No Static: The Robert Glasper Experiment

Today, the "highly anticipated" (to use unfortunate jargon) new album from the Robert Glasper Experiment, Black Radio, was released in its entirety to NPR. Stream it. Immediately.

I've been a fan of this group since summer 2010 (... almost 2 years ago. Yikes.) when the organization I was interning with, the Brooklyn Arts Council, produced a concert in conjunction with Lincoln Center Out of Doors that featured them as headliners. They were really fantastic, and different in a way that was striking but not alienating - something that I think a lot of interesting contemporary musicians struggle with. Their music is fundamentally listenable, and is only made more so by their frequent collaborations with hip-hop and R&B artists.

I saw them again in February 2011, when they were playing with Lupe Fiasco at the Blue Note (picture below). Just completely fucking awesome. Also I was approximately 2 people from the stage... I died. A little. They were playing to a tough crowd - most people were just there to see Lupe - but they were compelling enough to really focus the show. The vibe was so chill, and the music was SO good.

One of the many times I've seen them live. Yes - Lupe, Kanye, and Mos Def are also on stage.

I went to see them again in May 2011, when they did a secret show at a hotel in New York... really fun. The small size of the venue meant that the artists were just hanging out - which is when you can see just how brilliant they are. At this concert specifically, they were experimenting (har, har) and it was just interesting to see the artistic processes happening... I'm a dork. In case you couldn't tell, as I cite the zillions of concerts I've been to with this one band...

Anyway. Saw them again in October, as a part of a CMJ showcase at Le Poisson Rouge with Taylor McFerrin and Jose James. It's interesting to see the type of demographic they attract - Robert Glasper has a huge following in the jazz community (which is dominated by nerdy white guys) but the music also has enough crossover appeal that he's starting to get attention in pop circles. The copious collaborations also help with that. That being said, none of them really feel forced - rather, it sounds just like the product of a really cool musical community (slash I just want to be all of their best friends).

I'm going to see them in Paris on April 6th... I'm so excited to see how the show is different than all the American ones I've been too. The new album is really great - I've already listened to it like 3 times, and it's just... chill. The music is awesome without being aggressive - Patrick Jarenwattananon at NPR calls it "organic," which is an apt description in the sense that the whole album flows so well. However I think the danger with the word organic is that it implies a sort of naturalism, when in fact this is a highly cultivated and frankly highly produced sound (another aspect that ties it more closely to the pop world). I digress. To be frank... it would be awesome make-out music. Just saying. I digress some more.

Anyway. Listen to it! And go to see them! They're on tour right now and are going basically everywhere, so you have no excuse.

On the West Side

This week, I was lucky enough to see West Side Story presented in HD, with the entire score played by the NY Phil. It was incredible. To hear the vibrant score played by one of the world's finest orchestras, augmented to mimic the grandiose size of the typical film orchestra... truly sublime. Every emotion of the movie was exponentially more tangible when reinforced by the energetic and thoughtful accompaniment of 100+ musicians...

One aspect of the narrative that is often cited as problematic in both West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet is the improbability of their relationship - people are incredulous at how knowing someone for two minutes could result in such a fatal attraction (pun intended... sorry).

As I watched the movie (for the 3rd... 4th... maybe 5th time), I realized that perhaps the essentially impossible nature of this central relationship is irrelevant. Even without realism, this story taps into a universal human desire. I can't imagine that there is anyone in the world who doesn't want to meet someone and know, instantly, that they were destined to be together forever (dead or alive). That suddenly, for better or for worse, that person matters more than anything else and most importantly, that that feeling is reciprocated. Tony and Maria are embodying a fantasy - but that doesn't make their story any less sympathetic. Because we all want that, we all want that for them - and when they can't fulfill this promise (on earth, which carries a certain Wagnerian/Tristan element - same source material, I realize), it's all the more tragic because of the destruction of that fantasy. We live in a world too imperfect for perfect love.

Yes, I'm really cheesy. But when it comes to West Side Story, is there anyone who isn't?