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Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio

“The Robert Glasper Experiment is uniquely qualified to handle this blues continuum with care. All four members — Robert Glasper, keys; Casey Benjamin, sax and vocoder; Derrick Hodge, bass; Chris Dave, drums — come from deep, inducted-into-the-fraternity jazz backgrounds. But in this group, they all treat “jazz” more as verb than noun, which has allowed them to freely and frequently collaborate with rappers, singers and other unclassifiables of talent. Like The Roots as the house band of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, the Experiment has become a model of versatility, open-mindedness and general good music appreciation; it, too, has become one of America’s premier black-music jam bands.  Hence the guest list here. Erykah Badu performs the jazz standard “Afro Blue.” Lalah Hathaway does a Sade song. Ledisi writes lyrics over a Glasper tune. Chrisette Michele and Musiq Soulchild hop on a slow jam. Lupe Fiasco raps. The artist formerly known as Mos Def raps. Bilal sings Bowie. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is covered. Meshell Ndegeocello. KING. Shafiq Husayn of Sa-Ra. Stokley Williams of Mint Condition. And so on.” – Patrick Jarenwattananon, NPR