words: Sanjiv Ahluwalia
photo: Evgeniy K

Early last year, in the last hours of my birthday, my wife and I were mesmerised by a performance by The Adam Rogers Quintet. The location was the Village Vanguard on 7th Ave, between Greenwich Village and West Village, a venue steeped in tradition (the likes of Coltrane and Miles have graced the stage) but with an ear to the new, as witnessed by the success of the formidable said band (though I noticed my wife had cotton wool firmly placed in her ears to counter Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts’ formidable drumming). At the back of the venue sat an animated Robert Glasper and his drummer Chris Dave. I went over to exchange a few words and Glasper, the epitome of New York hip hop cool (flat tweed cap, Stussy shirt, baggy jeans) mentioned his next album – “you’ll like it, half of the album is by my Trio and the other half by the (Robert Glasper) Experiment.”

‘Double Booked’ is very much in keeping with this setting and conversation. An album with one hand in the classic tradition of the past, the other in the new and different. Guided by the idea that Glasper’s two bands, the Trio and Experiment (who veer to jazz and hip hop respectively) are “double booked” at the same venue (Village Vanguard?), each half of the album is bookmarked by jazz and hip hop luminaries Terence Blanchard and ?uestlove (Ahmir Thompson from The Roots) leaving answerphone messages on the merits of either band.

“…on the drums is Chris Dave, on the bass is Vicente Archer, and the man himself Robert Glasper”

The Trio part of the album is summarised by two tracks “No Worries” and “Think of One” which were both played at the Jazz Cafe London concert in November ‘08 and as such were the first hints of this album. “No Worries”, named after the English appropriation of the much heard phrase on Glasper’s visit to London, is lush in delivery with some intricate piano and thunderous drums, and suitable slowing of the pace which is reminiscent of a hip hop sample. “Think of One” is a Thelonious Monk number which works as well on record as it did live, which is praise enough. The track mixes the avant garde (my wife will be hitting the cotton wool again) with the touchingly beautiful piano playing that is trademark Glasper. Again the pace and tempo is altered not on some high brow jazz lesson but veers towards a Hip Hop-ism (and here playing subtle bursts of Ahmad Jamal’s “Swahililand”).

Alongside a handful of other artists, this is one of the most eagerly awaited follow up albums of the decade coming after the hugely successful “In My Element” and suffice it to say Glasper delivers in droves. The jazz master holds court, like the Prince of piano, regally taking our breath away and assisted by a Palace of Jazz greatness – the great Chris Dave on drums and Vicente Archer on bass. The Experiment band adds the likes of Mos Def and Bilal to the mix, with Derrick Hodge replacing Archer on bass duties. What will be debatable is the value of Casey Benjamin on vocoder – love it or hate it – though I get the impression with the current boogie/disco revival and a long, hot summer it may work better for a British audience than our American cousins. As such it is the Trio album that works better for me, and The Experiment a welcome ‘bonus’ section, including a lovely cover of Herbie Hancock’s “Butterfly”. But time will, I am sure, let the music on the Experiment half of the album mature and gain weight, vocoder or no vocoder.

In effect Double Booked is no more two albums playing jazz and hip hop respectively than one coherent album dipping its hands in both genres. A dream date at the Village Vanguard – jazz attitude and hip hop cool – awaits to play in the listener’s mind.

The next issue of Shook will carry a full review of the album and interview with Robert Glasper.