August Greene, the collaborative effort of Common, Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins, was born at the White House in 2016 during a special Tiny Desk concert. It was during that unprecedented performance that the then-untitled ensemble premiered the powerful “Letter to the Free,” an original song for Ava DuVernay’s Netflix documentary 13th that eventually won an Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. For the trio’s first visit to NPR headquarters, they brought some special guests: vocalists Brandy, Maimouna Youssef and Andra Day. The band performed four tracks from its upcoming self-titled album (out March 9 on Amazon Music), an impromptu freestyle, and Day’s Oscar-nominated collaboration with Common, “Stand Up For Something,” from the film Marshall. Common described the theme of the Tiny Desk as “Foregrounding Women,” alluding to the attendance of Brandy, Day and Youssef, as well as the spiritual presence of Glasper’s younger cousin, Loren, who passed just a few days prior. The past year has been a pivotal time for women, between #MeToo and social and financial equality, and the lyrics to these songs frame women’s contemporary frustrations as civil rights issues. That’s important in hip-hop, which has long been dogged by an old-line adherence to misogyny, as it lays claim to the world’s most popular genre. In a spontaneous moment midway through Maimouna Youssef’s verse on “Practice,” the crowd gushed and you could see the joy in her eyes. Then the ebullient pop icon Brandy reprised Sounds Of Blackness’ 1991 classic “Optimistic,” and the magic held everyone rapt. Andra Day followed up with “Stand Up for Something”; her powerful voice blew the hinges off the doors. August Greene’s latest single, “Black Kennedy,” connotes dreams of an African-American dynasty, the kind only a royal family assumes. The stark contrasts of disenfranchisement are highlighted by every wish expressed. Later, in “Let Go,” vocalist and August Greene collaborator Samora Pinderhughes sings of overcoming darkness within yourself and finding hope at the bottom of Pandora’s box. It’s about releasing the demons so the hands can hold the blessings. August Greene is what happens when talent embraces intention and humility. This edition of the Tiny Desk inspired me, its audience, and the artists behind the stage. We hope it has the same effect on you.
After dominating the jazz charts, winning a couple R&B Grammys, and recording with everyone from Erykah Badu to Norah Jones to Snoop Dogg, what’s next for a band like theRobert Glasper Experiment? When the group’s leader scores a Miles Davis film, plays keys all over albums from Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly to Anderson .Paak’s Malibu to Maxwell’s blackSUMMERS’night, and is currently collaborating on forthcoming albums from Herbie Hancock, Common, and Mac Miller, what can you do to level up? “You do you,” says Glasper with a chuckle. “People need to hear what the Experiment sounds like, just us—know what our vibe is and can be.”
On ArtScience, the Experiment sounds like a bit of everything that’s vibrant and challenging and great about music, woven into a billowing fabric of jazz, funk, soul, rock, hip-hop, blues, disco, electronic, and pop—if the Black Radioalbums evoked the crash-proof airplane “black box” in their title, this one’s a parachute carrying us to unimagined vistas. But to fully understand what this quartet’s accomplished, you need to know some things. This is the first Experiment LP where all members write and produce, and the first with no guest vocalists. That means everyone—sax man and vocalist Casey Benjamin, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Mark Colenburg, and Glasper himself—sings. It also means you’re hearing the freest version of the Experiment yet.
That’s by design, of course. “I wanted to do this record in a place where we don’t know a lot of people,” says Glasper. “In New York or LA, it’d end up being a hang, so we locked ourselves in a studio in New Orleans for two weeks and wrote the whole thing there. Our only inspiration was: ‘Fuck it. Let’s do what we feel.'” They ate good food, did good work, and threw a cheap, intimate pop-up show for the heads. It was “like camp,” and with that intense focus, ArtSciencebecame a thing of huge breadth.
There’s Benjamin’s disco-funk seduction “Day to Day,” and the Hodge-led “Find You,” where drums snap like firecrackers as moods and genres flit past rapidly. The Colenburg co-write “In My Mind” marries cascades of brass and Rhodes to melodies that keep shifting. Glasper’s own “Let’s Fall in Love” offers minimal R&B set to trap percussion and a syrupy groove, which highlights something else: Even as the band slides in and out of styles and eras, there’s something perfectly “now” about their use of Autotune, which grew from Glasper’s long-running affinity with the vocoder.
