Robert Glasper was born on 6th of April 1978 in Houston.

He is an American
composer, pianist and music producer. Six times nominated for the Grammy Award, three
times nominated for the Emmy Award. His musical adventure began in the Baptist church, as
did most of the black children of musicians. The first inspiration for him was his mother, who
was professional gospel, jazz and blues singer. It is logical, that the first genres in which he
moved was gospel and jazz. He quickly developed his own way of hearing and arranging
harmony by combining both musical styles. Glasper studied at High School for the
Performing Arts and Visual Arts in Houston, Elkins High School in Missouri, then moved to
New York and graduated from the prestigious New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.
There he met the neo-soul vocalist Bilal Oliver. Thanks to Bilal his neo soul-hip-hop music
career began in parallel with the career of jazz pianist. Thanks to concerts and recordings with
Bilal, he started cooperation with many artists such as Mos Def, Q-Tip (known from the
legendary hip-hop band The Tribe Called Quest), Kanye West, Erykah Badu, Jay-Z, Talib
Kweli, Common, Slum Village or the most recognizable producer in the hip-hop and neo-soul
world J Dilla.

In addition to session and production work, Glasper focuses mainly on his two original
projects. The first of them is The Robert Glasper Trio, which he creates together with the
bassist Vincent Archer and drummer Damion Reid. Despite the jazz character of the band and
the classical compositions of the trio, we can see there the elements of hip-hop. It is very
difficult to define the project as a jazz band, because the musicians smoothly navigate
between these styles. They also use elements of neo-soul, and even reach for rock music,
arranging it for the needs of the trio. The band's work also includes jazz standards recorded
and performed in neo-soul arrangements, such as "Stella by Starlight" by Miles Davis.
Glasper calls his greatest life inspiration: "I'm clearly influenced by Miles Davis, how he
thinks about music, how he moves in it, and always wants to reflect the times he's in. That's
what I'm doing right now. He opened the door for me." Glasper also wrote the soundtrack for
Miles Ahead movie, which interprets the trumpeter's life and work.

His second project is The Robert Glasper Experiment (saxophonist Casey Benjamin,
bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Mark Colenburg). He called the band an experiment for a
reason. The music they make is mainly a fusion of hip-hop and jazz, but it's also a mixture of
many other genres, such as neo-soul, gospel and R & B. They also reinterpreted rock bands
such as Nirvana, Radiohead, Sound Garden and David Bowie. The pianist himself defines the
character of the band with the words: "This is what makes this band unique ... We can go
anywhere, we want to go there. We all have a musical hyperactivity and we love it."

One of Glasper's biggest tribute to jazz is definitely a series of concerts "Tribute to

Roy Ayers", which he and The Experiment performed all over the world. The most special
was the one taking place at the Jazz à la Villette festival in Paris, played by the band on
September 11, 2010. It was recorded and completely aired on Mezzo TV. The drummer of the
band at the time was excellent Chris "Daddy" Dave, considered as the best hip-hop drummer
in the world. He is also known for his collaboration with jazz legends such as Donald Brown,
Kenny Garrett, Terrence Blanchard, Wynton Marsalis and Pat Metheny. The pianist invited
two artists closely associated with the world of jazz and hip-hop: rapper and producer Pete
Rock, vocalist Bilal Oliver and vibraphonist Stefon Harris. Watching the material you get the
impression that Harris immediately takes on the role of the dead Ayers, you can feel his
symbolic presence. Jazz improvisations of the vibraphonist and saxophonist Casey Benjamin
perfectly blend in with the neo-soul groove played by the rhythm section. The compositions
performed during the concert are mainly arrangements of Ayers' works, such as: "We Live in
Brooklyn", "Searching", "2000 Black", "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" and "Stakes Is
High" by hip-hop group De La Soul.

Glasper describes the influence of jazz on hip-hop music with the words: "Jazz is the
mother and the father of hip-hop." He has recorded a short film about the title in which he
talks about the genesis of classic hip-hop beats. The character who left the greatest trace on
beats producing history is definitely a producer J Dilla (James Dewitt Yancey), who
collaborated with such legends as: Slum Village, The Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip, Common,
Talib Kweli or Erykah Badu.

Robert Glasper is definitely an icon of instrumental hip-hop music and all hip-hop
music fans should experience his work.