Review Summary: Jazz piano with hip-hop rhythms covering Radiohead.
Musical genres often evolve by piggy-backing off of other, previously established genres. Although not perfectly accurate, it could be said that rock evolved from blues and jazz, and jazz took from ragtime which added syncopation to the 19th century march. The list goes on. But the easiest way to examine this phenomenon, however, is in the subgenres of jazz. Each pioneering musician studied with the big names of jazz’s previous era. Miles Davis learned bebop from Charlie Parker and later expanded into cool jazz, modal jazz, and experimented with fusion. From fusion, nearly all of his sidemen took the genre to new heights in their own groups: John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra, Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul’s Weather Report. Since fusion, jazz rapidly declined in popularity and fell to rock music, although funk continued some semblance of jazz’s legacy. Much of earlier hip-hop sampled heavily from 70s funk and rose from its ashes.
Robert Glasper represents a viable chance for jazz piano to make a comeback. Despite his jazz style, Glasper collaborates often with hip-hop artists such as Mos Def, Common, Talib Kweli, and, preceding his death, J Dilla. In the song “J Dilladude”, Glasper pays homage to the late hip-hop pioneer and demonstrates his hip-hop roots. The song fades in and out with various snippets of Glasper’s take on J Dilla, perfectly imitating the rhythms and grooves of Dilla’s music. While the influence comes out heavily on this song, the rest of the album shows it in much more subtle ways. Nearly every song ends with some sort of interlude that connects two tracks, something seen on more artistic hip-hop albums. The rhythmic drive of the music feels constantly rooted in hip-hop. Still, to demonstrate his diverse influences,
In My Element finds Glasper spreading the love to other genres.
Jumping on the bandwagon of pianists covering Radiohead, Glasper’s most recognizable track for most listeners will be “Maiden Voyage/Everything In Its Right Place.” Ingeniously, he combines Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” with Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place.” The result relies heavily on the Radiohead for the rhythm and main melodies, but in the song’s modulations and improvisations, Glasper pulls from the Hancock tune. On “Y’outta Praise Him”, Glasper turns to gospel music, beginning with a gorgeous solo piano intro. Once the bass and drums come in, the song continues in its rubato structure, demonstrating the entire trio’s ability to work as a full unit. In the constantly changing tempo and syncopation, the bassist and drummer never falter, predicting Glasper’s every move, even in the improvised solos. While Glasper never gives his bandmates a chance to shine on their own, the rhythmic complexity of each song shows off their talent.
On piano, Glasper shows his technicality, musicality, and dynamic touch that allow him to transcend multiple genres. As demonstrated on the Hancock/Radiohead mashup, however, his best strength might be his inventive compositional strategies. In “Silly Rabbit”, he interrupts the song with a message from his answer machine, another hip-hop cliché. From his daughter, the message plays the girl singing a tune for her father that she made up. While atonal (his daughter sounds about four or five), Glasper manages to expand on the tune for a brilliant two-minute outro that recalls the pure hip-hop grooves of “J Dilladude.” With this, he demonstrates his improvisational ability to take one idea and play every variation possible, something that soloists like Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter often used. Amid all the complexity, his melodies catch the listener’s ear.
Above all, Glasper’s ability to combine all his influences into a great jazz piano album represents a small, thriving heartbeat still alive in jazz. Musicians are still innovating and jazz still has a future. Glasper has made the best attempt to bring new listeners into the genre, and hopefully he can continue to find new ways to do this.
