Robert Glasper, Barbican Centre

Jazz pianist Robert Glasper might just be the coolest man in music right now. His laid back Houston attitude, ’I’d rather be swinging in the studio’ bedside manner and lackadaisical showmanship are hard to resist.

If you haven’t heard of Glasper, you’ve certainly heard his work. He has played on some of the best albums of the last few years. He has recorded with Jay Z, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Erykah Badu and Kanye West. His keys are all over Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly. He was tasked wth scoring Miles Ahead – Don Cheadle’s 2016 Miles Davies biopic – breaking the hearts of young jazz musicians everywhere.



We first heard of Glasper in 2005, when he released Canvas on the iconic Blue Note label, and gained a reputation for throwing together the outlandish with the melodic. Britain’s barometer-of-cool Gilles Peterson tipped him as a talent to watch.

Since then, the musician has become jazz’s emissary in mainstream music – chiefly through his collaborations, but also on his on terms. In 2015’s Covered, he returned to straight jazz with his original trio, covering the likes of Joni Mitchell, John Legend and Radiohead.