JOEY L.
ROBERT GLASPER IS CHANNELING THELONIOUS MONK SERIOUSLY NOW. Not musically, necessarily, but visually. As we sit on the dingy furniture inside Soda Bar, a popular Brooklyn dive, Glasper’s attire—chocolate corduroy blazer, baggy demin jeans, vintage Tshirt and charcoal driver cap—suits the black boho chic of the Prospect Heights neighborhood. Still, it’s difficult to ignore the striking resemblance between 32-year-old Glasper, who’s steadily advancing to becoming one of the more recognizable pianists and composers of his generation, and Monk, the iconic modernist of the bebop era. Perhaps it’s the way that the cap frames Glasper’s strong, mocha-hued face and scruffy beard that recalls Monk. Or it could be Glasper’s large, knowing eyes, wide Cheshire cat smile and brawny physique. “You’re not the only person who says that, dude,” Glasper laughs, abruptly taking a break from the plate of buffalo wings that he’s demolishing. He goes on to explain that even the family members of his girlfriend, who happens to be Monk’s great niece, make similar comments. “They even say that our mannerisms are the same.” Had he not become a formidable jazz musician, Glasper could nail a successful career as comedian. In conversation, he’s not so much prone to telling knock-knock jokes as he is to enlivening discussions with hysterical asides, reflections and observations. Take, for instance, his thoughts on why he’s such a rhythmic pianist. “Just being black,” he snaps, with a huge guffaw. “Granted, there are exceptions where some black people don’t have rhythm. But the overall consensus is I’m born with it. I didn’t practice rhythm. I just know it. When I was in church, Sister Smith was playing the tambourine, killing that shit. That’s just some embedded stuff; she didn’t have study or practice it.” For all of Glasper’s rhythmic agility, though, melody reigns supreme throughout his music. It’s an influence from growing up in Houston with his late, gospel-singing and church piano-playing mother, Kim Yvette Glasper, to whom he dedicated his first Blue Note disc, Canvas (2005), and whom he saluted on “Tribute” from In My Element (2007). “I love melody,” he says. “Most of my songs start out as melodies. Then I run to the piano and try to figure out the chords underneath them.” On this chilly, rainy afternoon, Glasper is taking a late lunch break from rehearsing with Maxwell at a studio just spitting distance away. Maxwell, an acclaimed modern soul crooner who has embarked on a major comeback with the release of BLACKSummers’ Night (Columbia), his first disc in eight years, recruited the pianist after several of Glasper’s band members—including drummer Chris Dave and bassist Derrick Hodge— recorded with Maxwell on the disc and later joined the touring band. “He knows so many people whom I’ve come in contact over the years,” Maxwell says of Glasper. “He’s a tour-de-force.”