- Lift Off/Mic Check
- Afro Blue
- Cherish the Day
- Always Shine
- Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.)
- Move Love
- Ah Yeah
- The Consequences of Jealousy
- Why Do We Try
- Black Radio
- Letter to Hermione
- Smells Like Teen Spirit
- Fever
5
1
5099955901420
Robert Glasper Experiment Primary Artist
Solange Knowles Primary Artist
Lalah Hathaway Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Erykah Badu Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Phonte Primary Artist
Shafiq Husayn Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Meshell Ndegeocello Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
The Roots Primary Artist
Chrisette Michele Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Black Milk Primary Artist
Stokley Primary Artist,Vocals,Percussion,Featured Artist
Lupe Fiasco Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Mos Def Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Musiq Soulchild Primary Artist,Snaps,Vocals,Finger Snaps,Drums (Snare),Featured Artist
Hindi Zahra Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Bilal Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Ledisi Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Bryan-Michael Cox Co-Producer
We Are King Featured Artist
Amber Strother Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Anita Bias Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Yasiin Bey Vocals,Featured Artist
Derrick Hodge Bass,Bass (Vocal),Guitar (Bass)
Chris Dave Drums,Percussion
Jahi Sundance Turntables
Casey Benjamin Flute,Vocoder,Saxophone,Synthesizer,Sound Effects
Stokley Williams Vocals,Percussion,Featured Artist
Paris Strother Keyboards
Jeffrey Allen Composer
Bryan-Michael Cox Producer
Keith Lewis Engineer,Recording
Andrew Hale Composer
Chris Athens Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Cognito Photography
Kurt Cobain Composer
Krist Novoselic Composer
Chrisette Payne Composer
Qmillion Mixing,Mixing Engineer
James Yancey Composer
Amber Strother Composer
Anita Bias Composer
Jewell Green Photography
Eli Wolf A&R,Executive Producer
John Coltrane Composer
Derrick Hodge Composer
Dave Grohl Composer
Robert Glasper Producer,Remix Engineer,Arranger,Composer
Shafiq Husayn Composer
9th Wonder Remix Engineer
Meshell Ndegeocello Composer
David Bowie Composer
Max Ross Engineer
Stuart Matthewman Composer
Mongo Santamaria Composer
Chris Dave Composer
Yukimi Nagano Composer
Vincent Bennett Management
Dante Smith Composer
Shanieka D. Brooks Marketing
Jahi Sundance Programming
Steve Cook A&R
Fredrik Wallin Composer
Homer O'Dell Composer
Ricky Kinchen Composer
Nicole Hegeman Management,Executive Producer,Production Coordination
Cem Kurosman Publicity
Michael Schreiber Photography
Christopher Eric Dave Composer
Micka Recording
Casey Benjamin Arranger
Lupe Fiasco Composer
Erik Bodin Composer
Pete Rock Remix Engineer
Lawrence Waddell Composer
Sade Adu Composer
Stokley Williams Composer
Ledisi Young Composer
Angelika Beener Liner Notes
Hakan Wirenstrand Composer
Gordon H. Jee Art Direction
Taalib Johnson Composer
Hindi Zahra Composer
Ahmir Thompson Remix Engineer
Todd Bergman Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Paris Strother Composer
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Overview
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 Ndegeocello'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. ~ Thom Jurek
Product Details
Release Date: | 03/06/2012 |
---|---|
Label: | Blue Note / Emi |
UPC: | 5099955901420 |
Rank: | 104091 |
Tracks
Album Credits
Performance Credits
Robert Glasper Primary Artist,Keyboards,Co-Producer,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,PianoRobert Glasper Experiment Primary Artist
Solange Knowles Primary Artist
Lalah Hathaway Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Erykah Badu Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Phonte Primary Artist
Shafiq Husayn Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Meshell Ndegeocello Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
The Roots Primary Artist
Chrisette Michele Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Black Milk Primary Artist
Stokley Primary Artist,Vocals,Percussion,Featured Artist
Lupe Fiasco Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Mos Def Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Musiq Soulchild Primary Artist,Snaps,Vocals,Finger Snaps,Drums (Snare),Featured Artist
Hindi Zahra Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Bilal Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Ledisi Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Bryan-Michael Cox Co-Producer
We Are King Featured Artist
Amber Strother Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Anita Bias Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Yasiin Bey Vocals,Featured Artist
Derrick Hodge Bass,Bass (Vocal),Guitar (Bass)
Chris Dave Drums,Percussion
Jahi Sundance Turntables
Casey Benjamin Flute,Vocoder,Saxophone,Synthesizer,Sound Effects
Stokley Williams Vocals,Percussion,Featured Artist
Paris Strother Keyboards
Technical Credits
Georgia Anne Muldrow Remix EngineerJeffrey Allen Composer
Bryan-Michael Cox Producer
Keith Lewis Engineer,Recording
Andrew Hale Composer
Chris Athens Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Cognito Photography
Kurt Cobain Composer
Krist Novoselic Composer
Chrisette Payne Composer
Qmillion Mixing,Mixing Engineer
James Yancey Composer
Amber Strother Composer
Anita Bias Composer
Jewell Green Photography
Eli Wolf A&R,Executive Producer
John Coltrane Composer
Derrick Hodge Composer
Dave Grohl Composer
Robert Glasper Producer,Remix Engineer,Arranger,Composer
Shafiq Husayn Composer
9th Wonder Remix Engineer
Meshell Ndegeocello Composer
David Bowie Composer
Max Ross Engineer
Stuart Matthewman Composer
Mongo Santamaria Composer
Chris Dave Composer
Yukimi Nagano Composer
Vincent Bennett Management
Dante Smith Composer
Shanieka D. Brooks Marketing
Jahi Sundance Programming
Steve Cook A&R
Fredrik Wallin Composer
Homer O'Dell Composer
Ricky Kinchen Composer
Nicole Hegeman Management,Executive Producer,Production Coordination
Cem Kurosman Publicity
Michael Schreiber Photography
Christopher Eric Dave Composer
Micka Recording
Casey Benjamin Arranger
Lupe Fiasco Composer
Erik Bodin Composer
Pete Rock Remix Engineer
Lawrence Waddell Composer
Sade Adu Composer
Stokley Williams Composer
Ledisi Young Composer
Angelika Beener Liner Notes
Hakan Wirenstrand Composer
Gordon H. Jee Art Direction
Taalib Johnson Composer
Hindi Zahra Composer
Ahmir Thompson Remix Engineer
Todd Bergman Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Paris Strother Composer
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