An unintended theme arose too: relationships—the ups, the downs, and, especially, the part where you make amends. “Thinkin Bout You” is a tribute to the ones who stay home while the Experiment’s touring. “You and Me” is a bona fide slow jam. And “Hurry Slowly,” swirls Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, and Radiohead into a slinky tribute to love’s odd time signatures. Their cover of Human League’s classic mea culpa “Human” fits the theme. “We’ve all been there,” Glasper laughs.
Family and friends figure into ArtScience in other ways too. One of the interludes features Glasper’s son. “He’s speaking his mind,” says the bandleader. “He was 5 and the Michael Brown case came on the news and he started going off.” Indeed, the boy, unprompted, speaks for a lot of us: “It’s not fair! We should let other people live! … Let’s try to make the polices better … like real polices that help. No gun shooting!” Album opener “This Is Not Fear” comes from a similar place. The Experiment was in New Orleans when they heard about Yasiin Bey’s arrest in South Africa, which sparked a talk about how authorities treat black men. For this one, they didn’t need words.
“It comes in on fast swing, then transcends into a beat as you hear our voices going ‘hmm-mmm,’ like a hymnal,” says Glasper. “In other words, jazz into hip-hop is then to now, and us singing spirituals to get through some shit ain’t nothing new.”
Balancing art and science is something Glasper’s been working at his entire career—cutting that sheer musical ability with the sort of songwriting that simply resonates with the heart. Crossing over isn’t easy, but it’s been his thing for as long as he can remember. His mother was music director at their Houston church, where Glasper would first play keys for a crowd. She also sang jazz and blues at clubs by night, and brought the child (he’d eventually accompany her). That mixture became his sonic bedrock, and it went with him to the city’s esteemed High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and on to the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York. By 2005, when Glasper signed with Blue Note, he’d become an accomplished sideman to Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett, Roy Hargrove, and more.
That’s when he made the decision. “No more side gigs,” says Glasper. “I’ll do my own thing in jazz, and if I play for anyone else it’ll be a different genre because eventually I want to make albums in those genres.” So he worked as music director for Mos Def and Bilal, hit the studio with Q-Tip, Kanye West, and Erykah Badu, and did a world tour with Maxwell, all while releasing jazz LPs that drew steady acclaim. His worlds merged on the first full Experiment album, 2012’sBlack Radio, which scored a Top Jazz Albums No. 1 and won the year’s Best R&B Album Grammy. The Experiment didn’t just cross over; they revitalized their genre. Black Radio 2 (2013) brought even more thrilling cameos, and another Grammy.
In 2015, Glasper reset with Covered, recorded live in Capitol Studios with his original acoustic trio featuring bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Damion Reid, but his choice in source material was key: John Legend, Joni Mitchell, Radiohead, and Kendrick Lamar to name a few. He also composed for Don Cheadle’s Miles Ahead film, plus reinterpreted Davis’ catalog onEverything Is Beautiful, which came out earlier in 2016. Which brings us back to the beginning. When you’ve earned your bona fides, sure, it makes sense to follow your muse. But along the way, with so many potential paths to take—unplugged or electric, guests or no, jazz or hip-hop or R&B or fusion—how does Glasper always manage to take the listener on exactly the right adventure for exactly the right moment?
The answer, it turns out, is a little bit of art and a little bit of science. “I feel like I lick my finger and put it in the air, and see which way the wind is blowing,” he says. And when he gets a feel for what’s going on, he knows: “Hmm, that’s what’s needed in the world right now.”
Terrace Martin is a notable musician, rapper and producer from the city of Los Angeles and from the beginning of his career he has lent his skills to artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Quincy Jones, Snoop Dogg, 9th Wonder, Talib Kweli and many, many others.
Shattering the acknowledged rules of hip-hop production, he samples everything from funk to jazz to classical to create fresh and original tracks. His productions have made him one of the most sought after producers from the streets of Los Angeles to across the country. His father was a jazz musician, while his mother was a gospel singer, destining him for a life in music.
