Robert Glasper

[mrjazzman]

Before I caught Robert Glasper tonight at Yoshi's, I purchased the cd "Canvas". I like it, I guess it's this 2019 neo bop or whatever you call it. Seems like this is what the young cats(Ambrose Akinmusire) are playing these days. Almost at the last minute I see he's at Yoshi's tonight, so, based off what I heard on "Canvas", I went to see him.  TOTAL disappointment.  What I saw/heard sounded like a rock band, felt like I was inside a boom box, no acoustic piano, bunch of electronics, hearing the voice of Martin Luther King on the first song. I love MLK, but I go to youtube for MLK speeches. Glasper did not look professional, had on a worn looking t-shirt.  The place was sold out on a Wednesday night, looked mostly like 30-40ish crowd. I should have known something was about to go wrong.  Way too much base, was actually hurting my ears.  I left after the first song. I was expecting to hear the same format as the cd Canvas. $40, no refund, oh well. Of course, had I known I would have stayed home. IMO, these guys need to hold onto a modicum of tradition. I was none to happy so, On my way home I played "Jackie McLean Quartet Montreal 1988" to calm myself down

[Unhinged Melody]

I went to the Thursday show. I thought it was great. 

It sounds like they played a similar set to what mrjazzman saw. As a longtime admirer of Derrick Hodge, it was great to see him live. His recorded bass tone on tends to be very dark, so it was nice to see him up close. He played electric bass, lots of chording. During his ~4 minute unaccompanied bass solo I thought about how he was on the same stage where he recorded the Live at Yoshi's records with Mulgrew Miller. 

Chris Dave is my favorite drummer so seeing him is always very inspiring.

The DJ could have been mixed a little quieter and he could have used some more samples (he played the same four speech excerpts over and over again), but that's a very minor criticism of a great musical performance.

On my way home I played Lion Babe's Sun Joint mixtape and Egyptian Oasis by TK Blue to keep the mood going.

[Guy Berger]

The listing on the Yoshi's website seems pretty transparent that this is an ensemble with a DJ, seems like you got exactly what was advertised. 

(Unless your intent was to hate-watch for $40, which is not the biggest price tag someone has paid for such a hobby)

Edited May 2, 2019 by Guy Berger

[mrjazzman]

I'm 70 yrs old and grew up on Trane, Miles, Diz, Blakey, Rollins etc etc so maybe that's what's going on with me.

On 5/2/2019 at 5:20 PM, Guy Berger said:

The listing on the Yoshi's website seems pretty transparent that this is an ensemble with a DJ, seems like you got exactly what was advertised. 

(Unless your intent was to hate-watch for $40, which is not the biggest price tag someone has paid for such a hobby)

I don't research websites before going to a concert. If you read what I wrote, I went based on what I heard on the cd "Canvas". That was my advertisement.

[mrjazzman]

On 5/1/2019 at 7:55 AM, Unhinged Melody said:

I went to the Thursday show. I thought it was great. 

It sounds like they played a similar set to what mrjazzman saw. As a longtime admirer of Derrick Hodge, it was great to see him live. His recorded bass tone on tends to be very dark, so it was nice to see him up close. He played electric bass, lots of chording. During his ~4 minute unaccompanied bass solo I thought about how he was on the same stage where he recorded the Live at Yoshi's records with Mulgrew Miller. 

Chris Dave is my favorite drummer so seeing him is always very inspiring.

The DJ could have been mixed a little quieter and he could have used some more samples (he played the same four speech excerpts over and over again), but that's a very minor criticism of a great musical performance.

On my way home I played Lion Babe's Sun Joint mixtape and Egyptian Oasis by TK Blue to keep the mood going.

TK Blue, now you see, I'd never heard of him, went to AMG and listened to some sound samples. I like him. How did you discover him. There's probably a lot of people out here I don't know about. I Downbeat still relevant?

[jazzbo]

I know T. K. Blue from his years with Randy Weston. 

[Unhinged Melody]

3 hours ago, jazzbo said:

I know T. K. Blue from his years with Randy Weston. 

That's how I heard of him too. 

[Steve Reynolds]

6 hours ago, mrjazzman said:

TK Blue, now you see, I'd never heard of him, went to AMG and listened to some sound samples. I like him. How did you discover him. There's probably a lot of people out here I don't know about. I Downbeat still relevant?

IMO Down Beat is less relevant than ever. They had a free copy at Vision Fest and it would have been OK for bathroom use if the paper was designed for that purpose. Sure there are good articles here and there - a nice piece about The Art Ensemble but the bulk of the magazine are puff pieces and discussions about very much mainstream run of the mill jazz. Same old Same old which is of little interest to me.