Robert Glasper Trio, Ronnie Scott’s

When it was launched for the first time last summer, the International Piano Trio Festival at Ronnie Scott’s proved a great success, highlighting one of jazz’s most intriguing and diverse combinations. For three nights over its second year, the venue has booked someone very special indeed.
Robert Glasper is one of the pre-eminent young pianists working in jazz today. Since 2005’s Canvas was released on the unrivaled label Blue Note, he has been feted for his ability to combine the adventurous with the melodic. On the two Black Radio records – the first of which won the 2013 Grammy for Best R&B Album – he collaborated with the likes of Erykah Badu, Common and Snoop Dogg to create something entirely new.
For his upcoming Covered, Glasper has returned to his original trio of Vicente Archer (bass) and Damion Reid (drums), and to straight-up jazz. But it’s not a complete retreat – alongside jazz standards, Covered features tracks by Kendrick Lamarr, John Legend and Radiohead. If Glasper’s cover of the latter’s ‘Reckoner’ is anything to go by, this will be a richly compelling set.