“I grew up in the middle with only hip-hop,” Martin says. “My parents taught me that there’s only good and bad music.” He began playing the piano at the age of six and at age 13, a friend encouraged Terrace to take up the saxophone and he did, finding one for $150 and learning to play it by himself. His Godfather Stemz Hunter, also a saxophonist, suggested Terrace enroll at Santa Monica High School to sharpen his musical chops. He walked in not knowing what a scale was and soon found himself practicing up to seven hours a day.
Martin made a decision to transfer to Locke High, an LAUSD school with a tough reputation within an earshot of gang-ridden Watts where the artistically-inclined gravitated. While attending Locke High, under the auspice of Reggie Andrews, Martin became first chair of the All-State jazz band.
As a child prodigy, Martin gained the interest of talk show host Jay Len who provided a $30,000 scholarship and purchased Martin’s first professional saxophone. Fresh out of high school, Martin attended Cal Arts but decided school was not for him and opted, instead, to go professional. Martin was not only recognized by Hollywood and music industry elites, he also found favor in the jazz world where world-renowned jazz musician, Billy Higgins made Martin a member of his World Stage All-Stars playing in the historic Leimert Park. From World Stage, Martin began touring with Puff Daddy and God’s Property, presented by Kirk Franklin.
“I didn’t believe in suffering to play, like why do musicians gotta suffer to play? Eating Top Ramen isn’t cool. I wanted to be main stream.” With that mentality guiding him, Terrace worked hard to get his beats placed for major artists’ albums. He scored a minor hit with 213’s “Joystick,” and went on to land beats on the Doggfather’s “Rhythm and Gangsta: The Masterpiece” and “Ego Trippin” albums.
Martin came from behind the board when he released his first project, The Demo and since has released a number of critically acclaimed masterpieces.
Martin’s projects feature many guest appearances from the peers and mentors he has worked with who have lent their expertise to encourage the budding artist’s career. That includes verses and production from the likes of Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Pete Rock, DJ Quik, Kurupt, and plenty of others. In late 2010, Terrace Martin and radio personality Devi Dev released the EP “Here, My Dear”, inspired by Marvin Gaye’s critically acclaimed 1978 album of the same name. The EP has appearances from Snoop Dogg, Charlie Wilson, Kurupt, Problem, Kendrick Lamar and pianist Kenneth Crouch.
In 2010, he executive-produced Kurupt’s “Streetlights” album and formed a group called Melrose with LA underground rap hero Murs that put out a self-titled album in early 2011. In 2012, Martin released a number of highly regarded projects, and in 2013 he graced the airwaves with his first highly anticipated independent release, 3 Chord Fold, a fusion project that brings together some of music’s best, hitting fans with a vibe reminiscent of his 2009 release Hear, My Dear. 3ChordFold: Remixed was subsequently released at the end of 2013 and the three chords were completed with the release of 3ChordFold: Pulse in Spring 2014, which featured many live performances with guest appearances by Robert Glasper, Thundercat and more. Pulse also included new original tracks. Expect his latest project, Velvet Portraits to be released later in 2015.
While spending time with numerous luminaries in the studio, Terrace is one of the few artists in hip-hop who seamlessly works with underground, emerging and established artists; often on the same song. And it’s something he’s proud of. “To me, I just bridge the dope people with the dope people,” says Martin. His position in hip-hop music is unbridled, but it is his jazz musicianship that separates his sound from his peers.
From jazz to hip-hop, Martin’s role models include Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Stitt, Grover Washington, Jr., Dr. Dre, DJ Quik, Battlecat, Premier, Pete Rock, and 1580 K-Day. “I started producing hip-hop tracks because it was the music of my time, but I never lost my love for jazz.” Martin says.
Terrace Martin is currently a staff producer for legendary Quincy Jones, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Top Dawg Entertainment (Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q) where he has lent his talents heavily to the critically acclaimed and highly anticipated To Pimp A Butterfly. He works closely with DJ Mustard and YG and continues to work closely with his mentor, Dr. Dre. Terrace can also be found performing with his live band for his growing fan base.
Special Guests on the album:
Tiffany Gouche
Kamasi Washington
Robert Glasper
The Emotions
Wayne Vaughn
Adam Turchin
Uncle Chucc
Rose Gold
Candy West
Keyon Harrold
Marlon Williams
Thundercat
Ronald Bruner Jr
Tone Trezure