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Herbie Hancock - “Tell Me a Bedtime Story”

4/13/2016

Fat Albert Rotunda (1969) was the first album released for legendary jazz pianist / keyboardist Herbie Hancock after leaving Blue Note Records. It represents a precursor for the jazz fusion that he would spearhead and later help establish in the 1970s. Originally written for the soundtrack to Bill Cosby’s cartoon special which shares the same name, illustrates the artist’s move away from his jazz roots; embracing more of the R&B and soul of the 1960s. The album has Joe Henderson, Joe Farrell, Garnett Brown, Johnny Coles, and Joe Newman on windwards, Albert “Tootie” Heath and Bernard Purdie on drums, Eric Gale on guitar, Buster Williams on bass, and of course Hancock on keys. “Jessica”, “You Know When You Get There”, and “Tell Me a Bedtime Story” standout on the record. With the latter being a complexity of harmonics worthy of being a jazz standard on the level of the title track off of his seminal work “Maiden Voyage”. - J After Dark

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Robert Glasper - “Maiden Voyage / Everything In Its Right Place”

4/9/2016

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Poet Aberjhani once wrote, “Jazz, like poetry, is one of those dazzling diamonds of creative industry that help human beings make sense out of the comedies and tragedies that contextualize our lives.” Pianist Robert Glasper demonstrates that he is definitely in his element when it comes to jazz; aiding to make sense out of the improvisational art form. One of the premier pianists of the modern generation, Glasper has proven to be of the avant-garde seemingly effortless blending various musical genres from jazz to hip-hop while establishing his own unique sound.

His work entitled, “In My Element” released on Blue Note records, provides proof of this with its thought provocative improvisations by the trio of Vicente Archer on bass, Damion Reid on drums and Glasper on keys. The standout song on the album is a medley of Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage and Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place”; two distinctly different tracks from artists of differing musical genres. It’s a track that Glasper and company not only innovates upon but also revitalizes a classic jazz standard.

- J After Dark