Grammy Winner Robert Glasper Talks Giving Jazz a “Big Ass Slap!” Ahead of June 2 Blue Note Gigs

Not only is Robert Glasper quickly becoming a jazz elder statesman, currently working with his pal Terrace Martin on the now 77-year-old pioneering pianist Herbie Hancock’s upcoming LP. The 39-year-old Texan pianist and producer also defiantly remains at the genre’s forefront, quickly chastising stodgy snobs that stubbornly stick to old traditions.

To the horror of those purists, Glasper plays keyboards for rappers like Kendrick Lamar (bringing a vintage tinge to the star MC’s modern classic To Pimp a Butterfly), recruited young crooners like Bilal and Erykah Badu for his own Grammy winning 2012 album Black Radio, and served as the musical consultant for the subversive 2016 Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead along with recording the movie’s accompanying tribute album Everything's Beautiful. Glasper has also told interviewers that he’s “bored” with jazz and the genre needs a “big ass slap” in order to get with the times.

Ahead of his June 2 back-to-back evening performances at Blue Note Beijing (he also played a pair of shows Thursday night), Glasper tells us more about working with everyone from Kendrick to Herbie, and how that has helped him push jazz forward. Excerpts from our interview are below.

Our set list varies from night to night. We check the vibe of the audience. If they're super old, we’ll try not to play a bunch of Fetty Wap and shit, or Dilla. We go by what they're giving us energy-wise.

I can totally attribute that spontaneity to my jazz background. I've collaborated with and performed with R&B acts too, and for them the show is the show. It flows from this song to that. And depending on how big you are, they have lights and special effects connected to the song, background vocals already dialed in.

My band and I have the luxury of being a five piece, from a jazz background. So we kind of just go, depending on how we feel.

When we play with Maxwell at arenas or Madison Square Garden, in front of 20,000 people, you can’t fly off the handle with that kind of stuff. But it is cool though. It’s inspiring to see so many people at one time appreciate your song. I’ve never gotten that. My shit’s small [laughs]. I’ve never gotten 20,000 females screaming at me at once, like Maxwell had at that show. That’d be awesome.

I love working with Maxwell and I'm also cool with Kendrick Lamar. I played a lot of keyboards on To Pimp a Butterfly, and he was really open. I went there to play on one song, and I ended up doing nine. Once I started playing, he’d say: “Try this, pull up that.” And he’d just say play what you hear.

I’m also co-prodcuing Herbie Hancock's new record, me and Terrace Martin. I’ll go over to his place and he’ll be asking me about who’s new and what’s been coming out recently, and he’ll be on YouTube checking them out.

It’s almost like you have to remind Herbie that he’s Herbie. He’s so selfless, and he asks for our input and shit. And every few times I’ll tell him “Herbie, I just walked by all your Grammys in the hallway, why do you want to know what I think?” He’s an inspiration to be around, as a person. Because he says “I’m a person first. Music is not what I do.”

I’ve worked with Herbie, and I’ve worked with Stevie Wonder. And if those two can be as cool as f**k, everybody on earth can be cool. Period.

Yes, Miles [Davis] may have had a reputation for not being down to earth, or being difficult. But, you see, Miles was cool, he was just, uh ... he was on drugs. I never got to meet him obviously, but from all the tapes I’ve heard and people I’ve met who worked with him, I didn’t get any impression about him naturally being an asshole. He was weird, and it depended on the day and what he was dealing with.

So no, I still think musicians should be cool. There’s no reason for you to be a f**king asshole because you sold some records.

Miles would have agreed with me, when I said before that jazz needs a “big ass slap.” If you ask most traditionalists who their favorite musician is, they'll say Miles. But, at the same time, that contradicts everything they're standing for. Miles was always changing. His famous quote was “You want to hear the old shit? That’s what the records are for. If it ain’t moving, it’s dead.”

If Miles was around now, he’d be on To Pimp a Butterfly. He was always innovative. Him and Herbie. Herbie had the chance to watch Miles do it, that’s why they’re the biggest stars of jazz.

Jazz was never a music of history, it was always the music of the time. Now they want to put it in the museum real fast. It’s still breathing, it’s still living. That made me want to be like [claps his hands] “Hello motherf**kers! Wake up!”

Robert Glasper will perform at Blue Note on June 1 at 7.30pm and 10pm. Tickets are RMB 400 for bar seating, RMB 500 for in the wings, and RMB 600 for a table. For more information, click here.

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Photos: NPR, Revive Music, AZ Quotes, Ink, Interview Magazine