The big question with the melding of jazz and urban rap/hip hop is always “does it work in concert?” Progenitor Robert Glasper shows that it can on this gig from 2018 at the Blue Note Jazz Club, playing keyboards and creating textures and moods with Christian Scott a Tunde Adjuah on trumpet, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Justin Tyson, Taylor McFerrin on synths and Terrace mixing synths and vocoder with his alto sax. The horns of both Scott and Martin are not in your classic “bop” vein, as they seem to be fed through various effects and keyboards, creating seemingly the next evolution of Miles Davis’ Jack Johnson sounds.
There seem to be three types of songs here; a few concise pieces such as “Been On My Mind” with gasping trumpet, dark and echoey voice and bass, piano, synth pulse and “How Much A Dollar Cost” with some Trane-ish tones and rich piano voices clocking in at 3-4 minutes. Slightly longer pieces such as the urban drive of “Change of Tone” with some glorious piano work by Glasper and vocoder work and the dervish synth in the soulful “Perspectives/Postpartum” keep the groove going for 11-12 minutes. The recording ends with a marathon 25 opus “Resting Warrior” that is a Weather Reportish jam opened by Hodge’s bass leading into an African pulse, searing sax and horn and a hard hitting solo by Tyson that gets the crowd jumping.
The Blue Note may be closed permanently, but at least we have a record of what it’s future could portend.