Word is Robert Glasper employs subtle hip-hop influences in his music, but I don't hear much of it on "Canvas," his new CD from Blue Note/EMI. However, I'm not disappointed, although I bought the CD to see what he did with hip-hop, because I do hear lots of strong and inventive piano playing and creatively improvised, impressively complex jazz without the discordance that sometimes accompanies the free variety of said.
Mostly playing acoustic piano in a trio with bass and drums, Glasper reminds me of McCoy Tyner. But he nonetheless has his own sound down and seems to me to be as adept as younger lion big hitters like Bill Charlap and Brad Mehldau. His playing on his own songs is muscular and intricate at once, as are the compositions themselves. "Enoch's Meditation," for example, ranges from funky to classical and I think I might even hear those rumored hip-hop touches underneath it. Check out "Jelly's Da Beener," where he flips seamlessly between blistering straight-ahead play and the avant-garde. Impressive. He switches to a rollicking electric piano on Herbie Hancock's "Riot," the only composition not Glasper's, which has saxophonist Mark Turner (he's on two tracks) and the pianist improvising in tandem as well as ear-catching solo runs. This is a young guy to keep an ear on and "Canvas" is a fine place to start.
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