvas. This album featured his main piano trio. His third album, In My Element, came out in 2007. It included songs honoring his mother and hip hop producer J Dilla.

Glasper's 2009 album, Double-Booked, showed two sides of his music. Some songs were played by his acoustic piano trio. Other songs were performed by his electric group, The Experiment. This album featured guest singers like Bilal and Yasiin Bey. One song, "All Matter," was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2010.

In February 2012, Glasper released his important album Black Radio. This album featured many neo-soul and hip-hop artists. Black Radio was very successful and won a Grammy for Best R&B Album in 2013.

In October 2013, Glasper released Black Radio 2. This album also featured many guest vocalists. A song from this album, "Jesus Children of America," won a Grammy Award in 2015.

On June 16, 2015, Robert Glasper released Covered. This album was a return to his acoustic piano trio style. It featured cover songs from many different artists, including Radiohead and Kendrick Lamar. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award.

In 2015, Glasper helped produce Nina Revisited... A Tribute to Nina Simone. This album honored the music of Nina Simone.

Also in 2015, Glasper worked as a producer and arranger for the film Miles Ahead. This movie was about the jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, who greatly influenced Glasper. The soundtrack won a Grammy Award in 2017.

In 2016, Glasper released Everything's Beautiful. This album was another tribute to Miles Davis. It featured remixes and new versions of Davis's original works. The album included famous artists like Stevie Wonder and Erykah Badu.

On September 16, 2016, Glasper released ArtScience. This was the first album by his electric group, the Robert Glasper Experiment, where all members wrote and produced songs. It was also the first Experiment album without guest singers.

In October 2016, Glasper started co-hosting the Blue Note Cruise. This cruise became an annual event.

In January 2017, Glasper performed with Christina Aguilera at a special concert. This concert celebrated the opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In February 2017, Glasper was the Creative and Musical Director for a special show at the Apollo Theater. This show celebrated African American protest music.

On September 29, 2017, Glasper released Our Point of View with the Blue Note All Stars band. This project celebrated the history and future of Blue Note Records.

In 2018, Glasper formed two new supergroups. One was R+R=Now, and the other was August Greene with Common and Karriem Riggins. R+R=Now's first album, Collagically Speaking, was released on June 15, 2018. August Greene released their first album on February 21, 2018.

In October 2018, Glasper started his annual month-long performances at the Blue Note Jazz Club. He plays many sold-out shows and invites famous guests to perform with him.

In the summer of 2019, Glasper was a special Artist in Residence at the North Sea Jazz Festival. He also had a two-week residency at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

On October 3, 2019, Glasper released the album Feelings. This album was created during a two-day session where he invited musician friends to come to the studio and create music together. Many artists, including Herbie Hancock and Andra Day, contributed to the album. Glasper also wrote the music for the documentary The Apollo in 2019.

In 2020, Glasper wrote the music for the film The Photograph. On June 25, 2020, Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, and 9th Wonder formed a supergroup called Dinner Party. They released their first album on July 10, 2020. In August 2020, Glasper released "Better Than I Imagined," the first song from his upcoming Black Radio 3 album. He also worked with Common to write the ending theme song for the educational Netflix show Bookmarks.

On January 14, 2022, Glasper announced that the third album in his Black Radio series, Black Radio III, would be released on February 25, 2022.

Robert Glasper's Musical Style

Robert Glasper's music is known for blending different styles. He has two main groups:

• The Robert Glasper Trio: This is an acoustic jazz trio with Robert Glasper on piano, Damion Reid on drums, and Vicente Archer on bass.
• The Robert Glasper Experiment: This is an electronic group that mixes many genres. It includes Glasper, drummer Mark Colenburg, saxophonist/vocoderist Casey Benjamin, and bassist Derrick Hodge.

Glasper says, "That's what makes this band unique... We can go anywhere, literally anywhere, we want to go. We all have musical ADD and we love it." His main influences are neo-soul, hip-hop, jazz, gospel, and R&B. He has also reinterpreted songs from rock bands like Nirvana and Radiohead.

Glasper believes that the music of Miles Davis has greatly influenced his style. He said, "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."

Awards and Nominations

Grammy Awards

Discography

Studio Albums

EPs

• Black Radio Recovered: The Remix EP (Blue Note, 2012)
• Porter Chops Glasper (Blue Note, February 25, 2014)
• Dinner Party with Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington and 9th Wonder (Sounds of Crenshaw/Empire, July 10, 2020)
• Enigmatic Society with Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington and 9th Wonder (Sounds of Crenshaw/Empire, April 14, 2023)
• In December with PJ Morton, Sevyn Streeter, Cynthia Erivo, Tarriona "Tank" Ball, Alex Isley, Andra Day, and The Baylor Project. The seven-track EP was available to stream on Apple Music in November 2023 and released on vinyl by Loma Vista a year later.

Soundtracks

• Miles Ahead: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Columbia/Legacy, 2015)
• The Photograph: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Back Lot Music, 2020)
• Miles & Juliette (TBA)

With R+R=Now

• Collagically Speaking (Blue Note, 2018)