Robert Glasper - Mood

[KOB]

A new release by Robert Glasper on Fresh Sound New Talent (Mood) and it's very very good !!!! The music is just a tad out there. Nevertheless, at times it gooves mightily. Glasper often reminds me of Keith Jarrett i.e. when Jarrett is playing some serious music in high gear. BTW, on one track, Glasper utilizes some flashes of Ramsey Lewis chording of old i.e. when Ramsey use to play acoustic straight ahead jazz back in the mid 1960's. Marcus Strickland & John Ellis show up on the final track of this CD which is a burning smoking track at that. More of Marcus throughout would have been nice. There are a couple of tracks with Bilal on voice or vocal. You either like Bilal or can't stand him. Like I said, he only pops up on two tracks, so there is plenty of music on this disc if you wish to bypass him. Interesting verson of Maiden Voyage on the opening track.

Excellent recording and strongly recommended !

Mood

Robert Glasper Trio

Featuring: Robert Glasper (p), Bob Hurst (B), Damion Reed (d); Special Guests: Bilal (vcl), Mike Moreno (g), John Ellis (ts), Marcus Strickland (ts)

REFERENCE: FSNT-153 New Talent